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With the United Nations Climate Change Conference a few days away, the Danish capital of Copenhagen is bustling with preparations and events related to the summit. Frederik, the Crown Prince of Denmark, has been participating in these events during the past couple of days. 
On Thursday, Frederik opened the exhibition e-COLLECTION. It is organized by Design Kolding, Museum of Koldinghus and Trapholt in connection with the Conference. The exhibit includes inovative motorcycles, jewelry and other designs that are green friendly.
Friday saw the Crown Prince at the Climate Consortium and ATP’s international investor conference at the Radisson SAS Royal Hotel. It was there he gave a speech on how businesses need to be environmentally conscience.
“I have personally witnessed the melting ice caps and glaciers on my travels to Greenland,” Frederik said. “I have seen how changes in water supply can drive thousands of people on the run. It is a scientific fact, that greenhouse gas emissions are pushing this process. In other words, business as usual is NOT an option – action is needed.”
“People around the world are looking to business and government for leadership on climate change. By sharing your views on climate change and demonstrating your efforts to overcome the climate challenge, you have the opportunity to show the world that through common aspirations and efforts by business and government, we can ensure a bright future for our planet.”
Crown Prince Frederik and the rest of the Danish royal family will be playing host to the heads of state and delegations from 190 countries for the summit. Furthermore, Frederik and his wife, Crown Princess Mary, will be taking part in some of the conference’s events.
Also to be in attendance are Britain’s Prince Charles and Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden.
On the eve of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, King Abdullah II of Jordan gave a televised speech to the country. In it, he encouraged his people on the Hashemite Kingdom’s progress and even acknowledged the Palestinians.
 Reuters/Youssef Allan “Brothers and sisters, members of the one Jordanian family,” the King said. “Peace, God’s mercy and blessings be upon you. It is my pleasure, on the eve of the Eid Al Adha, an occasion that is special to all Muslims, to send you all and Arab and Muslim nations greetings and good wishes.”
“I also join you in sending special wishes to our brothers and sisters west of the river, who have not experienced the pleasure of Eid for many decades and continue to suffer the injustice of occupation and absence of justice,” King Abdullah continued. “We greet them on this day and emphasize that we stand by their side and will continue to support them in their quest for their legitimate rights, especially their right to freedom and to establish their independent state on their national soil.”
After making those points, the monarch went on to talk about Jordan’s economic, social and political progress. He said he was fully aware of the daily struggles many Jordanian face each day and carried their burden. “Work continues within a clear work plan to improve conditions and achieve the best for you and our country. I will settle for nothing less than the best for you.”
Overall, it was a short speech. After acknowledging the people’s economic struggles, King Abdullah wished the country a happy Eid.
Eid al-Adha is when Muslims commemorate Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son as commanded by God. Muslims sacrifice goats, camels, sheep and other animals in remembrance of God giving Abraham an animal in place of his son once he saw Abraham’s obedience.
King Abdullah led Thursday night Eid prayers at the King Hussein mosque with many of his male relatives. His son and heir, Crown Prince Hussein was also in attendance.
Despite economic problems in the U.K., full scale pageantry was on display today as Queen Elizabeth II opened Parliament at the Palace of Westminster. This was the final Parliament session before elections in 2010.
 AP Photo/Paul Edwards, pool The Queen arrived at Westminster in horse and carriage with her husband, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. She was dressed in full royal regalia – gown, jewels, fur wrap, ermine robes and of course, the Imperial State Crown, which the Queen put on once she arrived at the Palace.
From the throne, Queen Elizabeth read the speech that was written for her by the government. The speech outlined the economic and financial struggles the British government has dealt with over the year, and how it will tackle it in the months to come.
“My government’s overriding priority is to ensure sustained growth to deliver a fair and prosperous economy for families and businesses, as the British economy recovers from the global economic downturn,” the Queen said.
