Jordan Times
Saturday, June 5, 1999
Queen Rania highlights Jordanian women's advancement
AMMAN (J.T.) — Delivering the keynote address to the Second Annual Lessons Without Borders Conference in Chicago, the Queeny cited the Bani Hamida women's weaving project as one of the most successful examples of micro-enterprise in Jordan when she discussed Jordan's experience in micro-finance, highlighting the status of women in the Kingdom.
Bani Hamida is a self-sustaining income-generation project for rural women that provides opportunities for families to increase their incomes while also promoting handicrafts in Jordan.
“These women are receiving training that is increasing their business knowledge. They network with each other and the project continues to expand,” the Queen said.
“My country is a good example of the kind of challenges faced by a relatively new market in a land of few natural resources. Jordan does, however, enjoy the legacy of a leadership which placed the utmost faith in the ability and resourcefulness of its people,” she said.
She also highlighted the advances Jordanian women have made over the last few decades, particularly in education and economic empowerment.
“In Jordan, women are being encouraged to pioneer and build their own businesses,” she said, adding that many of the challenges they face resemble those confronting women around the world.
Queen Rania also spoke about the status of women in Islam, indicating that the religion is one of fairness and social justice.
“Women in Islamic history were active and dedicated members of the community, who played important roles in the life of the Muslim nation,” she said.
Lessons Without Borders is a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) initiative which is committed to applying lessons learned from the agency's global experiences to local problems in the United States. Since the micro-enterprise experience in the U.S. is relatively young, USAID hopes to learn from its international initiatives to help further and enhance micro-enterprise development.
The conference brought together businesswomen from around the world who aimed to share their experiences and enhanced their professional networks.
Queen Rania has a strong interest in micro-finance, and in 1995 established the Jordan River Foundation which, among other initiatives, carries out micro-enterprise projects throughout the Kingdom, as well as business training for women and other activities such as craft production.
Queen Rania visited the Jordan River Foundation booth at the conference Wednesday, accompanied by USAID Deputy Administrator Ambassador Harriett Babbitt and Mrs. Daley, wife of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley.
Her Majesty Queen Rania Wednesday was welcomed to Chicago by Mrs. Daley who read a letter from the mayor to conference participants, expressing his support of the Women Mean Business Conference.
In her opening remarks, Ambassador Babbitt also welcomed Queen Rania to the conference.
In taped remarks for conference participants, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, who chairs the conference, said that “by taking lessons we've learned overseas and applying them in our own communities, “Lessons Without Borders” are helping to improve the lives of thousands of American children and families.”
Upcoming conference in Jordan with First Lady Hillary Clinton
Her Majesty Queen Rania also announced today an upcoming conference in Jordan focusing on micro-enterprises, to be held at the end of the month as a joint effort with First Lady Hillary Clinton.
“I look forward to joining the First Lady in her crusade to generate investment capital for new businesses and the underprivileged in inner cities and rural areas,” the Queen said.
Queen Rania visits Women's Self-Employment Project in Chicago
Queen Rania on Wednesday also visited and received a briefing from the Women's Self-Employment Project in Chicago. The largest micro-enterprise programme targeting low-income urban women in the United States, the Women's Self-Employment Project is the winner of the first Presidential Award for excellence in Poverty Alleviation, awarded by the White House in 1997.
It was also the first organisation to adapt the
internationally-renowned
Bangladeshi Grameen Bank model to a U.S. urban setting. The organisation's founder Connie Evans is renowned for developing and implementing programmes to further economic development, health and social change in low-income communities around the U.S.
UNDP Regional Conference for Arab Businesswomen
Queen Rania has lent her support to the idea of a regional meeting focusing on empowering the Arab businesswoman, to be held in Amman at the end of this year. She welcomed the initiative, organised by the United Nations Development Programme's Regional Bureau for Arab States, which aims in particular to strengthen Arab women involved in small and micro-enterprises.
Queen Rania returned to Amman on Friday.