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The UISPP board is following daily the evolution of the Covid-19 pandemic and its serious consequences on people's health and the global economy. All archaeologists are concerned and most of you are confined waiting for the epidemic wave to decline. We hope you are not infected with the virus and wish you well. You are wondering about the holding of the 19th UISPP congress in Meknes (Morocco) in early September 2020. Please be aware that we regularly following the situation with our Moroccan colleagues of the steering committee of the congress. The 9th WAC Congress, scheduled for early July 2020 in Prague, has been postponed. The EAA congress scheduled for the end of August 2020 in Budapest has been confirmed until now. What should we decide for the 19th UISPP Congress? We are not in control of the process of decreasing the epidemic, which will be at its peak in Europe and probably in Morocco, from March to May 2020. Moreover, the decision to hold the Congress or postpone it does not depend solely on our decision but primarily on the directives of the countries affected by the epidemic, prohibiting meetings, cancelling transport and closing borders. The alternative is simple: either we maintain the date or we postpone the congress to June or September 2021, in the same place (Meknes, Morocco). It is at the beginning of June that we will have sufficient visibility to make a decision. For the time being, the conference organizing committee plans to maintain the conference date from September 1 to 6, 2020 and we support them with this in mind. We therefore propose to register, without delay, on the conference website and to submit your communication proposals. Even if the conference is postponed until 2021, your registration will still be valid, the payment validated and your communications taken into account. On the other hand, we suggest that you be very careful with your hotel booking and especially airline tickets, opting for refundable or changeable reservations.
We will be back to you at the end of May to inform you of the evolution of the situation.
For the UISPP board The President, François Djindjian