On Wednesday, May 25, 2022, Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge along with Their Royal Highnesses The Earl and Countess of Wessex, Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice of York attended a Garden Party held at Buckingham Palace in London.
Roughly 8,000 special guests were “…invited to today’s event as a way to thank them for the positive impact they make in their communities.”
On Tuesday, May 24, 2022, Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan visited the Jordan River Designs Showroom in Amman. The purpose of the visit was to follow up on the Jordan River Foundation’s (JRF) social enterprises, including the latest Jordan River Designs and Al Karma Kitchen projects.
During Her Majesty’s meeting with the JRF Director-General, Ms. Enaam Barrishi and other staff members, Her Majesty Queen Rania received a briefing on the achievements and future plans of Jordan River Designs and Al Karma Kitchen, including its efforts to begin exporting food items to regional markets abroad, and expand the number of female beneficiaries employed by these projects.
Her Majesty also met with women working in Al Karma Kitchen, an empowerment initiative that produces and sells a variety of food items prepared by local community women. Her Majesty expressed her admiration for the women’s hard work as they shared their success stories and the challenges they have met along the way.
“It makes me so happy to hear people say that your food is just as good as homemade food and even better,” Her Majesty told the women. “That’s just proof that you put your heart into your work!” She added.
Her Majesty Queen Rania also noted that:
“…each beneficiary represents a model of the successful and hardworking Jordanian woman who supports her family and insists on being part of society’s fabric of productive women. I would like you to be just as proud of yourselves as I am of you, and of everything you do for your families. Your success paves the way for the empowerment of many other women in Jordan..”
Through its series of social enterprises, the Jordan River Foundation hopes to revive traditional cooking and Bedouin-inspired arts and crafts. The foundation currently provides thousands of Jordanian women with livelihoods and a stable source of income, and in 2021 alone it managed to create over 660 employment opportunities through initiatives like Al Karma Kitchen and Jordan River Designs.
On the evening of May 24, 2022, Her Serene Highness Princess Charlene of Monaco accompanied by her daughter, Her Serene Highness Princess Gabriella of Monaco attended the 2022 Monte-Carlo Fashion Week Awards ceremony held at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo.
In an interview with Monaco Matin, published on Wednesday, Princess Charlene said:
“When I returned to the Principality, I focused all my energy on my children, my husband, and my health because they are my priority. My health is still fragile and I don’t want to rush things. It’s been a long, difficult, painful path. Today, I feel more serene.”
When asked about the vicious rumors regarding Princess Charlene’s long absence from her family and the Principality she noted that it was “regrettable.” The princess went on to stress that her husband, HSH Prince Albert II, was very supportive; moreover, the princely couple “…discussed those malicious articles together and he did everything to protect me and our children.”
Princess Charlene also confirmed to the newspaper that she will attend the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend alongside her family. She also noted that her son, His Serene Highness Hereditary Prince Jacques, will for the first time participate in the Lap of Honor with His Serene Highness Prince Albert II.
On the morning of Wednesday, May 25, 2022, Her Majesty Queen Letizia of Spain attended a meeting in preparation for her upcoming cooperation trip to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.
The purpose of the upcoming visit is to learn about the work that the “…Spanish Cooperation carries out [in Mauritania] in the areas of health, governance and gender equality, rural development, and food security…” according to the Spanish royal court.
In Mauritania there are 12 Spanish NGDOs (Non-Governmental Organizations for Development), which work in the sectors of rural development and food security, health and gender.
This is the seventh cooperation trip for Her Majesty Queen Letizia. Previous cooperation trips took Her Majesty to Honduras, El Salvador, Senegal, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Mozambique, and Paraguay.
Her Majesty Queen Letizia’s cooperation trip will begin on May 31 – June 2, 2022.
On Tuesday, May 24, 2022, His Royal Highness The Duke of Cambridge, as President of The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, visited the Royal Marsden Hospital in London.
The purpose of today’s visit was to learn more about the innovative work that is currently “…being carried out to improve cancer diagnosis and treatment.”
On Tuesday, May 24, 2022, His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, as Great Master of the Honourable Order of the Bath, attended the Order of the Bath Service for the installation of Knights Grand Cross of the Order held at Westminster Abbey in London.
On Tuesday, May 24, 2022, Her Majesty Queen Maxima of the Netherlands participated in the panel discussion entitled, Financial Inclusion: Addressing the Largest Gaps, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Her Majesty took part in the panel discussion in her capacity as the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA). Other speakers included Mr. Faisal Islam, Mr. Andre Soelistyo, Mr. François Villeroy de Galhau, Mr. Adeeb Ahamed, Ms. Karabo Morule, and Ms. Gelsomina Vigliotti.
The theme, Financial Inclusion: Addressing the Largest Gaps, focused on the:
“…extensive progress that has been made in advancing global financial inclusion in recent years, with the increased rollout of digital financial services during the pandemic proving an additional tailwind in many regions. Nevertheless, certain populations are still being left behind.
Where is action most needed to deliver full financial inclusion and what innovations can address this ongoing challenge?”
During today’s discussion, Her Majesty gave a brief speech. Here is what she had to say:
“Ladies and Gentlemen,
We have come together at a defining moment. As we emerge from a global pandemic that has kept us apart for two years, we are seeing that it has also spawned an unprecedented number of digital connections.
When COVID-19 hit, governments rushed to provide financial relief to citizens, often through digital channels. At the same time, social distancing forced people to find alternatives to cash and face-to-face shopping.
Mobile money usage skyrocketed. In Latin America alone, 50 million adults began using digital merchant payments.
The latest data will arrive this summer when the new Global Findex is released, but we already know that over 1.2 billion adults have gained access to financial services in the last decade. We are expecting that to grow by many millions more.
If we have learned one thing about financial inclusion, it is that better access, new users, and higher transaction numbers is simply not enough.
Over the past year, I have advocated for enhancing the resilience of underserved groups in the face of economic shocks, so they are better able to seize economic opportunities.
MSMEs have been hard-hit by COVID-19, especially informal ones and those owned by women. For these enterprises, going from pen and paper to digital is one of the keys to financial recovery and resilience.
At the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Rome last year, I urged governments to accelerate digital solutions for MSMEs around the world.
Going digital can open new markets and make businesses more efficient. A digital ecosystem can help small businesses better manage their inventory, marketing, payments, credit, and sales.
It can also help MSMEs gain access to financial services — for example, their data footprint can be used by financial institutions to provide financing more quickly and at better rates.
Another very important issue is once a population is financial included, does it lead to better financial lives? Are they financially healthy?
Good financial health means being more resilient to financial setbacks and better equipped to seize opportunities. A financially healthy population can recover faster on their own and relieve pressure on government safety nets.
This is a responsibility that concerns us all. Financial health should be a common goal of governments, regulators, the private sector, the financial sector, and NGOs.
For financial services providers in the room: you will likely discover that investing in your customers’ financial health will mean they can pay their loans on time, purchase other products and services, and cost less to serve. There is a strong business case.
Having better information and insights on customers can also help you design products that influence financial behaviors for the better. Savings products that nudge people to achieve their goals are a great example.
As we continue to close the financial inclusion gap, I encourage you to apply a financial health perspective to your efforts. This will enable us to achieve the purpose of financial inclusion and create more resilient economies.
Thank you, and I wish you a fruitful discussion.”
The Royal Correspondent 