LONDON, 23 April 2012 - Forty emerging leaders from Arab
and European cities will meet in Abu Dhabi this week to explore
ways of creating and promoting entrepreneurship among unemployed
youth in the two regions.
The inaugural Itijah Venture, a four-day leadership
development course run by international organisation, Common
Purpose in partnership with the Emirates Foundation, will take
place at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Company from 23 to 26
April 2012.
Emerging leaders from seven cities which are Abu Dhabi,
Budapest, Istanbul, Alexandria, Benghazi, Manchester and Amman are
expected to attend to confront the challenge.
Unemployment has been a perennial problem for authorities in
the Arab world and is a pressing challenge in Europe with over
5.5million young people unemployed in Europe and 24million in the
Arab World.
During the four day Venture, participants will be set the
challenge of boosting the number of young people who create new
businesses using ICT (Information Communication Technology) and
social media, a compelling task, common to both European and Arab
regions.
Participants will explore the context of the before working
up ideas (whether big or small) to feedback to the Itijah Advisory
Group, which consists of experienced leaders from the participating
cities.
"The Arab world has witnessed tremendous change over the
past year and Common Purpose is excited to be expanding in the
region during these important times" said Julia Middleton, Chief
Executive and Founder, Common Purpose. "We are launching our latest
Venture to bring together emerging leaders from Europe and the Arab
world to work on a common challenge - youth unemployment - by
looking at ways to promote entrepreneurship amongst young people.
We are proud to hold the inaugural Itijah Venture in Abu Dhabi in
partnership with the Emirates Foundation and believe that the will
be a significant step forward for Common Purpose in the Arab
world."
International sponsors supporting the leadership initiative
include Cisco, Shell, Oracle, Newman's Own Foundation, PwC and DLA
Piper. The local sponsor for the first Itijah Venture is Etihad
Airways.
Commenting on the initiative, Maytha Al Habsi, Chief
Programs Officer at Emirates Foundation, said: "This initiative
highlights the Emirates Foundation's increased focus and commitment
to the youth sector. We are pleased that Abu Dhabi will be the
first Arab city to host Itijah. The event aspires to enhance cross
cultural awareness, build new networks between young people and
enable them to share and discuss ideas and visions to change the
world around them."
Itijah, meaning 'direction' in Arabic, is part of a series
of Ventures run by Common Purpose that will expand, enrich and
energise relations between two or more locations.
Other Ventures Common Purpose is currently developing
include Dishaa (India, UK), Dao Xiang (London, Shanghai), Pambili
(South Africa, UK), Yon (Turkey, UK) Dou Heung (Hong Kong,
Scotland) Kompas (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland,
Romania).