News Releases
ImagineNations Joins Conference on Building Bridges between East and West
Summit in London to Address Challenges facing Youth in the Middle East
LONDON (19 August 2005) — ImagineNations® Group executives are scheduled to participate in an international conference this weekend on issues facing the East and West, hosted by Middle East television personality, Amr Khaled, and the Right Start Foundation, a non-profit organization based in London.
This historic event, entitled "Working Together for a Better Future," to be held on the 21st of August at the Wembley Conference Centre, will draw more than 300 participants, leaders and scholars seeking ways to inspire a new era of youth employment to fight poverty and draw on solutions, as well as challenges facing Muslim and Arab youth with a spotlight on young women and adolescent girls.
Rick Little, president and CEO of ImagineNations, will address the conference participants twice, as well as lead a discussion on "Employing Youth: Making Poverty History."
"ImagineNations is proud to participate is such an event at this moment in time that will address ways to solve some of the most pressing issues in today’s global society," said Little. "It is critical that we pause and take stock as we begin to deal with the growing youth unemployment epidemic, one of the most daunting challenges facing us in the coming years, especially in the Middle East. Youth unemployment already stands at the highest level on record, and no single leader or organization can address this challenge alone."
"In light of recent events in the world and here in London, this conference is an opportunity for us to work together and to take a positive look toward the future at a most critical time for the Middle East and its relations with the West," Little noted.
The conference will highlight and encourage debate on unemployment, poverty, crime levels, drug abuse and the suppression of women in the Middle East. The Right Start Foundation, in partnership with ImagineNations, will also release early findings from a ground-breaking survey that captures views on employment and entrepreneurship of more than one million Arab and Muslim youth, parents and business leaders.
"We are pleased to have worked with Amr Khaled and the Right Start Foundation in conducting such innovative research," said Alan H. Fleischmann, managing director of ImagineNations. "The extraordinary turnout of more than one million respondents only further underscores the importance of this conference and highlights an extraordinary opportunity for positive change, negating impressions that there is such apathy among youth. Young people want to make their voices heard and live out their dreams to lead productive lives."
ImagineNations is pleased that its partner, the Nike Foundation, also committed to sponsoring the summit to help raise awareness of the problems facing young women and adolescent girls in the Middle East.
Other conference speakers include scholar Sheikh Hebeeb Ali Aljifri; football legend Mahmoud Al Khatib and former Chelsea player Eddie Newton; actor Mohamed Sobhi; and entertainers Sami Yusif and Masood Kurtis.
About the ImagineNations® Group
The ImagineNations® Group is a global alliance of social entrepreneurs, thought leaders, investors, financial institutions, global brands, media and organizations—all working together with and for young people to inspire positive change in society. As a catalyst, a broker of relationships, a storyteller and an advocate, ImagineNations’ mission is to mobilize young people around the world in envisioning for themselves and their respective countries a better life. ImagineNations seeks to inform and influence policy and program development, particularly those related to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).