Youth Engagement Services (YES) Network Pakistan
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE CELEBRATIONS OF GLOBAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP WEEK FESTIVAL
16th-19th NOVEMBER, 2008
RAWALPINDI ARTS COUNCIL
Spectacular and unprecedented scenes of joy, excitement and hope were witnessed during the first-ever celebrations of Global Entrepreneurship Week Festival in Pakistan. The event was held at Pakistan’s premier Auditorium the Rawalpindi Arts Council from 16th to 19th November 2008. The event was organized under the theme of “Advancing Youth Social Entrepreneurship in Pakistan”. The Youth Global Entrepreneurship Week Festival was organized by YES Network Pakistan in-collaboration with British Council and KSB Pumps as well as leading educational institutions of Pakistan. Over 500 young delegates took part in the event. These delegates came together to share ideas, experiences and visions of how they can take the lead in promoting positive change in their communities and becoming active and contributing citizens of the society.
During the festival a wide variety of inspirational activities were carried out such as orientation workshops, youth social entrepreneurship competition, poster competition and interactive theatre competition on the theme of “Youth as Changemakers” to inspire young people to embrace innovation, creativity and imagination.
The other striking feature of the Global Entrepreneurship Week Festival was the establishment of youth innovation market place through which young social entrepreneurs of YES Network Pakistan and its partner institutions showcase their ideas and service projects to others. YES Network Pakistan invited its young social entrepreneurs operating throughout Pakistan to share their service projects, success stories and challenges.
Despite of high security risks and fragile law and order situation in Pakistan, several notable dignitaries and personalities such as British High Commissioner Mr. Robert Brinkley, Ambassador of Philippines Mr. Jaime J. Yambao, Secretary of Youth Affairs Mr. Ashfaq, Chief Executive Officer NAVTEC Mr. Athar Tahir, Country Representative World Population Foundation Mr. Qadeer Baig, etc attended the event. In addition to that representatives of several public and private organizations such as UNFPA, UNDP, Ministry of Social Welfare, Chamber of Commerce, etc also attended the event.
On 16th November, YES Network Pakistan organized an orientation session on youth social entrepreneurship to prepare the students of 5 selected colleges for the upcoming Social Entrepreneurship Competition on 19th November. These 5 colleges were selected to participate in the final round of youth social entrepreneurship competition organized by YES Network Pakistan and British Council. The sessions started at 10.AM and finished at 5.00 PM.
In addition to that, YES Network Pakistan organized a poster competition on the theme of “Youth as Changemakers” among the young people of colleges and organizations. All the participants of the competition drew wonderful and inspirational posters highlighting the role of youth in bringing change in their communities. The young people also shared through posters the challenges and status of the youth in our society. A total of 46 posters were received. YES Network Pakistan constituted a team of experts to select top three posters for cash prize.
The first and second prizes were won by Government Waqar-u- Nisa College for Women Rawalpindi. The third prize was won by Rawalpindi Arts Council.
On 17th November, YES Network organized an interactive theatre competition on the theme “Youth as Changemakers”. YES Network Pakistan selected 6 teams for participating in the competition. All the six teams gave outstanding performances. A team of well renowned experts was constituted to select the winner of the competition. Based on the exceptional performance of Government College for Women Satellite Town Rawalpindi, they were awarded the first prize.
Fatima Jinnah Women University Rawalpindi College was declared second and Inspire Group of Young Girls from Lahore was declared third. The winners of the competition were given cash prizes by the Ambassador of Philippines Mr. Jaime J. Yambao.
