Portugal will host the International Conference on Drug Trafficking in Guinea Bissau, which will take place on Wednesday, 19 December, at the Nónio Room in Pavilhão Atlântico (Parque das Nações). Participants in this conference include members of the International Contact Group for Guinea Bissau, representatives from EU member states, the prime minister and ministers for justice and home affairs from Guinea Bissau, as well as members of government from Cape Verde and Angola and representatives from several other countries.
The Lisbon Conference was promoted after the signature, in Lisbon, on 21 August 2007, of a Memorandum of Understanding to Fight Drug Trafficking in Guinea Bissau, in which Portugal and Guinea Bissau recommended «the adoption of the appropriate institutional and operational means» to fight against drug trafficking, as well as mobilisation actions from the international community. This conference will seek to obtain the necessary financing to put in practice the Operational Plan to Support the Government of Guinea Bissau in the Fight against Drugs, set up with the technical support of the UNODC (United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime).
The prime minister of Guinea Bissau, Martinho Dafá Cabi, the secretary of state for foreign affairs and cooperation, João Gomes Cravinho, ONODC's executive director, António Maria Costa, ECOWAS's president, Mohamed Ibn Chambas and UNSG representative in Guinea Bissau, Shola Omoregie will speak during the opening session, which will take place between 10h00 and 10h45.
At 17h30 there will be a press conference with João Gomes Cravinho, Martinho Dafá Cabi and Shola Omoregie.
Journalists may obtain images and sound during the meeting's opening session, between 10h00 and 10h45.
Accreditations must be applied for through the usual procedures adopted for all events held at Pavilhão Atlântico.