(from left) First row: Amb. Dho Young-shim, Chairperson of UNWTO ST-EP Foundation and UN MDGs Advocate with the Ministers of Tourism of Niger, Libya, Romania and Niger. Standing: Dr. Taleb Rifai, UNWTO Secretary-General (6th from left), with the representatives of the Ministries of Tourism of Mozambique, Ecuador, Argentina, Cambodia, Ivory Coast, the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Rep. of Korea, H.E. Yoo Jinryon, and the Ministers of Tourism of Zimbabwe, Egypt, Bhutan, Tunisia and Iraq.

The First Founding Members Meeting of the new International ST-EP (Sustainable Tourism for Poverty Elimination) Organization took place on Nov. 6, 2013, during the 2013 World Travel Market (WTM) in London, and was co-hosted by Amb. Dho Young-shim, Chairperson of UNWTO ST-EP Foundation, and Dr. Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General of the UNWTO. The participants included Tourism Ministers and high-level officials representing the 29 countries that have expressed their interest in joining the new organization.

During its 20th session in Zambia and Zimbabwe on August 2013, the UNWTO General Assembly had unanimously approved the Secretary-General's proposal to transform the ST-EP Foundation into an independent international organization, encouraging State Members to consider joining the new organization. Subsequently, the UNWTO and the ST-EP Foundation have worked closely to invite States Members to join the future International ST-EP Organization, and to attend this First Founding Members meeting to play an active role in the establishment process. 
Amb. Dho, Chairperson of the ST-EP Foundation’s Board of Directors and UN MDGs Advocate greeted all participants and urged them to unite their energies and to take action so that they can quickly enjoy the benefits of being members of this promising international organization dedicated to the reduction of poverty and inequalities.