The Hope Gap

Posted by misspolitician

July 14, 2008

In an interview with CNN’s Becky Anderson, Queen Rania discussed the existing “hope gap” in the region’s most troubled countries while reminding her audience of the vast potential existing in the region.

“[Palestinian and Iraqi] kids are just concentrating on their mere survival,” she said, “In Palestine probably the kid won’t be able to make it to school and probably that day will witness his neighbor perhaps get killed, or a kid in Iraq where a bomb might explode. That’s the kind of disparity that we have to bridge.”

Queen Rania emphasized the significance Madrasati -an inititiative launched this year to renovate 500+ dilapidated public schools in Jordan- will have as it directly impacts the lives of hundreds of thousands of Jordanian students.

“You cannot underestimate the importance of the learning environment and the impact it has on your life as a whole. I feel that education can be the real equalizer among people because you can give those who have a less privileged start an ability to really sort of change their course and give them the opportunity to really make something of their lives.”

“We have a collective responsibility to make sure that we provide our young people with the environment that can bring out the best in them,” she said. “We really need to educate them, engage them and empower them in the decision making process.”

Asked why she was so focused on empowering youth the lovely said:

“I’m always so energized and uplifted by the spirit of the young people, so I’m constantly learning from them and adapting my ways in order to meet their needs because they are our constituency,” she said.

Her Majesty also spoke about engaging youth in her online dialogue through YouTube.

“When I’m in the west I’m asked ‘why do the Arabs hate us?’ When I’m in the Arab world I hear very negative comments about the west. The rising tensions between both sides is a fact of life, I don’t think that anyone can deny it. Throughout my speeches and in my visits I tackle these issues, but I wanted to take this off line conversation online. By doing that I felt that I would connect with a audience that I wouldn’t usually connect with, the youth, by trying to bring them into the conversation because they are the ones that can change the discourse.”

Long live the Queen! xoxox