Queen Rania of Jordan and Queen Silvia of Sweden have joined forces during the latter’s state visit to Jordan.
Queen Rania met Queen Silvia and King Carl XVI Gustaf at a meeting with the Jordan River Foundation (JRF) and Swedish furniture conglomerate IKEA at the Queen Rania Family and Child Center in Amman. The purpose was to discuss the ongoing production of Jordanian goods that are placed on IKEA shelves across the globe.
They were joined by Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, Princess Rym Ali and the Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tobias Billström.
JRF Director General Enaam Barrishi and IKEA New Business and Innovation Project Leader Cristiana Serbanescu spoke to the royals about the partnership and how it works to empower Jordanian and refugee women. The partnership began in 2017 with less than 100 Jordanian women making a limited edition collection of textiles inspired by Jordanian culture. Now it employs over 400 Jordanian and Syrian refugee women who create over 300,000 pieces sold in IKEA stores – mostly in Europe.
Queen Rania spoke of IKEA’s example and how it has helped Jordanian women: “IKEA sets a very good example of how doing good can be good for business … because we were empowered, we were able to empower hundreds of women, who then benefited hundreds of families.”
The Queen of Jordan also thanked IKEA and Sweden for supporting the Jordanian River Foundation.
Queen Silvia was happy to see IKEA in Jordan and said: “I really feel at home.”
The two consorts toured the Queen Rania Family and Child Center earlier in the day to see their ongoing work to combat child abuse – something Queen Silvia is passionate about through her charity, the World Childhood Foundation. She was happy to see the work they are doing and praised them for their dedication: “It’s such a difficult issue, but you are working with them in a very personal, very kind, excellent way.”
During the tour, Queen Rania and Queen Silvia visited the simulated home environment “Beit Sgheer,” or “My Little Home,” which uses hands-on activities to teach parents and children about healthy home lives. They also got to see an exhibition of Jordan River Designs products.
The King and Queen of Sweden are on a state visit to Jordan from 15 to 17 November at the invitation of King Abdullah II.
