New York

Good evening and thank you, Barbara, for that kind introduction. I am excited to be here to celebrate the launch of Ben and Izzy - a magical feat of children’s animation which has united Arabs and Americans in our joint quest for mutual understanding. As you have seen, Ben and Izzy tells the story of two little boys who meet in Jordan at an archeological dig. From there, they embark on whirlwind adventures that take them back through history and expose the values that we share today.

Good evening and thank you, Leen, for those lovely words.  You may know the saying, “If you educate a woman, you educate a family.”  Your example makes clear that if you educate a girl, you educate the future.  And whenever I meet young Jordanians like you, I  know our country’s future is bright indeed.

You can't write your own name or that of your child.

You started work, not at 16, 18 or 21, but at 5.

You earn so little – even after years of toil – that your own daughter, too, must work…

And so the cycle begins.

Millions of adults live this reality – 774 million… all illiterate … most of them women.

Millions of children will join them – 75 million … none with a day's schooling … most of them girls.

(Office of Her Majesty, Press Department- New York) Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah was presented the 2005 Sesame Workshop Award and the Academy of Achievement Golden Plate Award, this week, for her outstanding contributions to improving the livelihood of children and her humanitarian work, respectively.

The awards are a symbol of her commitment to the causes she supports.

[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7JTZ_VKi3Y]]

Thank you, Derrick.

I once read that to achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan…and not quite enough time!

After two days of discussions and renewed commitments, I’m pleased that we now have a plan to achieve the MDGs. With only five years to go until our deadline, we certainly don’t have “quite enough time.”

Eight years ago, with an eye to our own future and a belief that this could be the moment humanity would begin to redeem itself, we made a promise to the world and to ourselves -- to reduce child mortality… halve poverty… eradicate inequality.                                                        

And from food… to clean water… to immunizations… to education… our progress toward the Millennium Development Goals has given hundreds of millions of people a chance to live a better life. 

(Office of Her Majesty, Press Department - New York) After five days of meeting with policy makers and world leaders to discuss the imminent need for peace in the region, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah ended her working trip to New York, on Thursday, with a visit to the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) to provide youth with a better understanding of the Middle East.

(Office of Her Majesty, Press Department- New York) - Queen Rania spoke about the importance of achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), at a reception hosted by the United Nations Foundation (UNF) to mark the end of the MDG summit that took place over the past couple of days in New York.

(Office of Her Majesty, Press Department- New York) – Her Majesty Queen Rania joined 12 year old South African schoolgirl Nthabiseng Tshabalala in New York today to hand in an eighteen-million strong petition to the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon.

The petition, presented as a chalkboard representing the millions of people that had signed up, demanded immediate action from world leaders to deliver education for more than 69 million children currently unable to go to school.

(Office of Her Majesty, Press Department- New York) Her Majesty Queen Rania was a member of a panel discussion that took place today as part of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meetings in New York. The Panel discussed the issues empowering girls and women, with increased focus on the developing world. Moderated by TV personality and journalist Katie Couric, the panel also included Ms. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President of Liberia and Mr. Muhtar Kent, CEO of Coca Cola.

Her Majesty is in New York accompanying His Majesty King Abdullah II on a trip to the US.