Jordan

(Office of Her Majesty – Press Department – Amman) - Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah attended the Jordan Education Initiative (JEI) Executive Board meeting, Tuesday, where board members made a series of recommendations to strengthen the three-year-old initiative. At the meeting, Queen Rania reiterated that education is on the top of Jordan's national agenda. Her Majesty further highlighted the country’s support for the Jordan Education Initiative, and the need for a clear vision, leadership and strategy to build on its success and spread best practices across the Kingdom.

(Office of Her Majesty – Press Department – Amman) - Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah commended Jordanian and Arab women for correcting misperceptions and showcasing the multifaceted realities of Arab women at the International Women's Forum (IWF) cornerstone conference.

"You are some of the Arab world's finest ambassadors," she said to the largest ever IWF gathering, "As you go about your daily meetings, your international phone-calls, and your global travel, you are dispelling myths, correcting misperceptions, and showcasing the multifaceted realities of Arab women."

(Mahmoud Habboush, Jordan Times – Amman) – Schoolchildren across the country on Tuesday presented their visions of how to empower the use of technology in education at the Creativity Festival, organised by the Ministry of Education and World Links Arab Region (WLAR).

More than 500 projects, 30 online newsletters and 30 designs for ideal schools, all completed by students from 400 schools in the country, were celebrated at the event, which Her Majesty Queen Rania and Sudanese Vice President Silva Kiir Mayardit attended.

(Office of Her Majesty – Press Department – Fuheis) - Although Jordan is not expected to have a white Christmas this year, there was still plenty of holiday cheer in the air as Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah lit up the Kingdom’s largest Christmas tree in Fuheis, Monday.

Glittered with holiday lights and Christmas decorations, the city’s main square was full of glee as children gathered to watch the special ceremony. Nearly a dozen children were singing carols in the background as the Queen flipped the switch.

(Office of Her Majesty – Press Department – Amman) - When you merge the dedication and commitment of the private sector with the heart and will of public school students, you create a recipe for success. This was most evident on Wednesday morning when INJAZ launched the new School Adoption Program, a national program initiated by INJAZ along with the Ministry of Education and the private sector.

(Office of Her Majesty – Press Department – Dead Sea) - Innovation and creativity are the new buzz words of the 21st century classroom, and with those buzz words comes a new way of doing things.

Long gone are the days of traditional ribbon cutting ceremonies—on Wednesday, with the click of a mouse, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah cut a virtual ribbon to launch the new Innovative Teachers’ Network (ITN) in Jordan. Her Majesty lauded the pioneering effort at the ITN launch in the Dead Sea which, she said, leads to people connecting all over the world.

(Office of Her Majesty – Press Department – Dead Sea) - Arab and Group of Eight (G8) ministers of education joined forces, during the last two days, to explore educational reform prospects that will ensure that students in the region have access to high quality education, at a conference on the development of education.

(Office of Her Majesty – Press Department – Amman) - Highlighting the central role of teachers in introducing creativity and 21st century learning skills into the classroom, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah, on Sunday, attended an award ceremony held by Intel Corporation, in recognition of the three millionth teacher, Jordanian Bothayna ElHabahba, to have completed the "Intel Teach to the Future" training program worldwide.

(Linda Hindi, Jordan Times –  Amman) –  Her Majesty Queen Rania inaugurated a training centre in Madaba that will guarantee careers in the tourism industry for its participants.

The vocational training facility for specialised training in the hotel and tourism sector is now the “model centre of excellence” that will serve as a template for 10 other centres around the country.

(Jordan Times – Amman) – Her Majesty Queen Rania stressed that providing vaccines is a human duty and an ongoing investment, in addition to being a necessity to protect children.

The Queen, who is a board member of the GAVI Fund, made the remarks at a medical conference titled “Vaccines during the next decade in the Arab world,” which opened on Sunday. The three-day conference, organised by the University of Jordan’s faculty of medicine, seeks to highlight the issue of vaccines and to elevate its relevance in Arab countries.