Afghanistan support conference - Media accreditation and website details

Media accreditation

The French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (MAEE - Ministère des Affaires étrangères et européennes) has opened the accreditation procedure for the International Conference in Support of Afghanistan on 12 June 2008 for members of the French and foreign press.

1. – French journalists holding press cards are asked to follow the usual practice of applying to the MAEE’s accreditation office, which will centralize their applications. A copy of the journalist’s press card, or in the case of technical staff without press cards, the applicant’s identity or residence card, must be enclosed with each application. Applications must reach the office at the latest by Tuesday, 10 June.

2. – Foreign correspondants accredited in France holding a card issued by the MAEE should apply to the MAEE enclosing a copy of their press card. Applications from French technical personnel without press cards must be accompanied by a letter from a senior member of their media organization’s editorial team.

3. – Foreign journalists not accredited with the MAEE must make their application, enclosing a copy of their press card, through the Paris embassy of the country in which their press organization has its headquarters, or, in the case of independent journalists, through the Paris embassy of their country of origin. The embassies will pass the applications on to the MAEE in Paris.

Address:

Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (MAEE),

D.C.I. Sous-direction de la Presse - Bureau 25

37, Quay d’Orsay

75700 PARIS 07 SP

fax: 01 43 17 47 41

Badges may be collected from Wednesday, 11 June 2008 at the MAEE, DCI-bureau 25 from 9.30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2.30 p.m. to 5 p.m. and on Thursday, 12 June 2008 at the accreditation office set up at the Press Centre, 23 rue La Pérouse - 75016 Paris at 8 a.m.

For more information

Website details

At the request of the Afghan authorities, France will host on 12 June an international conference in support of Afghanistan, co-chaired by President Sarkozy, President Karzai and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. A dedicated Internet site has been set up for the event in conjunction with the Afghan authorities and the United Nations. It can be accessed in French and English at:

www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/conference-afghanistan

The site lists the main objectives of the conference which aims to reaffirm the international community’s commitment to the Afghan people, with the ambition in particular of the ’Afghanization’ of international aid, which Foreign and European Affairs Minister Bernard Kouchner spoke of at the International Civil Society and Private-Sector Forum in Paris on 24 May 2008.

In addition to the official statements and reference texts which frame the international community’s action in Afghanistan, the site also offers testimony in text and images of a country on the move in the face of political, economic and social challenges. At the end of the conference, the conclusions and the amount of the partners’ financial commitments will also be listed./.