Children's Defense Fund

Excerpts from Her Majesty Queen Rania's Opening Remarks at the Global Women's Action Network for Children Conference

Queen urges women leaders to become advocates and actors to 'mobilize political will'; 'turn tide on maternal mortality, inequality, and children's suffering'

Contact:

Erin Davis at the Children’s Defense Fund at 1-212-697-2323 ext 107 or by email at EDavis@cdfny.org

Jenny Backus at 202-262-9963 or by email at jenny@backusconsulting.org.

(Office of Her Majesty Press Department/Dead Sea) Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah, on Sunday, urged women leaders and opinion shapers from across the world to use their will, conscience, and influence to address the global challenges of girls' education and childhood and maternal mortality.

Queen Rania's remarks came at the opening ceremony of the three day Global Women's Action Network for Children Conference held at the Dead Sea, Jordan.

“Our challenge now is… to generate a kind of ‘reverse domino effect,’ where every woman lifts another up and passes the gift of strength on,” she said.

Her Majesty spoke of the importance of interdependence as 'the driving force of modern times' in tackling 'some of humanity's oldest tragedies', drawing stark comparisons between the lives of women and children with opportunities and those without, while highlighting the urgent need to act for and on behalf of the latter.

The Queen lauded this gathering of "officials, experts, artists, and activists from every corner of the planet [who have come] to launch a new network that tackles some of humanity's oldest tragedies: The needless deaths of millions of mothers and babies every year and the wasted potential of tens of millions of girls who are kept out of school." Such a gathering is reflective of the audience's understanding of the notion that "interdependence" is the "driving force of modern times", according to the Queen.

"In the 21 st century, no country can afford to stand apart from the world. To thrive, it must be a part of the world and Jordan is embracing that challenge," she affirmed.

"Likewise, people today are interconnected as never before through ties of commerce… culture… communication… and a growing moral consciousness that tells us it is wrong to leave strangers to suffer when we have the means to help them at hand," added Queen Rania.

Alluding to real-life examples, Queen Rania drew comparisons between those who have endured hardships and those born with privileges.

"Some women in this room know from personal experience what it feels like to grow up in poverty… to walk miles for medicine… or to struggle for schooling… in a country that has little to give," she stressed, adding: "But many of us were lucky to be born in societies and circumstances where access to health care and education could almost be taken for granted. A simple stroke of geographical luck sets our lives on a hopeful trajectory ".

This, argued the Queen, should not be the case, as "women and children shouldn't have to depend on luck for their shot at a future", stating: "Life isn't a game".

"It is simply wrong, in this age of high-speed, hi-tech innovation, that millions of people around the world are scrabbling to survive," she emphasized further.

Her Majesty outlined the path the network will have to follow to reach its overall objective. "By building bridges between powerful leaders and organizations for women and children, our Action Network aims to chart a path of progress that all can follow" she said.

Queen Rania also highlighted how all those concerned hope to achieve their aim:

"We will work on two tracks as bold and persistent advocates for women and children… and as actors who mobilize political will to do what we know works... to turn the tide on maternal mortality… inequality… and children's suffering," she asserted.

And though the road ahead will not be an easy one, Queen Rania firmly believes that "our desire for change is matched by our conviction that change is possible".

Such conviction, she went on to add brings about positive results, citing, as an example amongst others, Jordan's experience.

"We have seen it in our own countries, sometimes against difficult odds as here in Jordan, where we have 99 percent of our girls and boys in primary school… and where we're proud to have recently launched the first comprehensive web portal in the Arab world," she stated proudly.

Reflecting on what she has seen these past few months, in countries like India, Turkey and South Africa, respectively, Queen Rania challenged attendees to expand on such successes.

"Our challenge now is to multiply successes like these on a global scale… to generate a kind of "reverse domino effect," where every woman lifts another up and passes the gift of strength on," she said, underlining that the "rewards to humanity will be revealed all around us", as she had witnessed while on the Oprah Winfrey Show, last month, where she learned of the success story of a 12-year-old Liberian girl, named Patience.

Concluding her remarks, Queen Rania told the audience to join her in using "our voices to speak for the voiceless… our power to strengthen the powerless", leaving them with the wise words of anthropologist Margaret Mead who said "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has".

The conference is held under the theme "Mobilizing for Action", and is organized by the National Council for Family Affairs in Jordan and the Children's Defense Fund in the US. Five women convene the conference: former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former President of Ireland and UN Human Rights Commissioner Mary Robinson, Melanne Verveer of CEO of Vital Voices, Mahnaz Afkhami Executive Director of the Women’s Learning Partnership; and Marian Wright Edelman of the Children’s Defense Fund.

Edelman also welcomed the participants to the conference and said that their's is a mission to build a world fit and safe for every child, and urged everyone to wake up to the heartbreaking statistics of women and children dying around the world. "These facts are not acts of God," she said "they can and must be changed."

Albright, who also spoke, said that progress is not possible if half of humanity is pushed aside. "Our task is to keep building until we've constructed enough platforms," she said.

Before the opening ceremony, Queen Rania met briefly with the co-conveners. She also met with the First Ladies Hirwa Talibani of Iraq; Sheikha Sabika of Bahrain ; Kateryna Yushchenco of Ukraine; Widad Al Bashir of Sudan; Jeanette Kagame of Rwanda; Um Kulthom Bint Mohammad Weld Al Nah of Mauritania; and Bahia Hariri, member of Lebanon’s Parliament.

Her Majesty and the First Ladies also toured a set up of souk-al-zaman at the conference—a traditional set up of a variety of stores in a bazaar like setting.

 

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