With the 42nd World Economic Forum taking place in Davos, Switzerland, many of the world’s who’s who are gathering there to discuss ways to make the world a better place. Among them are a few of Europe’s royals – the Norwegian Crown Princely couple, Belgium’s Princess Mathilde and Dutch Princess Mabel.
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Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit are in Davos mainly to promote Haakon’s Young Global Leaders (YGL), which he has been involved in since it’s beginnings in 2005. But Mette-Marit took the time to chat with the press and explain to them why she recently set up her own Twitter account.
“I think Twitter is a fantastic opportunity to spread information about the exciting projects taking place around the world, especially driven by young people,” she said.
The Crown Prince does not yet have his own Twitter account, but said he might start one. “I think I’m quite active as I am. We’ll see if I get my own account. We have the joint account. Maybe I have my own later if I want.”
In addition, Mette-Marit praised Microsoft founder Bill Gates for donating nearly $1 billion to the GAVI Alliance, which gives vaccines to people in sub-Saharan Africa.
“We’re very concerned about global health. And now, Bill Gates once again placed a very good focus on this health care,” said Mette-Marit.
She also mentioned how exciting Davos can be as it draws people from all over the world to participate. “It was incredibly exciting to hear their perspectives on the world situation today. And I could have the opportunity to give them advice on how to use the World Economic Forum to promote their projects.”
Meanwhile, Princess Mathilde of Belgium is at Davos. She sat alongside the Norwegian royals during Angela Merkel’s speech Wednesday.
Also at Davos is Princess Mabel, the wife of Holland’s Prince Friso. She also has a Twitter account and has been tweeting her experiences at WEF. Among them, listening to U.N. Secretary General Ban ki-Moon point out that thousands of women still die in childbirth worldwide. Mabel voiced her dismay over that, saying “These are unacceptable, unnecessary deaths.”
Norway’s Crown Princely couple started off 2012 by attending the opening of the NHO – Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise – conference at the opera house in Oslo.
The conference is an annual meeting where leaders in the private and public sector, politicians, academics and experts meet to lecture and debate the future of Norwegian businesses.
Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit were introduced to Marit Foss upon arriving at the opera house. Foss is the general manager of the plumbing company Sverre Foss AS.
“The couple were very interested in business issues. We were four managers of small family-owned businesses had the pleasure to meet during one of the breaks, and both Mette-Marit and Haakon liked to hear about what we are doing,” Foss explained.
“Both are obviously very concerned that young people will succeed in completing their education, and we have on several occasions taken on apprentices who have had little trouble getting their lives in order. This benefits the business, youth and community.”
Among the topics to be gone over at the NHO conference is the economic crisis and the country’s aging population.
The Norwegian royal family are the latest to release Christmas photos this year. In the past, themes included playing outdoors and building a gingerbread house.
For 2011, this theme was simple. Queen Sonja read How The Snow Got Color by Dan Lindholm to her two grandchildren, Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus. The Princess, who will be 8 next month, listened intently while her 6 year old brother was more interested in the large Christmas tree behind them.
The Queen and Crown Princess Mette-Marit wore traditional Norwegian clothing for the photo shoot.
For Christmas this year, King Harald V and Sonja will join Crown Prince Haakon and Mette-Marit at their home outside Oslo at Skaugum Palace.
The heir to the Norwegian throne stopped by the northern city of Tromsø Wednesday. Crown Prince Haakon was there to help mark the 100th anniversary of explorer Roald Amundsen and Fridtjof Nansen arriving at the South Pole.
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“Amundsen and Nansen were the true heroes of a free Norway in the years after it gained its independence in 1905,” Haakon said at the Stortorget Market Square.
“Amundsen’s achievements helped to form our national identity and to carve out Norway’s position as a polar nation. We have good reason to celebrate today.”
The Crown Prince had a jammed pack agenda for Wednesday, which included visiting the Gyllenborg school where the students presented to him the Nansen / Amundsen exhibition. Some of the school’s projects were shown at Tromsø’s City Hall.
Haakon then saw at Erling Bangsunds Square a photo exhibit which displayed the recent knowledge of the Arctic Ocean.
