Mr. Jukka Ilomäki

Mr. Jukka Ilomäki is a Senior Water Adviser at the Department for Development Policy of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. In this role he advises water sector development cooperation, provides for strategic development of the sector and gives background information and sectoral knowledge for the Ministry. In addition he influences in water
sector networks and discussions both in Finland and internationally, and supports education in water sector. Most central background document for his work is Finland’s International Water Strategy, also known as Finnish Water Way.

Before the present role in the Ministry, Jukka has been twice working in the Finnish Foreign Service: First as a Development Counsellor at the Embassy of Finland in Kathmandu, Nepal, in 2013 2018 and then as a Trade and Investment Counsellor at the Embassy of Finland in New Delhi, India, in 2021-2022. While in Nepal, Jukka chaired WASH Development Partner Working group for three years and consular cooperation after devastating earthquake of 2015, both on behalf of Finland.

Jukka has extensive exoperience in both development and humanitarian contexts, and his work has ranged from wider multinational and transboundary water resources issues to water supply and sanitation in the household level. He has been seasoned through long-term posts in Southern Asia, Southern Africa and East Africa.

Most of his career Jukka has worked in the private sector. In addition he has worked twice for long-term positions at the Finnish Red Cross international operations. He has worked in Project Manager, Director and Coordinator positions in Finland, Eswatini and Mozambique, as Capacity Building and Monitoring Specialist in Nepal and as a Chief Technical Adviser in Kenya. He also worked as a Civil and Military Cooperation Officer in Afghanistan in 2002-2003.

Mr. Ilomäki holds a MSc in Environmental Engineering, Water Resources Management as a major, from Aalto-university (Helsinki) and has also studied extensively Development Studies at Helsinki University, Faculty of Social Sciences, and Arctic Environment and Engineering at The University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS).