Fifth UN-SPIDER Regional Support Office established in Algeria

The third African Leadership Conference on Space Science and Technology for Sustainable Development opened on 7 December 2009 in Algiers with a signing ceremony between the Algerian Space Agency and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs to establish a UN-SPIDER Regional Support Office (RSO).

The head of UNOOSA's delegation, Niklas Hedman, told conference participants that "today a large number of global and regional mechanisms and initiatives exist to support Member States in implementing the use of space tools and solutions." With regard to UN-SPIDER's work in forming a network of RSOs in Africa, he noted that "UN-SPIDER already has a productive working relationship with the Algerian Space Agency", the most recent example of which was the provision of expert services by the Agency for a UN-SPIDER Technical Advisory Mission to Burkina Faso. UN-SPIDER is looking forward to deepening its relationships with the Algerian Space Agency based on this new agreement.

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