Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, Tanzania, others get UNWTO new work programme endorsement

To fulfill its statutory obligations and look ahead to a full two years of transforming the tourism sector in all regions, the Executive Council of UNWTO endorsed the organisation’s Programme of Work for 2024 and 2025.
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The endorsement which took place at the 120th session of the Council held in Samarkand sets out the strategic objectives and programmatic priorities for the two years as new Members of the Council, namely: Nigeria, Ghana Rwanda, Tanzania, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, China, Colombia, Czechia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Republic of Korea, Lithuania and Namibia were welcomed.
  
The 120th session of the Executive Council was held in a clear spirit of international friendship and collaboration. Remarking, UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili, “We know where we are going, we know what we want, and we know our priorities for tourism.”
  
The Council thanked its outgoing members for their service and active participation in helping guide the organisation over the past four years.
The council members also endorsed the Democratic Republic of Congo to serve as First Vice-Chair of the Council, and for Jamaica to serve as Second Vice-Chair.
  
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will continue as the Chair of the Executive Council for 2024. His Excellency Ahmed Al Khateeb, Minister of Tourism for Saudi Arabia, thanked all Members for their support and reaffirmed his commitment to advancing shared priorities and the Programme of Work. UNWTO’s Secretary-General Pololikashvili also thanked Saudi Arabia for their continued leadership and for his consistent and ongoing active support of the tourism sector.
  
The Council fulfilled its statutory obligations with elections to its subsidiary bodies, with a commitment to fair and equal representation of all global regions. Members voted on the countries that will serve on the UNWTO Programme and Budget Committee until 2025 or 2027, including representatives of the non-Council Member States and from the Affiliate Members Network. The composition of the Council’s Committees on statistics, competitiveness, sustainability and online education were also determined.
  
To conclude the meeting, Members agreed that the 121st Session of the UNWTO Executive Council will take place in Prague, Czechia, in the first semester of 2024.
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