Ammon News - By Mohammad Ghazal

AMMAN - Her Majesty Queen Rania on Tuesday said 2009 has a “special place” in her heart.

In a letter posted on her Facebook page and her official website, which was re-launched recently with new, interactive features, the Queen said the year 2009 brought her closer to her beloved family, the Jordanian people and the country.

"In the year 2009, our four children matured and our eldest son was named crown prince... I pray to God to help him and that he spends his life in the service of Jordan and is a source of support to His Majesty the King," the Queen said in the letter, in which she conveyed her good wishes for the new year.

In July, His Majesty King Abdullah issued a Royal Decree naming HRH Prince Hussein as crown prince. Prince Hussein is the elder brother of Their Royal Highnesses Princess Iman, Princess Salma and Prince Hashem.

The year 2009, Her Majesty added, was an opportunity to explore the country in search for "Ahel Al Himmeh" (community champions), people who work behind the scenes for the development of their communities.

In March this year, Queen Rania launched the Ahel Al Himmeh Award to highlight and celebrate the accomplishments of groups and individuals whose work has had a positive impact on their local communities.

The award was launched on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of King Abdullah's accession to the Throne.

The letter also referred to the Madrasati (my school) initiative, which the Queen launched in 2008, pointing out that 200 schools were covered by the initiative, which seeks not only to restore school facilities but also to upgrade the quality of education, by training teachers and enhancing existing initiatives in areas such as child safety, health and training in practical skills.

Her Majesty noted that 2009 also witnessed the launch of several centres and institutions concerned with improving the quality of education. Among these is the Queen Rania Teachers Academy, which was launched in June with an eye to training Jordanian educators on modern and innovative teaching methods under experts from Columbia University's Teachers College.

Queen Rania also referred to the 1GOAL campaign, which seeks to give 75 million children a fair chance in life by recruiting tens of millions of supporters through a mass sign-up campaign, calling on global leaders to stand up to their education pledges.

Her Majesty is co-founder and global co-chairperson of the campaign, an international initiative coordinated by the Global Campaign for Education in partnership with FIFA, aims to leverage the popularity of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, to be held in South Africa, to ensure that 75 million poverty-stricken children receive an education by 2015.
(Jordan Times)