Jordan Times
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Queen Rania urges
public-private partnerships to create a culture of giving
AMMAN (JT) — Her Majesty Queen Rania on Saturday urged public-private
partnerships to create a deeper culture of giving and volunteering in the Middle
East.
“Irrespective of where you have come from, there are people — whether it’s
across the street from you, on the other side of town, or over the border — who
can use a helping hand,” the Queen told panelists in a session entitled,
“Defining Global Citizenship: From Philanthropy to Activism.”
Queen Rania, who moderated the session, noted that the focus of the day’s
conversation was to address whether “that hand is a hand out, i.e. charity, or a
hand to help them up, i.e. civic engagement.”
The panelists, representing a broad range of sectors, included Prince Turki Al
Faisal Al Saud, President and CEO of Aramex Fadi Ghandour, Deputy CEO of
Emirates Foundation Omar Ghobash, Founding Director of the John D. Gernhard
Centre for Philanthropy and Civic Engagement Barbara Ibrahim, and Fiorina
Foundation CEO Carly Fiorina.
All spoke of their personal experiences in moving from charity to active giving
and in promoting the ideal of philanthropy throughout their communities and
beyond.
Fiorina, former chief executive of Hewlett Packard, noted that her move from
corporate philanthropy to engagement through her foundation allowed her to see
the value of philanthropy through a different view.
“At HP, we realised it was in our enlightened self-interest to be involved in
helping communities and now that I’m involved in philanthropy as a private
citizen, I know how personally rewarding it feels,” she said.
Building on Queen Rania’s statement that “charity is something that this region
knows all about,” Prince Turki, chairman of the King Faisal Centre for Research
and Islamic Studies, noted that both charity and philanthropy are ingrained in
the culture and religions of the Middle East. Islam, he pointed out, requires
the paying of alms and raising other people’s standards of living.
The difference between charity and philanthropy, the panelists noted, was the
personal effort of the givers.
“The difference between charity and activism,” said Fiorina, “is [the
difference] between money and time.”
Ibrahim described a continuum where people can move from charity to thinking
about development and then further down the line tackling strategic
philanthropy.
“Charity is limited to meeting the immediate needs of the disadvantaged,” she
said, describing it as a consumable.
“Strategic philanthropy is thinking about scale, looking at the origin of our
problems and tackling their roots and not placing a Band-Aid on top of them,”
she added.
Focusing on the need for sustainable investments in society, the Queen said, “We
need engaged giving. Up close and personal because true community is about
togetherness, collective responsibility, joint action. You cannot lift society
with one hand, but you can raise it with many.”
When asked why his company decided to get involved in philanthropic endeavours,
Ghandour said, “It’s a story of entrepreneurs claiming their role in their
societies. We are making a statement that the future of our region has to be
decided by us also… we can’t sit around for development to happen by somebody
else.”
The Jabal Nathif project, initiated by Aramex, includes other private sector
companies, collectively known as “Entrepreneurs for Development.”
A video-clip was played during the session to highlight the difference the
development project has made to the community.
“We didn’t want to prioritise their needs… The community knew their needs and
priorities already,” Ghandour noted.
The project started by developing a public school and succeeded once they
engaged the community, and involved the youth. “It’s not only about
infrastructure, it’s about infrastructure of the mind,” he added.
Two young volunteers, who attended Saturday’s panel, explained why they got
involved.
“I realised I had the capabilities to impact society, and I saw the impact I had
when I helped younger children learn,” said Mohammad, while Sharihan conveyed
the feedback from her peers, who she said genuinely enjoyed giving back to the
community.
Closing the session, Queen Rania reminded the audience of executives, “you can
do business and good in this world… so get out there and do it!”