The dawn of 18th saw several hundred young boys and girls dressed in colorful costumes lined in the Rawalpindi Arts Council compound eagerly waiting to enter into the premises of Rawalpindi Arts Council for celebrating the Global Entrepreneurship Week. Mr. Abdul Moqueet, Youth Service Volunteer of YES Network Pakistan was the master of the ceremonies, while welcoming distinguished guests and general public he began the proceedings of the day with the introduction of the Global Entrepreneurship Week and YES Network Pakistan to the general public. After the introduction an interactive theatre performance of the winner of the last day competition was held to highlight the theme of Global Entrepreneurship Week. The performance was highly appreciated by all the chief guests and young people. After the interactive theatre performance, British High Commissioner Mr. Robert Brinkley was invited to share his thoughts and views about the whole event. The High Commissioner appreciated the efforts of YES Network Pakistan in stimulating youth social entrepreneurship in Pakistan and organizing youth social entrepreneurship festival. He said that it is an honor for British Council to work with YES Network Pakistan in promoting youth social entrepreneurship in Pakistan.
Highlighting the significance of Global Entrepreneurship Week, Mr. Robert Brinkley stated that today in over 75 countries young people are sharing their talents, potential and creative abilities for bringing change in the society. He talked about how young people bring new ideas and fresh ways of thinking to help themselves, their families and their communities.
Ambassador of Philippines Mr. Jaime J. Yambao appreciated the efforts and accomplishments of YES Network Pakistan. The Ambassador stated that it augers very well for the future of Pakistan that such a unique initiative has been taken to channelize the energies of youth towards constructive pursuits. He further said that he is very pleased to meet with the young social entrepreneurs of YES Network Pakistan and he is very impressed with the work being carried out by them in the field.
Chief Executive Officer NAVTEC Mr. Athar Tahir congratulated YES Network Pakistan for organizing youth social entrepreneurship festival. He said that it is the need of the hour to design and implement such youth programs. He further stated that NAVTEC is also making sincere efforts to equip young people with sound knowledge and skills so that they can become contributing members of the society.
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Secretary Youth Affairs, Mr. Ashfaq Sahib also appreciated the efforts of YES Network Pakistan for introducing the youth service program in the country. He shared that Ministry of Youth is in final process of launching youth policy and we will work in close collaboration with YES Network Pakistan for the positive development of young people of Pakistan. |
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Country Representative World Population Foundation, Mr. Qadeer Baig expressed his felicitations to YES Network Pakistan for promoting youth social entrepreneurship in Pakistan. He stated that today a vast majority of population is comprised of youth population and unfortunately there is no youth policy in Pakistan to cater the needs of these young people. He said that World Population Foundation is planning to organize a youth summit to identify new ways and means of empowering youth of Pakistan.
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Country Representative YES Network Pakistan, Mr. Ali Raza Khan expressed thanks to all the chief guests and participants for participating in the event. He said that in Pakistan, the entire nation’s security and economic well being is in jeopardy because so many of our young people are left behind and ignored from the societal and economic mainstreams and are falling into disaster’s way. There is a youth quake in Pakistan, as 70% of the total population is under the age of 29. It is not only an enormous opportunity but also an enormous challenge. There are no separate programs or policies for disadvantaged, half-educated, socially-excluded youth in Pakistan. Enormous talent, intelligence and positive energy are being wasted as these young people are being left behind. He said that our idea is based on the concept that we should stop treating young people as empty vessels into which we pour our wisdom and instead we should treat young people as the most promising resource available to us in developing a new societal structure and meeting the high service needs of our communities. It is a program that envisions young people as part of the solution rather than part of the problem and a major force to bring positive change in the communities. We have demonstrated at various locations that once these socially excluded, marginalized, under-served and half-educated young people are provided structured opportunities to prove themselves they can be change champions. |
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A very thought provoking case study of a young social entrepreneur Mr. Frayad Masih of YES
Network Pakistan who is blind by birth was also presented on the occasion. Mr. Frayad shared
the experiences and challenges faced by him during his childhood. He shared with the
participants that when he was a kid his parents never counted him as a member of the family.
