The UNWTO was present at the 3^rd Seminar on the Promotion of Women Entrepreneurs in Africa which was held in Windhoek, Namibia, on 7 and 8 March 2012, organized under the aegis of the Fundación Cultural BANESTO, on the occasion of the World Women's Day celebrated by the United Nations for the promotion of women's rights and gender equality.

The objective of this seminar was to reinforce the national dimension of the sustainable and responsible tourism network of the Fundación Cultural BANESTO in Namibia, by encouraging the exchange of experiences among women entrepreneurs from different regions of the country. The seminar debated the different approaches to sustainable tourism development and gender equality, and discussed the opportunities and threats that have to be overcome for sustainable tourism development in Namibia. Case studies were also presented as part of the training programmes in the area of hotel and restaurant management, as well as on vegetable farming and handicrafts conducted in Africa.

The UNWTO, for its part, presented its ST-EP Initiative, in particular the project currently under way on Tourism Training for Women Entrepreneurs in the Rural Regions of Namibia, focusing on two aspects: sponsoring rural women in the area of management and culinary arts in order to better position themselves in the tourism sector, and supporting micro-projects by women entrepreneurs so they can generate better income for the benefit of their communities. The women identified by the ST-EP project were presented at the Seminar on the Promotion of Women Entrepreneurs in Africa.

This project, which has received the support of one UNWTO Volunteer, was made possible thanks to financing by the Spanish International Cooperation and Development Agency, AECID.

The UNWTO's participation comes within the framework of an agreement signed in March 2011 between the UNWTO and Fundación BANESTO for the development of sustainable and responsible tourism in Africa, particularly in Mozambique, Namibia and Tanzania. For more information, please visit www.turismo-solidario.es