Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan was an honoree at Thursday’s 2011 UNICEF Ball held in Los Angeles. She took home the Woman of Compassion award, something she was pleased to win.
“Humbled by UNICEF’s Woman of Compassion tribute today esp as King Hussein my model of compass leadership&UNICEF is ultimate compass org,” the Queen wrote on Twitter.
Noor was among many Hollywood celebrities that night including Nicole Ritchie, Brooklyn Decker, Rose McGowan, Matthew Morrison, Jenna Elfman and Jayma Mays.
Wednesday morning saw the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge take part in their first humanitarian cause outside of the United Kingdom, as they flew to Denmark to visit a UNICEF emergency supply center. The depot is sending food and medical supplies to east Africa, with Somalia being the main target. That country is facing its worst famine in decades.
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Who was there to greet them and join them in their visit to the center? Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary. This was the first time Catherine met the Danish crown princely couple since they did not attend her April wedding, but William has met Frederik a few times previously.
At the aid depot, the royals were given a tour of the place. They sampled some of the food, such as a high protein peanut paste, but the Duchess reportedly declined for unknown reasons.
This whole visit was instigated by William and Catherine because, according to St. James Palace, they are very concerned with the famine occurring in the region. They also have ties to East Africa. It is where they became engaged last year, they have friends in Kenya, and the Prince once spent part of his gap year there.
“The two couples felt they wanted to do something more to bring the profile of the tragedies back into the public domain,” a spokesman for St. James Palace said.
After the tour of the supply center, William said this: “I think what impresses me the most is that there is just an incredible amount being done.”
“UNICEF are leading the way and they’re doing a fantastic job and sadly there’s still a lot more to do and that’s why we’re here today, to try our best to … get as many people as possible realising the truly horrendous situation that’s going on in east Africa.”
Giving her first interview since the announcement of her engagement nearly a year ago, Catherine said, “It’s really just how shocking the situation still is.”
“It’s been going for 100 days or so and it’s really still ongoing, and a huge amount still has to happen with hundreds of children still malnourished at the moment. Hopefully we can do as much as we can really.”
Drought and food shortages are leaving 13 million people in east Africa on the brink of starvation, with more areas being included in the crisis. So far, 320,000 children are facing malnourishment and are near death.
Crown Princess Mary personally saw the struggles when she visited the Dadaab refugee camp in northern Kenya in late August.
During his second day in New York City, Prince Harry got a chance to taste of New Yorker’s love of baseball. He threw the first pitch at a Mets game between the Minnesota Twins at Citi Field stadium, where large crowds turned up to get a glimpse of British royalty.
Wearing a blue Mets cap and a white T-shirt with “walking with the wounded” written on the front, the 25 year-old Prince shyly walked up to the pitcher’s mount, took a couple of stretches and then threw the ball to Rod Barajas. According to a New York Times blog, the pitch was “high, but it appeared to have good velocity and crossed the plate.” The crowd roared with approval at Harry’s first attempt at baseball.
It was R.A. Dickey, the Mets knuckleballer, who helped Harry for five minutes with his pitch. Dickey said he did well with it.
The Mets team even gave the Prince his own jersey – it has the number 22 and “Wales” on the back.
Earlier on Saturday, Prince Harry had paid a visit to the UNICEF Emergency Operation Center where he saw how the organization provides children with emergency supplies during crises. The supplies included a “School in a Box” which gives educational needs for children caught
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up in such crises as the Haitian earthquake earlier this year.
Tomorrow, Sunday morning, Harry will walk with war veterans in Central Park. In the afternoon, he will get involved in another sporting event, one he is most familiar with and that is a polo game on Governor’s Island in New York Harbor.
After many years taking part in UNICEF activities, Belgium’s Crown Princess Mathilde finally became its honorary president. She made her first appearance as patron of UNICEF Belgium today in Brussels.
Since 2001, Mathilde has been involved in the United Nation’s organization which focuses on children. She became its special representative in May 2005. She has been all over the world on behalf of UNICEF, going to places such as Senegal and Tanzania. Now she has received its highest honor on Belgian soil.
Today, the Crown Princess took part in the presentation of the Belgian UNICEF report on children, based on the UN’s Committee for Children’s Rights. She said that the Convention on the Rights of the Child which the international community endowed twenty years ago is “a step forward for millions of children around the world.
