Princess Mary as Patron for the World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe

[Alisa]

Arbejdsmøde hos World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe</B>

Mandag d. 26. juni 2006

Som protektor for World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe deltog H.K.H. Kronprinsessen i et arbejdsmøde hos organisationen i København.

[UserDane]

Originally Posted by Alisa

Arbejdsmøde hos World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe</B>

Mandag d. 26. juni 2006

Som protektor for World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe deltog H.K.H. Kronprinsessen i et arbejdsmøde hos organisationen i København.

Translation:
In her capacity as patron for the World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe, Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess participated in a working meeting with the organization in Copenhagen.

[Larzen]

Marys speech at the opening of WHO conference, she is going to Istanbul in november

WHO Regional Committee for Europe</B>

Offentliggjort mandag d. 11. september 2006

Honourable Ministers, Regional Director, distinguished guests. I am honoured to have this opportunity to address such an eminent group of health officials representing the fifty-three Member States of the European Region of the World Health Organization.

I would like to warmly welcome you all to the 56th Session of the Regional Committee.

Recently, I have undertaken the responsibility of being Patron of the WHO Regional Office for Europe. To date in my capacity as Patron, I have had the opportunity to visit this Office a number of times and discuss with Dr Danzon and his team, how I might be of value in furthering the mission of the Regional Office for Europe – namely to improve the health and well-being of the populations of this Region.

As patron for both a very complex organisation and an organisation that works within the extremely complicated area of public health, it has been important from our earliest discussions together to recognize where and how I can add value. It is obvious, I cannot be an expert. But I can be knowledgeable and have a solid understanding of my focus areas. And I can contribute to generating greater awareness of these areas and public health issues in Europe generally.

For many people in this Region, poor health and suffering, as well as lack of access to basic medical services are unfortunately an everyday reality. I am committed to helping to improve this situation and have agreed with the Regional Office to focus my efforts in a few specific health domains.

In my role as patron of other health related organisations, two areas are particularly relevant – treatment, prevention and control of non-communicable diseases and mental health.

It is therefore most gratifying for me to see, that at this very session of the Regional Committee, a European strategy for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases will be debated. The high proportion of the disease burden and of the deaths that this broad range of diseases accounts for makes investing in their prevention and control a necessity. I wish this Regional Committee success in reaching agreement on the European Strategy for non-communicable diseases – so appropriately named "Gaining Health".

Part of my engagement in this area is to generate awareness that increased physical activity is an important and integral dimension for improved health and well-being. I have discussed the depth of this problem with the team from the Regional Office and, in particular, found the data for childhood obesity staggering. Childhood obesity is reaching epidemic levels. The call for action against obesity has in fact been spearheaded by Denmark since 2001.

I am therefore committed to helping raise the political awareness in this regard and look forward to supporting the forthcoming WHO Ministerial Conference on Counteracting Obesity, which will take place in Istanbul in November this year. It is also my plan to take part in follow up events from the conference, such as the next "Move for health day" scheduled in May 2007.

Although not specifically on the agenda for this meeting, I would like to briefly touch upon two other areas where we have discussed my involvement and participation in specific events.

One area deals with vaccine preventable diseases and immunization where the declining or stagnating immunization coverage is an issue of major concern. Apart from safe drinking water, no other health intervention has reduced diseases and mortality as effectively and safely as immunization. However, large discrepancies in population groups still persist and unvaccinated children can be found in a number of Member States in this Region.

The decline is not only the result of media scares and groups opposing immunization. It is also due to the fact that incidences of the dangerous vaccine preventable infections have declined, leaving weakened fear of these diseases. The great paradox is that this decline is attributed to the achievements of immunization. Therefore one might say that immunization has become “the victim of its own success”.

As a mother I want to ensure that my child has every opportunity to grow up healthy, and vaccinated against those diseases that can so easily be controlled.

As Patron I want to ensure that this opportunity is given to every child in the European Region, and that we also reach those vulnerable groups that continue to exist. It is the right of every child to be immunized. To support this project I will participate in a number of official events in connection with the "European immunization week" that will take place in the spring of 2007.

Lastly, in the area of mental health, I am patron for both the Danish Association for Mental Health and the Danish Mental Health Fund. I will work with the Regional Office in order to explore potential national and international initiatives, in particular with respect to de-stigmatization of people suffering from mental health problems. Initiatives that can be both mutually supportive and offer new knowledge and best practices to those in need.

You are facing many important challenges in the work you have before you in the coming days. I wish you the clarity of vision, the wisdom of experience, the strength of resolve and the joy of being part of a group that is charting the path for "Health for All" in the European Region.
Good luck and thank you

pictures from Polfoto

[eireann]

Is it just me, or does it seem that the female members of the Danish royal family seem to have a lot more engagements than the males? I know on other boards that there are complaints on Letizia not having solo engagements, but to me Mary is on the other extreme and rarely seems to have engagements with Frederik. Just personally I feel sad for her out on these engagements alone - it would be nice if Fred was there to support her. Thanks for posting her speech and the photos. She´s looking well and I hope she will acheive her goals with the WHO.

[Linda Hsu]

Originally Posted by Larzen

Marys speech at the opening of WHO conference, she is going to Istanbul in november

pictures from Polfoto

What a GREAT speech! I'm really impressed, it's fantastic! Thanks Larzen for posting this wonderful and very heartwarming speech!

