Information Note for Participants

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) wishes to extend its welcome to all participants in the upcoming Ninth Session of the Committee on Regional Cooperation and Integration, back-to-back with the ECA-OECD-ECLAC Policy Dialogue on “Africa and Latin America at a Cross-roads: addressing structural transformation in the new global landscape”, to be held in Addis Ababa, on 7-11 December 2015. The venue of the meeting will be the United Nations Conference Centre Addis Ababa (UNCC) within ECA’s premises. It is important to take note of the following information which will further assist you in the planning and logistics of your travel to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

IMMIGRATION REQUIREMENTS

Visas are required for all visitors/delegates traveling to Ethiopia, except for nationals of Djibouti and Kenya. Visitors from countries that have Ethiopian diplomatic missions are required by the Ethiopian Immigration Authorities to secure their visas from those missions before departure. These include holders of diplomatic and service passports as well as United Nations Laissez-Passer.

If your country does not have an Ethiopian diplomatic mission, ECA will assist you in obtaining a visa upon arrival.  In this case, please send us the following well in advance:  

• Scanned copy of Passport details where you have your picture, name, nationality, date of birth, date of issue, expiry date and issuing Authority.

Please send the information to the following ECA Staff: Ms. Mulumebet Arega (marega@uneca.org) and Ms. Mekdes Kassa (mkassa@uneca.org). 

HEALTH REQUIREMENTS

Visitors to Ethiopia should be in possession of a valid health certificate for yellow fever.  Vaccination against cholera is also required for any person who has visited or transited a cholera-infected area within six days prior to arrival in the country.

Please be aware of the geographical location of Addis Ababa, which is at an altitude of about 7,631 feet (2326) m. Acclimatization to this elevation is normally not a problem, but sometimes it might take a few days. Symptoms may include headache, increased breathing (hyperventilation), fatigue, nausea, dizziness and sleep disturbance.

For prevention you may drink extra water (as increased breathing leads to water loss), and also avoid additional salt and heavy meals. Alcohol could worsen sleep disturbance.

The United Nations Health Centre (UNHCC), which is located on the ground/zero floor of the UNCC, provides emergency medical services to participants/delegates attending meetings during working hours.

In case of a medical or dental emergency, please contact the following:

United Nations Health Care Centre

      Telephone:  + 251 – 115 - 51 58 28 or 51 72 00 ext. 88888 or 448888

      ECA Ambulance Telephone: + 251 – 115 - 51 42 02 or 51 58 28.

      Service to delegates/participants is provided on a cash-payment basis.

HOTEL ACCOMMODATION

You can find the list of recommended hotels within walking distance of ECA below. Participants are encouraged to make their own hotel booking choosing among the hotels that are within walking distance to the ECA to facilitate their timely participation to the sessions. Note that ECA shuttle service from the airport will be available only to one of the hotels in the list below.

If you are experiencing difficulties with booking a hotel, you can inform ECA which will help secure the booking.

List of hotels within walking distance from ECA

RECEPTION ON ARRIVAL

Participants will be met on arrival at Bole International Airport and will be assisted with the formalities regarding immigration and customs by the ECA Protocol Unit. Kindly note that there is a non-refundable fee of US$ 50 for processing visas upon arrival at the airport (for those not holding a Laissez-Passer or diplomatic passport), which will be borne by the participant. Date and time of arrival in Addis Ababa with the flight details should be communicated to the ECA. All subsequent changes in flight itineraries should also be communicated well in advanced.  

REGISTRATION AND IDENTIFICATION BADGES

Registration will take place on Monday 7 December 2015 at 8:30 a.m., at the DelegateRegistrationBuilding, in front of UNCC Gate (Delegates Gate 2), where participants will be issued an identification badge. A full list of confirmed participants will be made available to the ECA Security and Safety Service and participants have to carry their identification document (passport) to be allowed entry into the United Nations compound.

Kindly also carry your invitation letter for on site registration/accreditation. For identification and security reasons, identification badges issued for the meeting should be worn by all participants at all times during the Conference and at official social functions.

TRANSPORT

You will arrive at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, which is located about 5-7 kilometres from ECA. Upon your arrival, a staff member of the ECA Protocol Unit will be holding a ECA workshop banner at the arrivals gate. ECA will provide courtesy transport that will pick participants on arrival at the airport to their hotel of choice. Participants who wish to make their own alternative arrangements to different non-designated hotels will not be covered under this common transport arrangement.  

ECA buses will ferry participants back and forth from the hotels reserved for participants to the conference venue in the mornings and at the end of the daily sessions.

ICT SERVICES

UNCC is equipped with Wi-Fi.  Contact the conference services information desk should you have problems accessing the Wi-Fi/Internet. There is a BusinessCenter that caters for participants on cash-payment basis.

Please be advised that Blackberry Services are not available in Ethiopia.

MOBILE PHONES

Participants can come to Addis Ababa with their dual band mobile handsets (900/1800 MHZ). Ethiopian Telecommunication Company (ETC) offers SIM Cards with pre-charged airtime.

CLIMATE

Ethiopia has two main seasons. The dry season lasts from October through May, and the rainy season starts in late June and ends in September. Temperatures depend on the season and altitude. Currently, the weather is warm and sunny during the day. Temperatures can drop to about 10-14 degrees during the night and early mornings. Participants are advised to carry warm clothing (especially during the evenings).

ELECTRIC SUPPLY

Electric supply in Ethiopia is 220-240 volts, 50 cycles AC accessible via 13-amp, two-pin (Italian) socket.

CURRENCY

Ethiopian currency is denominated in “Birr” and “cents”. The United Nations official exchange rate during October 2015 was about $ ETB = US$ 21.02

There is a branch of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia within the ECA compound – located in the Rotunda. This Bank is open Monday – Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. and from 2:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.  The Bank is closed on Saturdays and Sundays. There is also an authorized exchange centre (Forex) at the Sheraton and Hilton Hotels and ATM machines for Visa/Mastercard users at the Sheraton, Hilton and Intercontinental hotels, as well as at the ConferenceCenter which will give you money in birr.

DSA PAYMENTS

Participants attending the Ninth Session of the Committee Meeting from 7 to 9 December 2015, and continuing to the Policy Dialogue on 10-11 December 2015, will be paid a Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) at UN Addis Ababa rate (US$ 207), to take care of their expenses (e.g. hotel, all meals, including lunches, and all incidentals-telephone etc.) resulting from their stay. There are several lunch facilities in the ECA premises (Sheraton cafeteria and Sheraton delegates lounge, Kaldis Coffee among others) and close by to the ECA. All these facilities only accept Birr in cash as a form of payment. Participants are advised to change some foreign currency into Birr for their lunches. Participants are also advised to settle all their hotel bills from their DSA payment before they check out as ECA will not be responsible for any bills left unpaid at the hotel.

We look forward to your arrival in Addis Ababa.