Queen Rania's China Visit

From September 4th to September 7th, Queen Rania of Jordan visited China to champion some causes close to her heart. The queen tirelessly advocates for women, children and education. She is UNICEF’s First Eminent Advocate for Children and a FYGL Foundation Board Member.

While visiting a migrant community located in the Shibalidian Township in Chaoyang District, Beijing, Rania highly praised her hosts.

“I am very impressed by the work that is being done here – and elsewhere in Beijing, and China at large – to address the needs of migrant communities, particularly mothers and children.” “What I have seen here today is a model of good practice in tackling the challenges posed by large migrant communities. It attests to the commitment of the Chinese government, alongside UNICEF, the WHO and other civil society organizations, to ensure that their children have not just the right start, but the best start of life.”

On Friday, she attended the Inaugural Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Dalian, China and challenged the audience to reexamine their 'global conversations' and ‘cultural chasm.'

"For all the technological advances of our time, we are connected but we are not connecting. Even as global challenges underscore our interdependence, our world remains fragmented."

"We see it in the mutual misunderstanding afflicting the world’s great diverse cultures, not only among different countries but increasingly within them as well. We hear tense debates over immigration, assimilation, and integration."

"And for me, as an Arab, a Muslim, and a member of the global community, the schism that worries me most is the growing gulf of fear and misunderstanding between the Muslim world and the West …our failure to speak the same language…our failure to find common ground in our conversations…our failure to see eye to eye..."

"Sadly, too often when I travel around my region, and to the West, I hear discussions about this cultural chasm dominated by words of blame and hostility, uttered in tones of mistrust and intolerance."

"It seems to me that while global commerce is surging ahead, our global conversation is falling behind."

"Why?"

"I believe we are missing the moral language of the conscience. We are missing the graceful conversation of the heart. We are missing the humanitarian perspective that helps us to see through another person’s eyes... and to empathize – person to person… neighbor to neighbor… us to them..."

"I am convinced that your voices can help change the global conversation…and reassert the basic values that are at the heart of our common humanity – the ABCs of a common language."

"You can be New Champions not only of commerce, but of conciliation; not only of trade but of tolerance; not only of profit, but of peace and understanding."

"You can and must play a key role in bridging the East West divide and one way in which you can do this is to be New Champions of what I call Corporate Multicultural Responsibility..."

"Each of us has a role to play, because we are all on the same team. Because the more our world community pulls together, the more chances every nation and every individual will have to prosper."

"In fact, the official slogan of the Beijing Olympics – ‘One World, One Dream’ – just four simple words - sums it up very well."

"Those four words speak of the Olympic spirit of global unity, an idea that is eternally new even though its origins go back to the beginning of civilization. It is a dream that is every bit as eastern as it is western. For it was a disciple of Confucius, Mencius, who wrote, 'a good citizen in one community will befriend the other citizens of the community; a good citizen of the world will befriend the other citizens of the world.'"

"I hope that when you leave Dalian, and return to your countries, you too are infused with the Olympic spirit, and will join your voices with those of 1.3 billion Chinese people all calling for ‘One World, One Dream’… so that Beijing’s legacy to the world is more than a wonderful Olympic arena…more than words of harmony and hope, but the foundation of a new world team – one that is joined together by mutual respect, common goals, and shared understanding."

Photo: Petra