NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS MEDIA INFORMATION FOR WORLD CONFERENCE OF MINISTERS RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUTH
Press Release
NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS MEDIA INFORMATION FOR WORLD CONFERENCE OF MINISTERS RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUTH
19980805Lisbon, 8 - 12 August
The World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth will be held at the Lisbon International Congress Centre (LICC). The Portuguese Secretariat for Conferences 1998 is responsible for organizing the event in cooperation with the United Nations.
The Conference will be held at the Lisbon International Congress Centre Praça das Indústrias (FIL), 1301 Lisbon, Portugal. The time distance between the Congress Centre and the centre of Lisbon is approximately 15 minutes in non-peak hours; between the Congress Centre and Lisbon Airport, it is around 45 minutes.
A briefing for media attending the Conference will be held on 7 August at 5 p.m., local time. The briefing will be given by the Spokesperson for the Conference, and there will be an opportunity for journalists to ask questions. The pre-conference media briefing will be held at the Press Conferences Room, on the first floor of the LICC.
The official ceremony of hoisting of flags is scheduled for 9 a.m. on Saturday, 8 August, outside the main entrance of the LICC. The Portuguese Secretary of State for Youth and Secretary-General of the Conference, Miguel Fontes, and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Patrizio Civili, will attend the ceremony.
The President of Portugal, Jorge Sampaio, and Secretary-General Kofi Annan will open the Conference at 3 p.m., local time, in the Plenary Hall of the LICC. Delegates have been requested to take their seats before 2:30 p.m.
Visual media (television and photo) will be given access to the floor of the Plenary Hall, on a rotating basis, to film and take photos of the opening session.
Live coverage of the Plenary sessions will be broadcast on closed circuit television monitors installed in the media facilities located in the Media Centre, on the Ground Floor of the LICC.
A centre for registration of participants and media, and issuance of access and identification passes will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Tuesday, 4 August, until the end of the Conference, at the LICC, adjacent to the left of the main entrance of the Congress Centre. On Friday, 7 August, the Centre for Registration will remain open until 10 p.m. Upon registration, each media representative will be issued an identification card with his or her photograph and with a dark green colour bar.
Admission to the Congress Centre will require, at all times, presentation of identification cards. Media representatives are also required to have their identification cards visibly displayed while inside the LICC. The loss of an identification and/or access card must be reported immediately to the Conferences security personnel. No briefcases or personal belongings must be left unattended.
Daily press briefings by the Spokesperson for the Conference will be held daily at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. in the Press Conference Room located on the first floor of the LICC, that can also be used for press conferences by delegations and United Nations organizations. The dates and times of the press conferences will be visibly displayed at the Media Centre.
The programme of meetings will be printed in the Conference Journal, which will be issued on a daily basis and will specify the conference rooms and times of meetings. Morning meetings at the LICC are scheduled to take place from 9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and afternoon meetings from 3:00 p.m. to 6 p.m. When evening sessions are required, they will take place at 7 p.m.
Some events and/or meetings by United Nations agencies may take place at the Auxiliary Conference Site, located close to the LICC. The address of the Auxiliary Conference Site is the following: Universidade Lusíada; Rua da Junqueira, 14, 1301 Lisbon, Portugal.
Admission to the Auxiliary Conference Site will require, at all times, presentation of identification cards. Media representatives are also required to have their identification cards visibly displayed while inside Auxiliary Conference Site.
On-site facilities for media coverage and a working area for journalists will be available at the LICC Media Centre. Facilities will also be available for radio producers to take direct audio feeds (i.e. through plug-in to a distribution box) of both the language of the speaker (floor), and of the simultaneous interpretation in English of the Plenary debate.
Up-to-date information about the Conference, including daily highlights, audio of the Spokesperson daily briefings, documents and background information will be available throughout the conference on the United Nations Home Page on the Internet. The address is http://www.un.org/events/youth98.
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Accredited media representatives will be able to obtain official Conference documents and press releases at the Documents Distribution Area located in the Media Centre. Official documents of the Conference will be available in the languages of the Conference. Press releases will be available in English, French and Portuguese. The official Conference documents and the press releases will also be available on the Conference website.
Other Matters
1. Visa Requirements: Entry visas to Portugal must be obtained prior to departure. Portuguese Embassies and Consulates have received special instructions on issuing visas for participants in the Conference. Where a Portuguese Embassy or Consulate does not exist, journalists can obtain their entry visas to Portugal from any Embassy or Consulate of a State Party to the Schengen Treaty. Those countries are: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Spain. There is no provision made for media representatives to obtain entry visas to Portugal on arrival at Portuguese airports.
2. Electricity: The standard electricity in Portugal is 220 volts. It is advisable to bring conversion plugs or adapters, if needed.
3. Weather: Fair weather conditions are the rule at this time of the year in Portugal. The average temperature in Lisbon in August is between 28 and 35 degrees Celsius.
4. Public Telephones/Fax: Public telephone and fax facilities will be available using cards sold by and at the PORTUGAL TELECOM stand located on the Ground Floor of the LICC. The PORTUGAL TELECOM stand will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. from 8 to 12 August.
5. Bank: The Portuguese currency is the Escudo. Foreign currencies and foreign currency travellers cheques may be exchanged at the Caixa Geral de Depósitos bank agency located at the LICC, or at any other bank in Lisbon -- open from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. -- and in most hotels. The Caixa Geral de Depósitos bank at the LICC will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. from 8 to 12 August. Two ATMs (cash dispensers) will also be available during conference hours. Most international credit cards, such as Visa, Master Card, American Express and Diners Club may be used and are widely accepted in Portugal.
6. Travel Agency: The Travel Agency will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. from 8 to 12 August.
7. Parking for media service vehicles: There will be no parking facilities for private or rental vehicles. However, media service vehicles may be parked at the paid parking area facing the LICC, provided that special parking passes
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or other form of vehicle identification have been requested and issued. The passes/identification of the media service vehicles authorized to use the paid parking lot must be visibly displayed. Requests must be made in writing at the site. The number plates and the driver identification will be required for issuance of parking passes. Drivers are not allowed into the LICC or Auxiliary Congress Site premises. Media service vehicles authorized to use the parking lot may only be used by accredited media representatives.
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