But she said: “This does not, however, changes what is missing from the application of the Convention. Today, twenty-four thousand children under 5 years die every day from disease and deprivation. ”
“If we really want to build a world fit for children as it was decided to during the Special Session of the United Nations on children,” Crown Princess Mathilde once said. “Then we must now devote much more attention to children and respect their rights. To do this, we must focus our efforts on children in need, those whose rights are violated at home as in developing countries. I want to give voice to these vulnerable children.”
Christian Wiener, President of UNICEF Belgium, welcomed the appointment of Mathilde by the board: “I am satisfied with the commitment that she, Princess Mathilde will continue to work hard for well-being of children and be together with us, make a difference and build a world fit for children.”
During this week, Jordan’s Queen Rania has been in the United States, touring on behalf of her country and of UNICEF. She has been speaking with the press and meeting with Americans in regards to education and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
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First, on Monday, the Queen stopped by the Young Women’s Leadership School in East Harlem. As UNICEF’s first eminent advocate for children, as well as the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative’s (UNGEI) honorary global chairperson, Queen Rania gave the girls a few inspirational words.
“I want you, girls with voices, to speak up and shout out for girls whose cries fall silent. I want you to fight for them, as others are fighting for you. I want you to pull up another girl, and help her stand tall and strong. I want you to be great and inspire greatness in others. If anyone can do it, you can.”
“Providing quality education to girls is a sound investment that helps build a brighter future for their communities and their countries,” said Ann M. Veneman, the executive director of UNICEF, who was with the Queen on Monday. “Her Majesty Queen Rania is a strong voice promoting access to a quality education for children around the world.”
Tuesday, Rania went up to Yale University for a Q & A session with its students, faculty and staff. There, she switched from being an advocate for girls’ education, to a voice for the Palestinians in the Mideast peace process.
“In Palestine, walls are going up rather than coming down,” the Queen, who is a Palestinian origin, said. “Time has not been a friend” to the Palestinians.
“Land is the geography of the Palestinian soul,” she continued, and each new settlement on the West Bank “is a blow to their existence.”
Below is video of Queen Rania’s visit to Yale:
Wednesday night, the Queen attended the Important Dinner for Women at the Cipriani’s 42nd street restaurant. Attended by various high profiled women, such as Wendi Murdoch, Sarah Brown, Nicole Kidman and Liya Kebede, the event discusses ways
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to help women survive childbirth in third world countries, where mortality rate for such women is high.
On Thursday, Queen Rania had two major events. One was the commemoration on the UNRWA’s 60th anniversary. The UNRWA, which was set up to aid Palestinian refugees.
“UNRWA’s presence reminds the Palestinian people that they are not alone; that in their darkest hours, an international aid agency stands by their side,” the Queen said. ”
You know, this is one event I wish I wasn’t at. I wish there was no need for UNRWA. I wish there was no anniversary to mark and I wish that there were not for 6 million Palestinian refugees in need of humanitarian aid. But you and I know the reality is very different.Theirs is a life interrupted, a life half lived.”
Later in the afternoon, she took part in a forum at the Clinton Global Initiative.
On Monday, Queen Rania said on Twitter, “Arrived in NYC for work. As always, excitement and trepidation. Will I be able to champion the causes & people I represent well enough?”
Well, Your Majesty, many people would say you did your job very well!
Sunday saw the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg begin her week long tour of two African countries as part of her role as UNICEF’s “Eminent Advocate for Children.”
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Maria Teresa was in Burundi from Sunday till Wednesday, and will spend Thursday and Friday in Kenya.
On Monday, the Grand Duchess went to projects for the reintegration of child soldiers and young girls who become mothers through rape.
She then later went on to a prison in Bujumbura, Burundi’s capital, to meet with incarcerated women, and to meet with the children they gave birth to while in prison.
In addition, Maria Teresa met with AIDS orphans or children who have the illness.
While she is in Kenya, the Grand Duchess will attend the international conference “Diagnostic to Action – Microfinance in Africa”, organized by the Women’s World Banking. She will also stop by the Dream Center (Drug Resource Enhancement against AIDS and Malnutrition), which is renowned for its work on AIDS treatment.