He was considered a liability. There were tears in the eyes of most people after listening to
his experiences. He never gave up and worked very hard to get the basic education. He stayed
determined despite of many challenges and failures. After completing his basic education and
diploma in computers, he joined one of the Youth Service Networks of YES Network Pakistan in
Lahore to teach the children of his community. Soon after he was given the opportunity by YES
Network Pakistan to set-up his computer center so that he can transfer computer skills and
knowledge to poor children. He shared that recently he has trained a batch of 12 young people
in basic computer skills. He feel so happy due to the fact that he has been able to make a
difference in the lives of the children of his community. He further said that despite of many
hardships he is fully determined to continue to work hard and render services to his people.
He urged all the young people sitting in the hall to waste no opportunity of helping others.
He said that if he can do something for the poor children why cant those young people who have
sight are waiting for things to happen. He urged the people to support such initiatives so
that other disabled young people may not waste their lives in misery. This case study created
a deep impression upon the people and was an eye opener for many in the audience.
Several songs and poetical pieces were introduced at various spots during the programme.
These were highly appreciated and enjoyed by the audience. They were related to
the morale of the youth and spurring them on to higher efforts. These pieces were presented by
the boys and girls of the YES Network Pakistan which lent a musical touch and dramatic force
to the programme and inspired the audience to be the difference that makes a difference.
YES Network Pakistan also invited his youth service volunteers operating in other parts of
Pakistan to share their work, experiences, challenges and accomplishments. Volunteers from
Azad Kashmir while sharing their thoughts had tears in their eyes as according to them the
youth service program has provided them an opportunity to once again stand on their feet after
the devastating earthquake. They further stated that youth service program has assisted so many
young people especially young girls to re-integrate into the society as active citizens and to
become self-reliant.
YES Network Pakistan presented certificates of participation to all its service volunteers
and participants of the competition. The awards were given by the chief guests and board members
of the YES Network Pakistan.
At the end, Governing Body Member of YES Network Pakistan Mr. Junaid Ahmed Qazi expressed vote
of thanks to all the participants of the events. He said that your participation in the event
has sent a very positive message to the youth of Pakistan that they are not forgotten. He
particularly thanked all the chief guests for attending the event despite of security risks.
He also thanked all the young people, media personnel, representatives of organizations, etc
for gracing the occasion.
Country Representative YES Network Pakistan, Mr. Ali Raza Khan expressed his heartfelt thanks
to Mr. Junaid Ahmed Qazi for displaying outstanding leadership capabilities in organizing this
event. He also thanked all the members of the YES team for demonstrating outstanding commitment
and dedication. He particularly thanked Hafiz Javaid Iqbal, Mr. Mujataba Qazi, Mr. Abdul
Moqueet, Ms. Sitwat Farooq, Ms. Sidra Afzal, Mr. Jamil Hyder, Mr. Rameez Shahzad, Ms. Fauzia
Qamar, Ms. Farzana Bashir, Ms. Anam Shaukat, Mr. Usama Waleed, Mr. Waqas Javed, Mr. Shahbaz
Rasheed and Mr. Babar Hussain for their hard work and contributions without which it would not
be possible to organize such a huge event.
A special chart was prepared to get the feedback of the high dignitaries and participants of
the event.
On the 19th November 2008, Youth Social Entrepreneurship Competition was held among the 5
selected technical and vocational colleges of Pakistan. These 5 colleges were selected out of
27 colleges. The purpose of the competition was to inspire young people aged between 16-21 to
embrace creativity and innovation and involve them in entrepreneurship programmes. This
competition is a joint initiative of YES Network Pakistan and British Council to create an
entrepreneurial culture in Pakistan. All the selected five teams were given sealed envelops at
the beginning of the day containing the challenge. Each team worked from 9 to 5 to develop their
ideas and projects on the given theme. At 5.00 PM all the five teams submitted their ideas and
projects for change. After that each team were given 90 seconds to present their ideas. YES
Network Pakistan and British Council has established a panel of renowned development workers
to choose one winner of the competition. The result of the winner will be announced at the end
of the November 2008.
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