Royalty in the News

Monday marked the beginning of the 30th annual International Arab Children’s Congress, taking place in Amman. Started by the late King Hussein in 1980, the Congress seeks to discuss and bring about solutions to global issues young people are facing.

REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed

The King’s widow, Queen Noor, was at the Congress’ opening ceremony which featured Lebanese singer Nancy Ajram, who is UNICEF’s regional goodwill ambassador to the Middle East and North Africa.

Each year, the Congress focuses on a different issue. For 2010, the topic is the environment. During this week, 150 participants from 20 countries, between the ages of 14 and 16 will come up with ways to protect the planet, discuss how harming the environment harms its inhabitants and talk about alternative energy.

“[Environment] is a topic of critical importance to many of our countries, given the fragile nature of our geographies, the chronic shortage of water in many regions, and increasing population pressures,” Queen Noor said in a statement issued by the King Hussein Foundation’s National Center for Culture and Arts (NCCA)

“The goal of the congress is to raise awareness of this issue, and promote better understanding of the dangers we all will face if this threat is not tackled immediately and boldly. We hope to inspire our network of future leaders to clearly and courageously insist that in the future, the air that we breathe will be clear, the water we drink will not be contaminated, and the food that we eat will be safe,” Queen Noor added.

Originally meant for Arab children, the Congress expanded to include European and Asian youths in 2004 for its annual gathering.

Source: Jordan Times