Media advisory for the Oslo Humanitarian Conference on Nigeria and the Lake Chad Region The conference is being held at Scandic Holmenkollen Park in Oslo on Friday 24 February from 10:00 to 17:30 OSLO, Norway, February 15, 2017/APO/ -- Norway is co-hosting the Oslo Humanitarian Conference on 24 February, together with Germany, Nigeria and the UN. The deadline for applications for media accreditation is 21 February. The conference is being held at Scandic Holmenkollen Park in Oslo on Friday 24 February from 10:00 to 17:30. For programme and more information, please see the conference website: http://OsloHumanitarianConference2017.org. You can apply for media accreditation by 21 February via the media page on the conference website: http://OsloHumanitarianConference2017.org/media1.cfm. The conference will be live streamed on the Norwegian government website regjeringen.no Media representatives can follow the conference from a press room at the hotel, where it will be streamed live. There will be a press conference with the organisers at 1:00pm. There will also be opportunities for interviews in the press room, and by arrangement in designated areas. Hashtag: #OsloHumConf. Press photos are available here. Press contact, Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Senior Communications Adviser Astrid Sehl, mobile phone + 47 92284752, email astrid.sehl@mfa.no  Civil society meeting on 23 February A separate civil society meeting is being held on 23 February, also at Scandic Holmenkollen Park in Oslo. This event will also be live streamed. Participants will include representatives of local NGOs in the four countries of the region and Norwegian and international aid organisations. The recommendations from the meeting will be presented at the humanitarian conference. Press contact for the civil society meeting: Line Hegna, mobil +47 47418247, email line.hegna@reddbarna.no Background 10.7 million people are in need of humanitarian aid in the Lake Chad region, which includes Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad. Most of the crisis-affected area is in north-eastern Nigeria. The UN, the Red Cross and other humanitarian organisations have launched major emergency appeals, and there is an urgent need for increased humanitarian assistance in the affected areas. Speakers at the opening session will include the Norwegian, German and Nigerian foreign ministers (Mr Børge Brende, Mr Sigmar Gabriel and Mr Geoffrey Onyeama), and Mr Stephen O’Brien, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. Ministers from the countries of the region, representatives of UN agencies and civil society representatives have also been invited to the conference.  Distributed by APO on behalf of Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.