Then, the Norwegian heir attended a lecture by Tor Bomann-Larsen on Roald Amundsen and his achievements.
Next came the Polar Parade through Stortorget Market Square. After that, Haakon went to see a Amundsen vs. Nansen play at the Hålogaland Theatre.
In front of the Norwegian royals, three women jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo Saturday.
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King Harald V, Queen Sonja, Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette Marit watched as Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and Leymah Gbowee, also from Liberia, and Yemeni journalist and activist Tawakkul Karman, were given the prestigious prize.
Sirleaf and Gbowee won for their works on democracy in Africa while Karman won for her role in this year’s Arab Spring.
“You give concrete meaning to the Chinese proverb which says that ‘women hold up half the sky,’” said Thorbjorn Jagland, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. “That was why, when giving its reasons for this year’s award, the Nobel committee stated that “we cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace in the world unless women acquire the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society.’ We thank you for the hope you awaken in us all.”
Prior to the ceremony, the women met with the King and Queen.
Yesterday, the three laureates met with Norwegian children at an meeting organized by the Save the Children Foundation. Together with Crown Princess Mette-Marit, the women talked to the children about making the world a better place.
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“When there is war and conflict, there are mothers and children who suffer most. When I see children affected by conflict and suffering, I am angry. But in the mind I am inspired to work harder for peace,” said Leymah Gbowee.
“It is difficult for children to live with years of conflict,” said Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. “Some people lack clean drinking water, access to health care and the opportunity to get an education. Our focus has been to focus on children and provide education. But the most important was to get children to smile. And I am pleased to say that children now smiling again.”
Tawakkul Karman said simply, “The world must be built with love and respect. We must stop the hate.”
Besides receiving the medal, Nobel Peace winners also take home $1.5 million. These three women will split the prize money.
The Crown Prince of Norway was recently in Nepal this week, where he came as a goodwill ambassador of the United Nations Development Program. Along with UNDP administrator Helen Clark, Haakon was in the Himalayan country to check out its HIV/AIDS programs, how Nepal is treating sexual minorities, as well as other issues.
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On Monday, His Royal Highness visited the Cruise AIDS, a Nepalese organization connected to the Blue Diamond Society. It focuses on fighting for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender rights. Upon his arrival, Crown Prince Haakon was welcomed by a group of transgenders who put on a performance for him and Helen Clark.
While at Cruise AIDS, Haakon learned about how the NGO spreads AIDS awareness and met with Sunil Babu Pant, one of Nepal’s first openly gay politicians.
The next day, the Crown Prince and Ms. Clark met with representatives of the Centre for Constitutional Dialogue, which aims to promote indigenous rights in the country. The two also went to Nepalgunj to open a market for small businesses. Those participating in the market were trained by UNDP’s vocational programs, and many of them are women.
Also on Tuesday, Haakon and Clark went to the village of Kamdi where they opened a health clinic for mothers and children. Although Nepal has lowered its infant mortality rate in recent years, it is still quite high. However, both Haakon and Clark said they were impressed by the achievements Nepal has made with expectant mothers and young children.
Norway’s Crown Princely couple will release a Christmas CD on Monday, November 14th to help raise money for disadvantaged youths through their charity fund. Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit will not be singing on the album, but the project is all theirs.
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“We are very pleased that these particular artists have taken the challenge from the Fund and will work with us to strengthen young people’s opportunities. We think the album project has been an exciting musical profile,” Haakon said in a statement.
It was the Crown Prince who approached Universal Music records about this idea.
The artists featured on the CD – called We Light Our Lanterns – include many of Norway’s young singers. They are: Ida Jenshus, Gunhild Sundli, Thomas Dybdahl, Moddi, Samsaya, Marit Larsen & Garness, Ingrid Olava, Katzenjammer, Stein Torleif Bjella and Vinni. These artists were approached because the Crown Princely couple felt Norwegian youth would respond to them positively.