“My government will continue to reform and strengthen regulation of the financial services industry to ensure greater protection for savers and taxpayers,” she went on to say. “Legislation will be brought forward to enhance the governance of the financial sector and to control the system of rewards.”
Also mentioned in the speech was legislation to protect communities from flooding, European collaboration on climate change, tackling discrimination at the workplace, and salary differences between male and female workers. Furthermore, the conflict in Afghanistan and peace in the Middle East were touched on.
This was the Queen’s 57th speech that opened Parliament – and one of the shortest. In June 2010, there will be Parliamentary elections. The Labour party has been in charge since 1997. According to some polls, that may change next year.
On Monday, Qatar’s Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser al-Missned officially opened the World Innovation Summit for Education, or WISE, which is part of the Qatar Foundation. Over 1,000 international education leaders attended, and as a special envoy to UNESCO, the Sheikha told them her thoughts on the importance of education.
 globalarabnetwork.com “Education is a main and decisive factor in ensuring our readiness in facing the major transformations which are shaping our contemporary world. Therefore, the possession of knowledge and its application to the progress of humanity must be at the core of our priorities and at the forefront of our commitments.
“Innovation in education,” Mozah continued. “Which is the focus of this Summit should become an achievable and executable process. It should be at the heart of the education which is the force which exerts human energy and guides it wisely for the purpose of expanding human intelligence and creativity to serve the objective of just and equitable human societies.
“Therefore this Summit requires us to debate deeply and discuss a series of issues at the core of the right to education in order to draft an agreement on which we can build our next steps.”
“I do not make a distinction between powerful and weak, nor between developed and less developed; everybody is responsible and everybody has the duty to raise the level of education,” the Sheikha added.
Also in attendance was the newly appointed UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova. In her speech, she praised Sheikha Mozah for her efforts.
“Her Highness has consistently showed commitment to her responsibilities and we had taken actions whenever she alerted us that education was facing problems in several parts of the world.”
This evening in Oviedo, Spain, the annual Prince of Asturias Prizes were given to those who have made contributions in various fields. The awards are named after, and handed out by, the Prince of Asturias, Crown Prince Felipe. They have been around since 1981.
 Reuters/Felix Ordonez At the Campoamor Theater, Felipe gave a speech to the recipients. They come from the areas of sports, letters, the arts, international cooperation, social sciences, communications and humanities, technical and scientific research, exemplary village, and finally, concord.
“A course that is far from easy, forged with great effort day by day so as to recognize and extol, as we do today,” said the Crown Prince in his speech. “The work and life of personalities and institutions from all over the world with careers and traditions that have remained impervious to passing fancies. These were often embarked upon alone, overcoming major obstacles with scant means. This brings to mind the biblical proverb that humility always precedes glory. Our Laureates are, for this reason, supreme models of effort, sacrifice, intelligence, nobleness, of the spirit to excel and of such qualities that dignify human beings.
 AP Photo/Prince of Asturias foundation, Pool “From this beautiful, refined city of Oviedo, from this beloved land of Asturias, our Awards have, year after year, expressed before the international community Spain’s firm commitment to the values that ennoble and exalt our lives and provide essential support and guidelines in such intense and difficult times as these, when we find ourselves at a crossroads of opportunity and hope.”
In his speech, the Crown Prince acknowledged each of the laureates, one by one. After Felipe was done, the Prizes were given out.
Here is the list of the recipients of the 2009 Prince of Asturias Prizes:
Sports: Yelena Isinbayeva, Russia
Letters: Ismail Kadare, Albania
Arts: Norman Foster, United States
International Cooperation: World Health Organization
Social Sciences: David Attenborough, United Kingdom
Communications & Humanities: National Autonomous University of Mexico
 Reuters/Felix Ordonez Technical & Scientific: Martin Cooper and Raymond S. Tomlinson, United States
Exemplary Village: Sobrescobio, Spain
Concord: Berlin, Germany
All the winners were awarded their diploma and badge, save for Sobroscobio. That will receive its prize tomorrow.
