CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation sr[1] (in 2000–2021 Crisis Management Initiative ry[2]) is an independent Finnish non-governmental organisation that works to prevent and resolve conflict through informal dialogue and mediation.

[7] In 2017, it campaigned to raise more than 600,000 euros from about 9,000 private donors as a surprise "birthday present" to Ahtisaari to fund more than 15 extra rounds of mediation talks.

[8] Nobel Peace laureate and former President of Finland Martti Ahtisaari founded CMI on 24 August 2000,[9] the same year he became chairman of the International Crisis Group.

After stepping down as the President of Finland that year, Ahtisaari declined the post of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees because he wanted to focus instead on addressing the root causes of conflicts.

The main tasks of the organisation in its early years were to assist Martti Ahtisaari in his numerous international assignments, to participate in policy discussions, and to advocate capacity-building in civilian crisis management.

[citation needed] In 2008, President Ahtisaari was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for his important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts".

In its announcement, the Norwegian Nobel Committee also recognized Ahtisaari and CMI's central role in the Aceh process as well as their work in mediating peace in Iraq in 2008.