Discovery Central Asia: Focus. The great game

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Focus. The great game

"The Challenge which YBI has taken on is to combat the sheer waste of human life that is presented by youth unemployment, by helping young people to work for themselves and build their own businesses".

H. R. H. The Prince of Wales

Uzbekistan, the hidden jewel of Central Asia, has been selected to be the location of the first of a series of fundraising projects for Youth Business International, part of The Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum, raising funds to create jobs for youth in Asia.
In the Republic of Uzbekistan, we are delighted that this project will be run in partnership with the British Council and director, Neville McBain. The aims and objectives of our two organisations are very similar, "Putting People First", with a particular emphasis on encouraging and inspiring the youth, to be all they can be.
The Prince of Wales set up The Princes Trust in 1976, with the goal of helping young people aged between 18-30yrs fulfil their potential. The Prince had just left the Navy and was looking for ways he could contribute his time and energy to help people. In starting The Princes Trust he began a commitment to help them and 28yrs on the results of the Trust's delivery of The Princes vision are impressive, 470'000 young people have benefited in total. Thousands of young people have been given the opportunity to fulfil their ambitions and it has gained a worldwide reputation for creating sustainable youth businesses and giving young people greater respect, economic independence and improved employability.
To date, twenty countries have Youth Business International programmes all based on the methodology developed by The Princes Trust. Each was developed independently by local partners and was modified to reflect local conditions and needs. These countries include India, China, Indonesia, Canada and Malaysia.
The British Council has been working in Uzbekistan since 1996 and from it's Tashkent office also covers the neighbouring republics of Tajikistan and Turkmenistan - and even until recently Northern Afghanistan. Their mutual work is chiefly in the fields of education, English language, social development, arts and creativity. "It was Prince Charles who opened our office in 1996";, says Neville McBain "and we are particularly pleased to be now working in partnership with one of his charities in Central Asia; as we both share a common purpose of trying to create opportunities for young people, especially helping with their learning needs".

"he Princes Trust isn't afraid to take risks and trusts in young people who society have given up on".

Pierce Brosnan

THE CHALLENGE
I first introduced the concept of The Challenge to The Prince of Wales in October 2003 in Delhi, India, while he was visiting a youth project I was managing there. He immediately indicated his enthusiasm and support for this project and his wishes for its success .
The aim of The Challenge is to run a 14 day, sponsored competition to cross the Kyzylkum desert, between the ancient oasis towns of Bukhara and Khiva in October 2005. Mixed teams of Uzbek, UK, international participants and celebrities will compete in daily challenges, retracing epic journeys along the Silk Road, with the minimum of modern-day equipment, on camel horse and foot. The whole event will be a partnership venture with the Uzbek people sharing knowledge, expertise and talents.
The event will be very high profile and will attract international media coverage. The target is to raise $625'000 of international sponsorship to help disadvantaged youth in Asia become entrepreneurs and to set up their own businesses.
We believe that one of the outcomes of this project will be greater international awareness of the hidden jewel in Central Asia, The Republic of Uzbekistan. We anticipate that the extensive media coverage will give an insight into the unique cultural heritage, traditions and landscapes of the country and may in turn result in a significant boost in tourism.
The project will also highlight the themes of Excellence and Partnership among young people, with the participation of youth role models including Olympic athletes from Uzbekistan. Our intention is to create a platform from which the Uzbek youth can demonstrate their talents in fashion, music and sport.
The event is planned to be the first of an international series taking place annually, therefore Uzbekistan will be regarded as one of the founding international partners.
Today The Prince continues to take an active interest in the work of The Trust and does whatever he can to build awareness of its successes and of the need to carry on giving young people a sense of direction, achievement and self worth.
It is indeed a great pleasure to have the opportunity to work in partnership with the people of Uzbekistan on this project and I look forward to getting to know the people and the places very well over the next year.

Linda Cruse Director

The Great Game Challenge Fundraising Project for
Youth Business International, a unit of, www.thegreatgamechallenge.comThe Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum
E-mail: lindacruse@thegreatgamechallenge.com
www.thegreatgamechallenge.com

Discovery Central Asia #10

Discovery Central Asia supplement #4/2005