Queen Rania Pays Visit to Harlem School for Girls

Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan, who was in New York City for the Clinton Global Initiative conference this week, paid a visit to the Young Women’s Leadership School in East Harlem Monday to show her support for gender equality in education.

Queen Rania, who has been UNICEF’s Eminent Advocate for Children since 2007, joined UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman to discuss the role education plays in improving children’s lives. Around the world, 100 million children remain out of school, the majority of whom are girls, according to UNICEF. Queen Rania became United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative’s (UNGEI) Honorary Global Chair in July 2009.

For the past nine years straight, every single graduate of the Young Women’s Leadership School, the nation's first girls-only public school, has been admitted to institutes of higher education. In her address to the students, Queen Rania emphasized the need for the young leaders to pay it forward.

“I want you, girls with voices, to speak up and shout out for girls whose cries fall silent,” said HM Queen Rania. “I want you to fight for them, as others are fighting for you. I want you to pull up another girl, and help her stand tall and strong. I want you to be great, and inspire greatness in others. If anyone can do it, you can."

Queen Rania, herself a strong role model for women around the world, took questions from the 100-student assembly before showing the girls how to sign up for the 1Goal campaign, a worldwide movement that calls on soccer fans to urge global leaders to make education for children a priority.

UNGEI was established in 2000 to provide support for girls around the world to stay in school. Since 1999, the total number of out-of-school children has dropped by 16 per cent globally.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.