To see more photos of the event, click here
Last night, Norway’s royal family held their annual Stortinget, or Parliament, Gala to mark the start of the new legislative year for Norwegian politics. This is a traditional dinner that goes back over a hundred years.
 Stian Lysberg Solum/Scanpix One of the main events of this gala is the King’s speech at its beginning. King Harald V delivered his speech to an audience of 225 guests, and it was filled with both serious and funny touches.
“Most of you have behind you a long election campaign,” the King said about the new members of Parliament. “For some it was a happy choice. For others, it was a downturn. The road to the Parliament can obviously be both demanding and unpredictable. It is told about a minister in a previous government that once stood below the big stairs inside the building and saw a small child who struggled and crawled up the stairs. When dry, the minister exclaimed: “Oh, it’s many of them up there that have crept both longer and harder to get there!”
 King Harald’s speech talked about the state of Norway’s economy and society. In some ways, the speech sounded a lot like the one he opened Parliament with a few weeks ago.
“Our politicians have had to deal with serious challenges to the financial crisis this past year,” the King said at one point. “Evidence indicates that we still face a financial uncertainty in the future, and that it is too early to end financial crisis completely. We know that some businesses are struggling and that individuals are experiencing the pain of being unemployed. But it is reassuring that we have governments that have the will to stand together when needed and make decisions for the good of our community.”
After his speech, the King gave a toast and the speaker of Parliament gave his speech.
The Parliament gala dates back to 1906, when King Oscar I first held the dinner in the winter. Back then, there were very few women in attendance, cigars were abundant and the menu was in French. But times do change, and now 40% of the attendants are female, there are no cigars going around and the menu is written in Norwegian.
 Maghreb Arabe Presse The King of Morocco officially opened the country’s Parliament in its capital of Rabat on Friday. In his speech to the Parliament’s two houses, King Mohammed VI stressed the need for legal framework for economic and social council.
“The aim is to develop a model Moroccan economic and social council that serves as an expert constitutional institution thanks to the quality of the advice and recommendations it gives regarding the nation’s chief economic issues,” he said.
The King also called for the council members to come from a diverse background. In other words, there should a substantial number of women, those from civil society and members of higher institutions.
King Mohammed added that the council must be open to all competent citizens, “in accordance with my wish to involve in the council all skilled Moroccans, wherever they may be.”
Furthermore, the Council should “give priority to drawing up – in the foreseeable future – the new social charter I have called for, and to give its opinion on the coordination and interplay between development plans and sector-based policies” and should seek to give concrete substance to the regional dimension of those plans.
“The setting up of this new council is a further step towards good governance in the area of development. I want the latter to be a pillar of our action to consolidate the dignity of our people and contribute to effective citizenship,” said King Mohammed.
The wife of the Qatari Emir, Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser al-Missned, gave a rousing speech at the UNESCO General Conference in Paris on Wednesday. She called for all children, everywhere in the world, to be granted the right to be educated.
 Maher Attar/Gulf Times “Depriving education is equal to depriving right to live,” she said. “The right to education is facing a structural crisis- the repercussions of which might not be revealed in the same way as the repercussions of the financial or the environmental crisis- but which in a long run might well be stronger and more dangerous. This is because quality education prepares the child, the teenager and the young man to face life, armed with the necessary knowledge, experience and skills which allow him to adapt to all the changes and pressures regardless of their causes. This is the type of education which enables us to face the challenges of the millennium.
“75 million children are deprived of the right to education, and 150 million children, 65 percent of whom are female, will not be able to complete their primary education.”
“Aren’t these people suffering from the injustice exercised by the international community, from discrimination and from the violation of the sacred right to education?” asked the Sheikha. “We should all question our ethical, legal and human credibility regarding the right to education if, whenever the sanctity of the educational system is violated by any party willfully and with premeditation, we fail to take the required, firm and appropriate action,”
Sheikha Mozah also called for peace studies to be included in classrooms all over the world.
