Jordan Times
Wednesday, June 7, 2006
Dead Sea conference to address women’s education and health
By Rana Husseini
AMMAN — Every minute somewhere in the world a mother dies from childbirth; every hour 60 newborn babies die from mostly preventable causes; and every three seconds a child under five dies.
Added together, that’s more than 10 million women and children dying each year, Her Majesty Queen Rania said on her official website.
More than 100 million children across the globe do not attend school, the majority of them girls, the statement added.
The Queen’s remarks were made ahead of the three-day “Mobilising for Action” conference that will open at the Dead Sea on Sunday and will gather women leaders from around the globe including heads of state, leading advocates for children, philanthropic leaders and Nobel laureates to address these critical issues.
The goal of the event, according to its organisers, is to determine the most effective way to turn the tide on maternal and newborn mortality and to ensure that girls everywhere have access to education.
Queen Rania, the event’s patron, and President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia will speak at the opening ceremony on June 11, said the organisers.
During an interview with American talk show host Oprah Winfrey on May 17, the Queen stressed the importance of educating women in Jordan and elsewhere in the world.
“As you educate a woman, you educate the family. If you educate the girls, you educate the future,” Queen Rania said.
The Queen added: “...Once she has the education, she can then have control over her income, she can change her life, she can have choices.”
The conference will also mark the launch of the Global Women’s Action Network for Children, a new international advocacy group led by prominent women from around the world dedicated to identifying, funding and supporting programmes to help women, girls and infants.
The conference and the Global Women’s Action Network will be convened by five women: Former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright, former president of Ireland and UN Human Rights Commissioner Mary Robinson, CEO of Vital Voices Melanne Verveer, Executive Director of the Women’s Learning Partnership Mahnaz Afkhami, and Marian Wright Edelman of the Children’s Defence Fund.
Other conference participants include the first ladies of Ukraine, Bahrain, Egypt, Rwanda, Zambia, Mauritania; and a group of Nobel Peace laureates including Betty Williams, Jody Williams and Shirin Ebadi.
Monday’s meetings, which will mostly be closed to the press, will focus on promoting girls’ education and saving mothers’ and newborns’ lives.
The event is organised by the National Council for Family Affairs in Jordan, and the Children’s Defence Fund in the US.