“Working with youth is both one of the most important and some of the things we do,” said Mette Marit in a statement. “Many young people have the resources that are not captured, and for some it can be a major challenge. Through the fund, we want to ensure that young people are seen, so they can use their capabilities and contribute to the community. When we are better equipped to create the Norway we want for the future.”
One of the artists, Ida Jenshus, said this about the CD: “I think it is healthy and good to focus on those who have difficult in such a feast as Christmas. There are at least as many who dread this time, as those who rejoice. Those who fall outside the idyll. It’s good someone wants to make a difference and help. Too many are indifferent.”
The Queen of Norway debuts her artistic works at the Jacob Hansen House in Helsingborg Thursday. Attending the event was King Harald V, Crown Prince Haakon and Sweden’s Queen Silvia.
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The exhibit, “Under Great Pressure” features eight of Queen Sonja’s graphic designs. She teamed up with Kjell Nupen and Ørnulf Opdahl for this project, and created the eight designs based on the duo’s photographs of Svalbard. The Queen is among eighty artists who contributed to this project.
Her Majesty has long had an artsy side, even having a photography exhibit in 2009.
“I am proud,” said King Harald after studying his wife’s art.
Even son Crown Prince Haakon was impressed. “It is very fine work,” he said.
The purpose of this exhibition is to mark the 40th anniversary of the renowned graphic studio Ateljé Larsen. Sonja’s cooperation with Kjell Nupen and Ørnulf Opdahl is to set up an art scholarship in her name. That scholarship will be first distributed in the summer of next year.
October 20th was Global Dignity Day 2011, and in numerous schools around the world, students marked the day where the treatment and respect for others is held in high regard.
Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon was one of the founders of Global Dignity, and he spent the day at Oslo’s Stovner High School, which was one of the 150 secondary schools in the country participating. The Crown Prince was with the two other founders of Global Dignity, Finnish Professor Pekka Himanen and chairman of Operation Hope, John Bryant of the United States.
During a school assembly, the trio encouraged the Stovner students to be leaders and to remember, as Bryant told them, “it all starts with you, if you do not respect yourself, you do not respect others.”
In return, the students told the Global Dignity founders about their experiences of dignity.
The principal at Stovner was pleased that Haakon, Himanen and Bryant came to his school. “Dignity is a very relevant topic in school life. We want to focus on the dignity and see that Dignity Day fits well into the school’s existing approach work. The day has made its mark and I’m sure this has an effect on students’ working and social environment,” said Roald Olsen.
Below is a thank you video from the Global Dignity founders:
Monday was a celebratory day in Norway, as the country marked 150 years since the birth of its national hero, Fridtjof Nansen. All year long, there were celebrations for the polar explorer, diplomat, researcher and Nobel Peace Prize winner, and yesterday saw the climax.
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At the University of Oslo, King Harald V, Queen Sonja and the Crown Princely couple took part in a memorial for Nansen. The King gave a speech which praised the late great Norwegian.
“Fridtjof Nansen’s scientific, diplomatic and humanitarian life’s work was buoyed by an extraordinary faith in his own abilities, but also on other opportunities.
“Through his tireless commitment was Fridtjof Nansen, a moral superpower in the League. Nansen’s passport says a lot about the confidence of his name had built up in the world community.” said Harald.
“For all this and more, we are each and every one of us need to thank him. Fridtjof Nansen makes us proud to be Norwegians. He makes it an obligation to be world citizens.”
The King also stressed the monarchy’s link to Nansen. It was he who persuaded Danish Prince Carl to come to Norway to be its King as the country was dealing with independence. Nansen was also a mentor towards the then Crown Prince Olav, the current King’s father.
This commemoration ceremony was attended by many with links to Nansen’s achievements, including Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, Red Cross representatives and explorers of Antarctica. There was a musical performance by Thine Things Helseth.
In the evening, the Norwegian royals held a banquet at Akershus Castle.
Fridtjof Nansen once skiied in Greenland, explored both the North and South Poles, and brought attention to famine and displaced peoples following World War I by being High Commissioner of Refugees for the League of Nations. The latter is what gave him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1922.
Nansen died on May 17th 1930 and he was remembered not just by royalty, government officials and scientists, but also those he helped and influenced.
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