Mozah, who is UNESCO’s Special Envoy for Basic and Higher Education, was also awarded the gold Victor Hugo medal for her work. It was given to her by the out-going UNESCO chairman, Koichira Maatsura, whom the Sheikha praised for doing “a wonderful job.”
The King of Norway opened the 2009-2010 session of Parliament Friday with a speech from the throne. The speech outlined the government’s plans for the country, in the midst of a economic downturn.
 Scanpix With his wife, Queen Sonja, by his right hand, and his son and heir, Crown Prince Haakon, at his left, King Harald V said to Norway’s politicians:
“Over the past year the world economy experienced the most powerful recession since World War II. Many countries have experienced sharply increasing unemployment and fall in production. Land of our closeness, as Iceland and the Baltic countries, has been particularly hard hit. The world economy contributed to the clearly lower growth in the Norwegian mainland economy last year. Rebound increase in force throughout the fall and led eventually to a marked increase in the number of unemployed.”
“To help reduce the impact of employment and unemployment Government conducted early this year comprehensive fiscal measures. In addition, it was from last fall initiated a series of measures to improve the situation in money.”
The King went on to talk about the state of Norway’s money, banks and employment rates. He also discussed how his country is a driving force in fighting poverty and improving health for those in Third World countries.
“Vaccination of children in the poorest countries is one of the main priority. The government has extended this commitment to include maternal health. Norway is now a driving force internationally to ensure that when a UN Millennium Development Goals for maternal and child health.”
Norway is one of the NATO countries that has troops in Afghanistan. King Harald touched on that issue in his speech.
“Afghanistan is still the most important target area for the Norwegian military and civilian participation in international operations. The military effort is continued at a high level, and is increasingly oriented towards training and supporting Afghan security forces. The civilian effort has been the stairs up considerably, in line with Norway’s view that no country can be stabilized by military means alone.”
Also mentioned was Norway’s steps towards allowing paternity leave for fathers, child welfare cases, and one of the country’s biggest industries, oil.
The King’s speech also spoke of the Norwegian foreign policy with Somalia, Zimbabwe and the Mideast peace process.
As the speech came to a close, King Harald returned to the subject of the economy, which is on the minds of every Norwegian, as it is elsewhere in the world.
On October 22nd, there were a dinner for the members of Parliament given by King Harald and Queen Sonja.
Two weeks after her appointment as the UN Advocate for Inclusive Finances for Development, Crown Princess Maxima spoke at a special event ahead of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Meeting in Istanbul Monday. 
The IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Maxima launched a Dutch-funded project in Istanbul, which is a global project aimed at collecting data on access to financial services in a bid to help policies aimed at reducing poverty.
In her speech, the Crown Princess explained how the project intends to help the 2 billion people worldwide who do not have access to finances.
“It is clear that national strategies and visions need to be developed,” Maxima said. “These strategies need the engagement of governments, the country’s regulators and supervisors, financial institutions (including NGO’s) and even telecom providers or retailers. All of these should work together to increase access to financial services.”
“The innovations in the field of financial inclusion are enormous,” she continued. “Technologies like smart cards, ATMs, and mobile banking hold the promise of both greatly expanding financial access and slashing costs for providers – making it possible to reach communities once thought infeasible.
“Also, new savings and insurance products are being piloted around the world, and having appropriate regulations is essential in taking them to scale.”
Maxima went on to talk about how the project helps to identify knowledge gaps and priorities for policy, monitors the effectiveness of policies over time, and finally provide a platform for researchers to better understand the causes and implications of financial access.
“While the IMF’s commitment is truly a breakthrough, it is also just a beginning,” the Crown Princess said. “Going forward, additional support is necessary. We need a continued push in the form of high-level commitment from governments and donors to complement this important effort with bottom-up data that will help unlock valuable information about financial services at the individual and household level.”
At the end of her speech, Maxima thanked the audience for their attention, but most importantly thanked the IMF for coming up with the initiative.
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