Mary demontrates she is a great patron of her duties as a Crown Princess, a mother and as a very caring human being! It is wonderful how she talked about motherhood, and the need to protect the next generation against diseases.

She looks so beautiful too! I love the curls and it suits her very well. I also adore her suit - a great colour and a great pattern! Mary looks so lovely in it. Her suit was very appropiate for this event!!! As always, Mary's shoes are gorgeous and to die for!!!!

Keep up the good work Mary! Well donel

Amen

[soCal girl]

Here are two pictures showing Mary's full outfit:


(Credit: Scanpix)
Thanks to CPMMB

Mary looks wonderful and her speech was lovely .

[denice]

What a great suit! Does anyone know what type of fabric it is made from. The shoes are to die for! All her shoes are.

[charlottestreasures]

Outfit and shoes and hair - perfect.

[soCal girl]

Her jacket is actually a butterfly pattern. I'm not a really big fan of the butterfly motif on a jacket but from afar her outfit is perfect!

[GlitteringTiaras]

Whomever wrote that speech for Mary did a good job.

[Australian]

Originally Posted by GlitteringTiaras

Whomever wrote that speech for Mary did a good job.

True, but it is all in the way it is executed! I am sure Mary had a hand in it.

[Larzen]

I think the speech is OK, but IMO it could have been more about the work the WHO does and the theme of the conference and a little less about what Mary wants to do. I did like the bit where she said she was not an expert and the bit about immunization.

A BT series from the circus (I hope this link works )
http://www.bt.dk/billedserier/?pic_id=467568

[Madame Royale]

Keeping in mind, the Crown Princess did not open the event - which started at 9:40am - but gave her speech from 12:15 - 12:30pm.

So it makes sense, to me, as to why Mary focused on her role as patron rather than the larger contribution and purpose of the organisation which would have been noted prior to her speech

[Gillian]

Wow she looks realy beautiful...:)

[biboquinhas]

She looks great as always, but too mucht black!The speech was wonderful a very great job!

[Linda Hsu]

Originally Posted by Madame Royale

Keeping in mind, the Crown Princess did not open the event - which started at 9:40am - but gave her speech from 12:15 - 12:30pm.

So it makes sense, to me, as to why Mary focused on her role as patron rather than the larger contribution and purpose of the organisation which would have been noted prior to her speech

Very well said.......Madame Royale!

According to the official program. WHO conference started at 09:40am on Monday 11 September 2006.

While Mary's speech was scheduled at : 12:15 - 12:30 Address by Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mary of Denmark. Obviously, Mary's speech was NOT an opening speech at the WHO conference.

Below is a bit of the WHO programm:

http://www.euro.who.int/Document/RC56/edoc03rev2.pdf

QUOTE

09:00–09:45 Opening of the session
Election of officers
Adoption of the provisional agenda and programme
EUR/RC56/2 Rev.1, EUR/RC56/3 Rev.2
09:45–10:15 Report of the Regional Director on the work of the Regional Office
EUR/RC56/4, EUR/RC56/Conf.Doc./1, EUR/RC56/Inf.Doc./1
10:15–10:45 Coffee break
10:45–12:15 Discussion on the report of the Regional Director on the work of the Regional Office
12:15–12:30 Address by Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mary of Denmark

So, since Mary's speech is NOT the opening speech, it also makes sense to me that Mary's speech sounds more like an introduction with the main focus on what can and will she do. I think Mary defined her role very clearly. I also believe many of the speakers before Mary would have commented on the reason for the conference and the role of the WHO. So, I think it is very
appropriate that the speech is mainly focused on Mary and her role and not the role of the WHO.

In my opinion, Mary's speech was GREAT and her best so far. Well done. Mary!

[Alexandria]

Originally Posted by soCal girl

Her jacket is actually a butterfly pattern. I'm not a really big fan of the butterfly motif on a jacket but from afar her outfit is perfect!

I think the butterfly motif, even though it is also black like the rest of the suit so that it all blends together, is a bit immature. This is something I would expect my 10 year old goddaughter (who loves butterflies) to choose for an item of clothing. Furthermore, I think such an outfit was a bit unprofessional for the WHO conference. Mary was meeting with and giving speeches to medical professionals -- and she chose to wear a suit with butterflies all over it?! Mary has many other very lovely and very professional suits that I think would be much more appropriate for this occasion and addressing such a crowd. Were she going to visit a garden or kids at some event this suit would've been much more appropriate.

[Mathilde1286]

Mary looks wonderful! She is always smiling and seems quite personable. She did an outstanding job. I think that is more important to the people she addressed than her having butterflies on her suit.

[BurberryBrit]

I think her choice to wear black was to look serious and not detract attention from the importance with what she was saying with her clothes. People like Angela Jolie also tone it down when making speeches in Congress or at the UN. It's proper.

[soCal girl]

Originally Posted by BurberryBrit

I think her choice to wear black was to look serious and not detract attention from the importance with what she was saying with her clothes. People like Angela Jolie also tone it down when making speeches in Congress or at the UN. It's proper.

Mary is not wearing black but a dark, midnight blue. It's still a great business color but I must agree with Alexandria that the butterflies aren't really appropriate. As I said before, I'm a fan of the outfit from afar where you can't see the butterflies.