19 November 2008
A two-day inception workshop will take place today and tomorrow to launch a joint programme on sustainable cultural tourism in the country between Namibia and the United Nations (UN).
The launch comes as a result of the agreement signed two weeks ago between Namibia and the UN, where the Spanish government provided U$6 million through the Millennium Development Goal Fund to the said programme.
According to a media statement issued by the UN yesterday, the joint programme aims to draw cultural tourism development as a vehicle for poverty reduction in the country, particularly among women, disadvantaged and vulnerable groups, as well as for gender and HIV-AIDS mainstreaming.
The programme supports the government in achieving its developmental goals as elucidated in Vision 2030 and the National Development Plan III (NDP3).
"The inception workshop will serve to officially introduce the signed joint programme on sustainable cultural tourism in Namibia to a wider spectrum of stakeholders.
The purpose of the meeting is to device priority steps and coordinate efforts in the programme, exploring ways of strengthening cooperation and partnerships at national, regional and local level.
Ultimately, this will work towards preparing a road map for the successful implementation of the programme," the statement read.
The joint programme will also promote the sustainable use of cultural and natural resources, sustainable employment creation and income-generating opportunities through the implementation of five pilot models.
The models are cultural villages, cultural trails, cultural and interpretive centres, cultural industries and a geopark.
A geopark is a territory encompassing one or more sites of scientific importance, not only for geological reasons but also by virtue of its archaeological, ecological or cultural value.
The geopark will be the first of its kind in Africa.
The workshop will bring together some 80 participants from national and regional offices of line ministries, local authorities, cultural and educational institutions and bodies, the UN as well as non-governmental organisations and the private sector active in the domain of cultural tourism.
Nampa
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