Queen Rania Receives Foreign Press Association’s First Ever Humanitarian Award
(Office of Her Majesty – Press Department – London, UK) - Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah said that human empathy and compassion need an urgent upgrade in order to keep pace with accelerating technology and innovation, after accepting the Humanitarian Award of the Year from the Foreign Press Association (FPA) in London on Tuesday.
In her speech, Queen Rania, who is the first recipient of the FPA’s newly-created award, warned that advancements in technology, globalization, and the free flow of ideas and people are not necessarily leading to improvements in human values or promoting understanding.
“We say that our world is more connected than ever, yet we’re pushing one another away. Our politics are migrating to the extremes and we’re losing the middle ground: closing off instead of opening up, talking of isolationism instead of cooperation, of borders instead of bridges,” Queen Rania said.
She added that, faced with a fast-paced and changing world that challenges their identity, people have resolved to fear instead of solidarity with those less fortunate.
“When fear overwhelms our thinking, we compromise our logic and compassion,” Her Majesty explained. “I think we need to find our way back to the basics of simply listening to each other, of trying to see through each other’s eyes, and to walk in each other’s shoes,” she added.
Commenting on Syria, the Queen said politicians are “seemingly preoccupied with outmaneuvering one another, while civilians are maimed and brutalized and killed,” questioning what lessons have been learned from their response to the prevailing brutality there.
Queen Rania's speech at the Foreign Press Association 17th Annual Media Awards Gala London, UK
http://www.queenrania.jo/en/media/speeches/queen-ranias-speech-foreign-press-association-17th-annual-media-awards-gala-london-uk
