cross cultural dialogue

(Office of Her Majesty, Press Department - Baden Baden) At a time when the world is paralyzed by fear and cynicism over a conflict-ridden Arab region, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah challenged media leaders to capture the truth and document stories of common humanity as a basis for building bridges of understanding between the Eastern and Western Worlds.

(Office of Her Majesty, Press Department – Tallberg, Sweden) Speaking at the Tallberg Forum in Sweden, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah challenged the Western perceptions of Arab women, Islam and conflicts in the region, and warned "failure to appreciate the other side's point of view is a greater barrier to communication than speaking different languages".   The theme of this year's forum is "How on earth can we live together? Learn to live to learn".

(Office of Her Majesty, Press Department – Jeddah) During a special address at the Jeddah Economic Forum (JEF), Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah urged the global community to plant the seeds of acceptance, dialogue and peace for future generations.

(Office of Her Majesty, Press Department - Kuala Lumpur) Just like the hundreds of students rushing to their seats at the University of Malay early Friday morning, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah arrived on campus donning a cap and gown in time to receive an honorary degree in International Relations from the country’s oldest university.

(Office of Her Majesty, Press Department – Herefordshire, UK) Amongst Google executives and many other dot com heavyweights, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah spoke passionately about the need to utilize the web in bridging the divide between East and West, at the third annual Google Zeitgeist forum, Monday. For the first time since launching her YouTube channel dedicated to this end, Queen Rania also spoke about the origins of the idea and how it is working and why virtual communities need to pay more attention to the Arab world.

(Office of Her Majesty, Press Department - Valencia) In continuation of her ongoing efforts to encourage dialogue between women in all parts of the world, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah inaugurated the third exhibition entitled "Breaking the Barriers: Women Artists from the Islamic World" in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Sofia and Her Royal Highness Princess Wijdan Ali, President of the Royal Society of Fine Arts in Valencia, Spain.

(Office of Her Majesty, Press Department – Lisbon) Her Majesty Queen Rania, on Monday, received the Council of Europe (COE) North-South Prize while accompanying His Majesty King Abdullah on an official visit to Portugal.

The North-South 2008 award recognizes Queen Rania’s concerted efforts to increase public awareness on global interdependence issues and foster inter-cultural dialogue between Eastern and Western cultures.

(Office of Her Majesty, Press Department – Paris) Speaking to over 2,000 students at the Sorbonne in Paris, on Sunday, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah challenged existing perspectives and urged an increase in multicultural awareness.

During her speech at La Cité de la Réussite, Queen Rania warned that “for those of you who are students, know it is your future that is at stake. You are the ones who will inherit the world that is taking shape today. You must decide if you want it to be a world of greater division or greater unity.”

(Office of Her Majesty, Press Department – Saudi Arabia) Delivering the keynote address at the Saudi-based Effat College’s sixth Annual Learning Technology Symposium, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah called for a global dialogue to dismantle stereotypes of Muslims on the one hand and of the suppression of women in the Arab world on the other.

“It is through a global dialogue that such stereotypes of Muslims can be dismantled, and it is through women’s sustained education and progress that such misconceptions can be removed,” she said.

(Office of Her Majesty, Press Department - Rhodes) "We have an important message to send (that is) our commitment to peace, tolerance, and equality, and our respect for diversity."

This was a message articulated by Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah to several hundred people gathered in Rhodes, Greece at an exhibition organized by the Royal Society of Fine Arts in Jordan and Pan-Mediterranean Women Artists Network with the aim of using arts as a tool to break stereotypes of women in Islam.