The State Department announces the launch of the new official website for the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia, www.thecgpcs.org.
The new website, operated by the Republic of Korea with support from the United States and United Kingdom, serves as a repository of Contact Group documents and other counter-piracy related materials; a cyber secretariat offering a virtual workspace for Contact Group participants; and a real-time information center for industry, academic researchers, and the general public regarding the Contact Group’s ongoing efforts.
The Contact Group, established in January 2009 pursuant to the UN Security Council Resolution 1851, is a voluntary ad hoc international forum of more than 70 countries, organizations, and industry groups with a common interest in combating piracy in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, and bringing pirates, as well as their financiers and facilitators, to justice. The Contact Group is the premier international forum for coordinating action against piracy, which is a transnational criminal enterprise that threatens commerce and humanitarian aid deliveries along one of the world’s busiest shipping corridors.
Among its accomplishments to date, the Contact Group has:
To learn more about U.S. support for international efforts against piracy, visit www.state.gov/t/pm/ppa/piracy/index.htm.