After departing the UK following the two day events commemorating the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, His Majesty accompanied by Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah and His Royal Highness Crown Prince Hussein left for New York City, NY State USA to attend the 74th edition of United Nations General Assembly week
Like always during the UNGA week, Her Majesty attends various meetings and events surrounding this week and today September 20th, 2022, she attended the two- day event Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) 2022 meeting.
At today's opening event, Her Majesty sat down with Former US Secretary of State and First Lady who is also the founding patron of the Clinton Global Initiative, Hillary Clinton and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi where she urged Global Cooperation to intergrate refugees.
The Queen underscored the need for coordinated global action in helping the world’s expanding refugee population integrate into host communities, warning that there will be more refugee crises in the future.
Bringing highlights to Jordan’s experience as a refugee host nation, Her Majesty explained to the panel that Jordan’s government and leadership are “still as committed to supporting and integrating refugees into our society” as evident by the tens of thousands of work permits issued to Syrians lately.
Moderated by Secretary Clinton, the panel discussion aimed to explore means of fostering a sense of community and belonging in an increasingly unstable world, particularly in light of the ever-growing population of refugees and displaced people.
Her Majesty also underlined the positive sentiments Jordanian people have towards refugees. Citing a recent UNHCR survey which showed that “96% of Jordanians remained sympathetic to the plight of refugees” only three months ago, the Queen noted that the figure says a lot about “the value system in Jordan” where both government and people refuse to turn against or away from people who are seeking shelter and protection.
“It shows you that people inherently are good and they want to do the right thing if nobody is telling them to be fearful of the other,” she continued.
Stressing the crucial role Jordan’s open-arms policy plays in facilitating refugees’ social integration into the country, Her Majesty said that “ultimately home is not a place, it is people, and it’s very difficult to feel at home in a place where you feel unwelcome or unwanted.”
She went on to point out that a refugee crisis is “not just a short term humanitarian crisis,” but rather a “crisis of human development” that requires long-term solutions focusing on “growth, building resilience, sustainability,” and job creation.
Her Majesty also underlined that responsibility towards global refugees “is an obligation, not an option,” noting that while reform efforts in addressing the crisis necessitate merging humanitarian and development work, refugee response plans “are chronically underfunded all over the world” and “resettlement targets are insufficiently low.”
Elaborating on the global community’s weak refugee resettlement efforts, Her Majesty said that only a handful of high-income nations have carried their weight, while “amongst the vast majority, it's been a race to the bottom with the numbers they are willing to let in.”
The Queen also observed that as the world is prone to face recurring crises, “forced displacement is going to be an annual norm,” especially with World Bank predictions pointing to the possibility of climate refugees alone reaching over 200 million by 2050.
Sharing her thoughts on the recent Ukrainian refugee crisis, Her Majesty contrasted the world’s response to this crisis with its response to refugee crises of the past. “The disparity in the tone, generosity, and urgency that has been extended in welcoming the Ukrainian refugees compared to refugees from other areas of the world like Syria, or Sudan, or Myanmar, is quite striking,” she observed.
Her Majesty also shed light on the increased strain on humanitarian assistance resulting from the Ukrainian refugee crisis, condemning how “refugees from other parts of the world have really dropped down the priority list” and insisting that “humanity cannot be applied selectively.”
Highlighting the importance of leadership when it comes to addressing refugee crises, Her Majesty acknowledged the difficulty leaders face in balancing their “domestic agenda” with “global humanitarian obligations,” while denouncing the normalization of “fear of the other,” as an off-limits solution to shirk off responsibility towards refugees.
She argued that while it’s tempting for leaders to “use populist rhetoric and stoke the fear and anger towards the other, and keep people huddled up fearful of a dangerous world,” this approach is not capable of resolving problems. “That simplistic narrative of anger is easier than coming up with constructive solutions,” she explained.
Her Majesty concluded by saying that “confident, courageous, compassionate, and most importantly, honest” leadership is needed to properly integrate refugees into any society, adding, “if integrated properly, refugees can actually be net contributors” to their host communities.
Held alongside the 77th United Nations General Assembly Week, The Clinton Global Initiative was launched by U.S. President Bill Clinton in 2005 to turn ideas into action by creating a space where leaders across sectors could publicly commit to form partnerships and take action together. CGI brings together established and emerging global leaders to create and implement solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. This year’s meeting was the first reconvention since 2016.
Look Details:
For today Her Majesty is wearing an entire Erdem outfit made up off a Michaela Penrose Hammered Satin Top and Flora Penrose floral-print satin midi skirt with a Louis Vuitton Lock up clutch and Jennifer Chamandi Lorenzo 105 Dark Navy Blue Snakeskin & Suede Pumps
