Queen Rania Receives Austrian Award

May 16, 2005

(Office of Her Majesty Queen Rania, Press Department - Amman) Her Majesty Queen Rania, on Monday, received the 2005 ‘My Way’ Award in recognition of her extensive social work and contributions.

During a meeting with Mr. Ernst Fischer, Chairman of the Executive Board of the My Way Private Foundation of Austria and Mayor of Hagenbrunn, Queen Rania lauded the friendly relations between Jordan and Austria, thanking the Austrian foundation and commending them on their efforts.

Attended by the Austrian Ambassador to Jordan, His Excellency Dr. Heinrich Querner, the meeting included a video screening on the foundation’s work and past recipients including the former Polish President Lech Walesa (2003) and the late pontiff Pope John Paul II (2004).

The Austrian prize is intended to raise public awareness of social consciousness and initiatives, providing individuals with personal encouragement to achieve their goals and pursue their ‘own way’. According to Mr. Fischer, it is “a continuing presentation, the public acknowledgement of the presented gift, which every year honors one person who has earned receiving public thanks.”

During their stay in Jordan, the Austrian delegation also visited a number of Jordan River Foundation centers, where they were briefed on the Jordanian experience in the field of child abuse prevention, including the Queen Rania Family and Child Center and the Dar Al-Aman Center, which has, since its establishment in 2000, provided temporary shelter to children who have suffered some form of abuse or neglect. The delegation also visited the JRF Showroom where they had a first-hand look at a variety of handicrafts.

In 1999, the private foundation presented an open air art monument to the public. Seven creations by 7 international sculptors, from different countries, depicting the 7 stages of life - birth, childhood, awakening, love, family, old age, and death - grace the 777 meter long natural path in the town of Hagenbrunn, near Vienna.