The 9th World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) was held at Excel London on 29 – 31 October 2013 under the theme “Changing World, New Relationships”. The forum aimed to encapsulate the emergence of new economic linkages between nations across borders, religions and cultures in a fast changing world.

During the Forum, Mosaic was delighted to jointly deliver a masterclass session addressing Youth Unemployment and Apprenticeships with the Ashoka Foundation and Youth Business International (YBI). The session showcased the role of the Prince’s Charities, of which Mosaic is a part, in tackling youth unemployment and apprenticeships. A key component of the masterclass was discussion around the role of entrepreneurship in reducing youth unemployment; a particularly timely discussion as we prepare for the launch of 2013/2014 Apax-Mosaic Enterprise Challenge during Global Entrepreneurship Week, which will take place during 18-24 November 2013.

Photo from left to right: Shabir Randeree [Mosaic National Advisory Board Member], Vishnu Swaminathan [India Country Director, Ashoka Foundation] and Andrew Ward [Development Director, YBI].

The masterclass session was designed as an in-depth analysis to address the issues surrounding youth unemployment, set within the context of the recent global financial crises and the repercussions of the Arab Spring, both which have contributed to devastating consequences for jobs around the world, particularly affecting young people. The session highlighted the gravity of the situation for young people, presented hard facts and relevant statistics to demonstrate that without careful intervention, we look at facing catastrophic problems in the near future.

Mosaic’s National Director Jonathan Freeman commented: “I am thrilled that Mosaic was given the opportunity to bring these critical issue to the 9th WIEF in partnership with the Ashoka Foundation and Youth Business International. Our joint masterclasses was designed to offer an in-depth analysis of some difficult and complex scenarios: how powerful is an apprenticeship framework in tackling youth unemployment? What is the extent of its outreach? How can we do more to bring more jobs to young people? We championed our Apax-Mosaic Enterprise Challenge programme, which inherently tackles youth unemployment by encouraging entrepreneurship, through raising aspirations and facilitating the development of skills and confidence necessary to achieve those aspirations.”

Held outside of the Muslim World for the very first time, the 9th WIEF convened in London for 2013. The WIEF aims to promote dialogue and co operation among both Muslim and non-Muslim business men and women, in the belief that collaboration is the salient feature of 21st century international relations. Nizam Uddin, Head of Development and Communications at Mosaic commented: “Business partnerships can become genuine bridges towards peace and prosperity between the Muslim and non-Muslim world. Mosaic is thrilled to be a part of this 9th WIEF and to share our expertise in using business and entrepreneurship to promote young people’s aspirations and build cross-cultural bridges, particularly as this year it is hosted in London: one of the leading financial and cultural centres of the world and the business gateway between the Muslim and non-Muslim world.”

Find out more about our plans for Enterprise Challenge 2013/2014