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SUMMARY:Development for the Future of the Middle East... Through Football 
 - Yamam Nabeel\, FC Unity
DTSTART:20081121T173000Z
DTEND:20081121T190000Z
UID:TALK15334@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Harry Bullivant
DESCRIPTION:Yamam Nabeel was born in Baghdad\, Iraq. His parents\, both di
 stinguished academics\, were at the forefront of Iraqi intellectual societ
 y\, until the Ba’athist regime tried to suppress the works of his father
 \, a much loved poet and outspoken critic. The family had to flee Iraq and
 \, after 18 months living out of suitcases across the Middle East and Euro
 pe they settled in Hungary\, their first home in exile.\n\nJust two weeks 
 after the invasion of Iraq at the age of 27\, Yamam was able to obtain an 
 interview with Bernd Stange for Sky Sports. They developed an instant rapp
 ort and found much common ground in their approach to peace-building and c
 onflict resolution. An idea was born to bring the Iraq national football t
 eam for a UK tour. After nine months - in May 2004 - the Iraq national tea
 m was able to tour the UK and play three key games.\n\nYamam and his partn
 ers launched FC Unity - then Football for Unity - a new football not for p
 rofit initiative charged with bringing together Muslims and the wider Brit
 ish society through the power of the ‘Beautiful Game’. Following the L
 ondon tube bombings FC Unity was the only organisation to host a community
  event to commemorate the 7/7/7 Anniversary.\n\nFC Unity soon had plans to
  become a global programme\, harnessing the universal appeal of football\,
  to provide a platform for education and development and empower young peo
 ple and help build communities.\n\nIn November 2007\, Yamam returned to Ir
 aq after 28 years in exile. His writing from exile is a work in progress i
 nspired by his return to his homeland. In July 2008\, the FC Unity Hope To
 ur was launched in Iraq\, designed as programme to use football as a strat
 egy for youth development\, peace-building\, and employment opportunities 
 for Iraq’s young at-risk population\n\nThe Programme is supported by the
  Prime Minister\, Gordon Brown\, and the US State Department. There are pl
 ans to expand the programme to other countries in the Middle East and Afri
 ca. These will include Sudan\, Somalia\, the DRC\, Egypt\, Lebanon\, Afgha
 nistan and the Palestinian Occupied Territories.
LOCATION:Fellows Dining Room\, Churchill College
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