Queen Rania of Jordan to visit the US

(Office of Her Majesty, Press Department- Amman, Sept. 13, 2006)  Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah will be accompanying His Majesty King Abdullah II to the United States for a five-day working trip starting September 17 where her program will focus on issues related to bridging the cultural divide between East and West, combating the tragedy of child mortality, and exploring educational opportunities and training programs for youth.

Queen Rania will attend the White House Conference on Global Literacy, on September 18, held with the aim of reiterating the need for sustained leadership in promoting literacy. The conference, hosted by First Lady Laura Bush, Honorary Ambassador for the United Nations Literacy Decade, will highlight a variety of literacy programs, including some of the work that the United States government, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and private entities have supported around the world.

Following the conference, Her Majesty will deliver remarks at the Child Survival Symposium about the importance and urgency of Millennium Development Goal 4, which pledges to reduce child mortality by two thirds by 2015. The one-day symposium is hosted by UNICEF, the Government of Norway and the medical magazine, The Lancet. Other speakers include the President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai; the Prime Minister of Norway Jens Stoltenberg; UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman; Professor Hans Rosling; Anita Palmer; and Dr. Tadataka Yamada, Head of Global Health at the Gates Foundation.

Queen Rania will participate in a plenary session at the Clinton Global Initiative, on September 21. The session, Managing Diversity in a Globalized World, aims to search for measured and nuanced responses to current ethnic, cultural, and religious conflicts; explore examples of strategies that have encouraged peaceful sectarian co-existence and partnership; and discuss the role that non-governmental organizations, businesses and religious institutions can play in addressing these challenges. Other participants include President Karzai and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Her Majesty will be conducting a couple of on-site visits. She plans to meet with teachers and students at the American Museum of Natural History who have participated in the Urban Advantage program and the Teacher Renewal for Urban Science Teaching program to discuss the impact of their participation on their classroom and student learning. Her Majesty will also visit the Association to Benefit Children (ABC) in Harlem with Marian Wright Edelman. The association is designed to provide various programs for disadvantaged children and their families, including early childhood education, health care services, and recreational services. Queen Rania and Edelman are scheduled to visit Echo Park, ABC’s new 27,000 square-foot children and family center.