President Obama co-chaired the first Summit-level meeting of the Group of Friends on September 24, 2009.
The Friends of Democratic Pakistan was created in September 2008 to galvanize international support for Pakistan’s democratically elected civilian government as it faces critical economic and security challenges. Participating nations help Pakistan by contributing technical expertise and policy advice to the Government of Pakistan’s own strategic planning efforts. The Group of Friends is a multilateral policy dialogue; not a forum for soliciting donor contributions.
The Group of Friends met a number of times in 2009. Pakistan, the United States, and the United Kingdom convened a Summit-level meeting of the group in New York on the margins of the UN General Assembly in September. A ministerial-level meeting took place alongside the Tokyo Donors Conference in Japan in April, and another Ministerial was held in Turkey in August. Abu Dhabi hosted expert-level meetings in March. The Pakistani Foreign Ministry also periodically convenes working group meetings in Islamabad.
-09/24/09 Friends of Democratic Pakistan Summit Meeting Concluding Statement by the Co-Chairs; New York City
-08/25/09 Statement at the Co-Chairs' Ministerial Meeting of the Friends of Democratic Pakistan; Istanbul, Turkey
-04/17/09 Chair's Statement at the Ministerial Meeting of the Friends of Democratic Pakistan; Tokyo, Japan
-04/02/09 Report of the Meeting of Experts of the Friends of Democratic Pakistan; Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
-11/17/08 Statement by the High Officials of Friends of Democratic Pakistan Group; Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
-09/26/08 Statement by the Chairmen of the Friends of Pakistan; New York City
