HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein
UN Messenger of Peace
Chairperson, International Humanitarian City
Founder, Tkiyet Um Ali

A graduate of Oxford University and active in the United Nations, HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein was appointed as a UN Messenger of Peace in 2007 by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. From 2005 to 2007 Princess Haya served as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations World Food Programme.

The daughter of the late King Hussein of Jordan does not look upon her role as purely an honorary one – quite the contrary. In 2003 she created the first non-governmental organization (NGO) food aid group in the Arab world. Known as “Tkiyet Um Ali,” the organization is based in Amman, Jordan, and provides food and other vital services to people in need.

Princess Haya is also the Chairperson of the International Humanitarian City in Dubai and is active in promoting health, education, sports and youth activities. In the field of sports the Princess not only encourages and supports others, but is a professionally active and accomplished sportswoman herself. She represented Jordan in show jumping at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, at the 2002 World Equestrian Games in Jerez, Spain, and at many international competitions throughout Europe and the Middle East. In 2006 Princess Haya was elected President of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) and in 2007 she became a member of International Olympic Committee (IOC).

In addition to her role as a founding member of Kofi Annan’s Geneva-based Global Humanitarian Forum (GHF), Princess Haya is an active advocate for humanitarian, educational and sporting causes through her patronage and support of numerous non-profit organizations.

In December 2005 the Princess traveled to Malawi to witness the impact of the food crisis there. She met and spoke with children and their mothers at a Nutritional Rehabilitation Unit and observed a World Food Programme distribution for the most vulnerable people in the country. Her visit at the height of the lean season focused the attention of the international community on Malawi at a most crucial time

The Jordanian Princess described an encounter she had with a young man in a nameless, dusty village in Malawi as “easily the most memorable encounter of my life.” She went on to say, “this man in his mid 30s was badly emaciated. His eyes were pink at the edges and I remember thinking they were somehow on fire with rage. But there was really no anger in him – just exhaustion, anguish, and confusion. ‘Why are you keeping me alive?’ he asked. ‘Why give me these medicines? I am too hungry and weak to work and care for my famly. Why torture me this way?’ Needless to say, these were not questions I expected.”

Princess Haya, who earned a degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics at St. Hilda’s College, Oxford, pointed out, “tens of billions of dollars have been pledged to combat disease, yet donor countries have largely overlooked the role of nutrition, somehow managing to ignore both the scientists and the beneficiaries. The donors have helped the UN and NGO projects with funding but with not enough cash to provide good nutritious food to increasingly desperate people, like the man I met in Malawi.

“There are some organizations engaged in what I call ‘next generation’ thinking, principally Medecins Sans Frontieres, which has begun to promote specialist nutritious foods as medicine. Sadly, the aid community is slow in adopting this kind of innovation. It is time to change the way we help. Drugs alone are not a solution against the deadly diseases that claim so many lives. What doctor would admit patients to a hospital; give them the most advanced medications and then leave them to starve?”

 

The Jordanian Princess described an encounter she had with a young man in a nameless, dusty village in Malawi as “easily the most memorable encounter of my life.” She went on to say, “this man in his mid 30s was badly emaciated. His eyes were pink at the edges and I remember thinking they were somehow on fire with rage. But there was really no anger in him – just exhaustion, anguish, and confusion. ‘Why are you keeping me alive?’ he asked. ‘Why give me these medicines? I am too hungry and weak to work and care for my famly. Why torture me this way?’ Needless to say, these were not questions I expected.”

Princess Haya, who earned a degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics at St. Hilda’s College, Oxford, pointed out, “tens of billions of dollars have been pledged to combat disease, yet donor countries have largely overlooked the role of nutrition, somehow managing to ignore both the scientists and the beneficiaries. The donors have helped the UN and NGO projects with funding but with not enough cash to provide good nutritious food to increasingly desperate people, like the man I met in Malawi.

“There are some organizations engaged in what I call ‘next generation’ thinking, principally Medecins Sans Frontieres, which has begun to promote specialist nutritious foods as medicine. Sadly, the aid community is slow in adopting this kind of innovation. It is time to change the way we help. Drugs alone are not a solution against the deadly diseases that claim so many lives. What doctor would admit patients to a hospital; give them the most advanced medications and then leave them to starve?” (P.Ress)