Dear friend of Arkadia, You are warmly invited to listen to Jari Paajala who has very kindly accepted to speak of his mission in Kabul on Thursday 7.1 at 7pm. Jari Paajala has been working for the EUPOL AFG as Mentor to the Afghan Ministry of Interior and as Legal Adviser to the HoM EUPOL AFG since July 2007. What he has to say  is of the greatest interest to absolutely everyone, even if you only happen to have the faintest interest in Afghanistan. Jari will speak in English but he will also answer all questions in Finnish and Swedish. You are most welcome. Warm regards, Ian www.arkadiabookshop.fi – Entrance is free and green tea will be served. A donation of €2 (or more!) is suggested and would be welcome. IMPORTANT: Quite exceptionally the bookshop will be closed Friday 8.1 , Saturday 9.1 as well as Friday 15.1 and Saturday 16.1. I’m very sorry. Introduction by Jari Paajala What is it like to serve in a civilian crisis management mission in Afghanistan as a civilian expert? What kinds of challenges a mission like the EUPOL AFG is tend to face in an environment where the standards of police services, Rule of Law, and Human Rights differ significantly of those prevalent in Europe? Is it feasible and reasonable to think that a safe and secure Afghan society can be achieved through any international engagement in Afghanistan? Is it possible to have any cooperation and coordination between the numerous international crisis management stakeholders, both civilian and military ones? Why on earth Finland is going to launch a training program that will bring some 20 Afghan police officers and prosecutors to the CCM Kuopio next February to feel the arctic hysteria at its best? And finally, do the Afghans see any benefits rendered by the omnipotent presence of internationals in their home country? Jari Paajala graduated from Helsinki University Law Faculty (Master of Laws) in 1985. Since then up to 2006 he has gained professional experience in Finland as district police chief and district prosecutor in various locations. As for his international professional assignments, he has served in three different peacekeeping missions (UNIFIL 1993/1994, IFOR 1996/1997 and SFOR 1998/2000) as Legal Adviser. In April 2002, he joined the first ever ESDP civilian police mission EUPM BiH, and served in the mission as Chief Legal Adviser until 2006. Since July 2007 Jari Paajala has been working for the EUPOL AFG as Mentor to the Afghan Ministry of Interior and as Legal Adviser to the HoM EUPOL AFG.