This visit to Africa also coincides with the 20th anniversary of the International Convention of Children’s Rights.
The Grand Duchess of Luxembourg attended the National Committees of UNICEF at its 54th annual meeting. With representatives of 36 nations in attendance, UNICEF-Luxembourg proudly celebrated its 30th year.
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Maria Teresa brought attention to UNICEF’s work, especially in the field of HIV/AIDS, which the Grand Duchess works tirelessly for. She made an emphasis of that in her speech.
“Although so much has been done, it is essential to remain focused on the challenges ahead: one of them is the HIV pandemic as unfortunately the numbers are not decreasing.
“According to UNAIDS most recent report 2007, an estimated 33 million people are living with HIV. During that same year, 2.7 million new HIV infections were recorded.
“Although people from all walks of life are affected, HIV/AIDS is hitting hard at the most vulnerable sections of our society: it is the poor, the illiterate, the marginalized, especially women and children who bear most of the burden of the HIV pandemic. Mothers and children are being ‘infected’ or ‘affected’ by the AIDS virus in greater and greater numbers, every single day. Their situation is dramatic as a mother with HIV will not give up the responsibility of caring for her children easily.”
Maria Teresa talked about her role as UNICEF’s Eminent Advocate for Children in 2007, in which she chose to focus on the HIV/AIDS pandemic and child soldiers. She explained how the two coincide.
“We all have to protect these children, as they are easy preys and victims of child abuse and exploitation through the horror of prostitution, children hard labor, enrolment into guerilla armies as child soldiers, where all too often the girls enrolled are used as sex-slaves.
“So what can we do?
“UNICEF is working with communities that provide an environment where children and their families are supported and protected, and where their rights are respected. It is my firm belief that without this community involvement there is little prospect that the programs can produce any tangible results. Strengthened social protection is needed to ensure that those affected by HIV can access services. Social welfare ministries, who are often mandated to provide support to children and families, have inadequate human, financial, and institutional capacity and also limited influence over government priorities and budgets, especially at local levels.”
Following her speech, the Grand Duchess attended the Castle Vianden official dinner for the 54th Annual Meeting of National Committees for UNICEF.
Queen Rania is in Oslo this week for the a UNICEF summit on education for young girls in the world. She was greeted by Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon.
By kissing her hand, Haakon displayed the friendship and respect he has for the Queen of Jordan. She and her husband, King Abdullah, have had close ties with the Norwegian royal family ever since their state visit in 2000. Both royal families have quite a few causes in common, and one of them is education.
Queen Rania often campaigns for education issues on behalf of the United Nations. The Crown Prince was in Mongolia recently where he saw firsthand how education is being handled in the country.
Queen Rania met with the Norwegian King and Queen, and Crown Prince Haakon to the official lunch at the Palace in the days before they met again at the meeting “Eight High Level Group meeting: Education for all” under the auspices of UNICEF held at Oslo City Hall.
“Queen Rania calls herself a working queen – and has made it her life mission to improve women and children living in their own country and in the rest of the world. She is particularly concerned to give young girls education – and have engaged themselves in their own school projects in Jordan, “said court reporter in the See and Hear, Kjell Arne Totland to Norway’s Side2 newspaper.
During the two-day meeting, the state leaders, aid ministers, education ministers and leaders of international organizations discussed the global community’s collective efforts in achieving the UN Millennium goal on education for all children by 2015.
“The economic crisis in the world must not prevent us from focusing on education for all children. Education is key to combating poverty, “said Queen Rania.
“There are always girls who drop out from education first. That is why it is so important to make an effort for them. When the girls take education, we see that their health is better, they have increased confidence and have fewer children, “the Queen continued.
Since 2000, 40 million more children received education in the world, but there’s still 75 million children who receive no basic education.
“To achieve the goal of education for all, they need more capital and 18 million more teachers in the world. Only in Africa, there is a need for 4 million additional teachers, “said Nicholas Burnett, Deputy Director of Education in UNESCO.
The Norwegian aid to education was around 10 percent of the total aid in 2007. Norway supports basic education programs in, among other places, Zambia, Nepal, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Madagascar, as well as educational programs in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
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