Seventh EDCTP Forum cancelled
The Seventh EDCTP Forum scheduled to take place in Dakar, Senegal from 21-24 October 2013 has been cancelled. This is due to unforeseen circumstances following a sudden change of venue for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) heads of state summit from Lomé, Togo to Dakar.
EDCTP has received an official communication from the Senegalese government through the Ministry of Health, the host and co-organiser for the Forum, informing us that the ECOWAS summit is now going to be hosted in Dakar at the King Fahd Palace Hotel, the venue for this year’s EDCTP Forum. Unfortunately, the ECOWAS summit overlaps with the Forum; following a directive from the Senegalese Presidency, the two events cannot take place in parallel at the same venue.
Despite considerable efforts on the part of the Seventh EDCTP Forum Organising and Programme Committees, and exploration of every possible avenue, we have been unable to find a suitable alternative venue for holding the conference or accommodation for the large number of participants to be displaced at this very short notice. Therefore, after consultation with the EDCTP Steering Committee, the very difficult decision has been made to cancel the Forum and to continue only with the high-level meeting scheduled on Monday 21 October.