The Jordan Education Initiative

I have been in Jordan for a while reviewing the progress of the Jordan Education Initiative. You can read about the JEI in a Power Point presentation made in 2005 in session 2 of UNESCO's conference:

ICT for Capacity-Building: Critical Success Factors
Towards Knowledge Societies

You can read about my visit in another blog that I run.

A Royal Visit to UNESCO

Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan visited UNESCO earlier this year. During her visit, a cooperation agreement was signed between UNESCO and the Jordan River Foundation, which she chairs. “The Night of Jordanian Treasures”, a performance of Jordanian dances and music in Queen Rania’s presence followed the signing. The cooperation agreement aims to identify and establish joint projects in different areas: child protection, literacy, teacher training, formal and non-formal education and children’s rights. Several Goodwill Ambassadors have already made financial donations for the development of “Safe Schools” projects promoted by the Foundation, an initiative that aims to turn schools into safer environments in education.

Mr Matsuura paid special tribute to the Foundation’s work in improving the lives of women and children and its commitment to sustainable human development.

“I salute here Your Majesty's remarkable work and devotion to the cause of literacy, from which UNESCO will now benefit even further through the signing of a cooperation agreement with the Jordan River Foundation.”

The Director-General also pledged UNESCO’s full support to the Foundation in mobilizing partners towards the achievement of the Education for All goals, as well as in promoting the right to education and improving the quality of education. He further stated:

“It is crucial that we continue to initiate and support important initiatives to promote human development and intercultural dialogue. I hope in particular that we can build on the Foundation’s excellent work in early childhood care and development”

In Her address, Her Majesty Queen Rania thanked all the UNESCO Ambassadors and representatives for their efforts

“to build peace in the minds of men and to foster dialogue, mutual respect, and understanding among the peoples of the earth. We [in Jordan] have carved out a special role as a link between regions and cultures. We know tradition and modernity can both find purchase in our soil, and we are eager to bring the world to Jordan, and bring Jordan to the world (…) Today, at a time when, too often, humanity is clashing instead of communicating, we need to promote [a] universal language and indivisible heritage."