United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Hewlett-Packard (HP) are helping governments find e-solutions to their consular needs: in conjunction with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia and the Ministry of Hajj in Saudi Arabia, UNDP and HP have documented the implementation of e-Visa programmes in Armenia and Saudi Arabia in the new publication, "Virtual Consulate Primer: How to design and implement an e-Visa programme".

Countries considering implementing an e-Visa programme of their own have much to gain from Armenia and Saudi Arabia's experiences of introducing Virtual Consular Office e-Visa solutions. Armenia-the second country in the world after Australia to establish such a service-wanted to make consular services more accessible, while Saudi Arabia had an urgent need to improve coordination of the five to six million pilgrims traveling to the country annually to go to Mecca.

The primer also highlights key issues and concerns to be addressed by countries that are considering e-Visa solutions.

The e-Visa programme helps promote e-governance innovations in public management and makes visa services more accessible, which in turn creates new levels of back-office efficiency, fostering new competencies for public management and corresponding front-office responsiveness to end-user client needs.

Building on previous UNDP e-governance initiatives, the e-Visa report is the first in series of UNDP Virtual Consulate Primers. During the first quarter of 2006, UNDP, HP and the e-Governance Academy in Estonia are also planning an international workshop for countries that would like to implement their own Virtual Consular Office e-government solutions.

The authors will be available to respond to questions at the launch of the publication at the Summit. Copies of the e-Visa Best Practice publication will be made available, and advance copies can be obtained at the UNDP stand at the WSiS. The publication will also be available online at the UNDP's Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS website: www.undp.org/europeandcis