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American Morning

Interview with Queen Noor

Aired October 02, 2002 - 08:53   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: She may come from a privileged upbringing, and even married into royalty, but Queen Noor of Jordan knows about the challenges facing women all over the world, and this week, she participated in "Fortune" magazine's forum for the most powerful women in business, helping the pave the way for future generations of women. It's our honor to welcome her now to AMERICAN MORNING.
Welcome back to the show.

QUEEN NOOR OF JORDAN: Good morning, Paula.

ZAHN: Great to see you.

What is the bottom line? I know you've delivered the keynote address, and women have all different kinds of challenges all over the world, but the bottom line of status of women in this world today.

QUEEN NOOR: It shows significant improvement, tangible improvement, and many parts of the world, including the Arab world, which also has some of the greatest challenges that continue to face women. On the other hand, I think most of us are focusing on what remains to be done on ways in which women can be -- their voice can be enhanced, their engagement in decision making, in particular, and also in many parts of the world, Middle East and other developing regions, their ability to become productive economic forces in society.

ZAHN: But, clearly, there are tremendous obstacles in place, particularly in the Middle East, for women. What do they have to overcome?

QUEEN NOOR: It depends. The Middle East is a very extensive region that -- in which women play many different kinds of roles in different countries and have different kinds of rights and opportunities. In Jordan, for example, women have increased their role in the labor force considerably, their access to education and to health is very, very good, and in the region at large, even though women are perhaps less represented in parliamentary and political activity, and in the labor force than any other region in the world, literacy has trebled over the past several decades.

Health indicators, life expectancy and infant and maternal mortality have dropped very radically. So we've made great progress. But we need to focus in on the involvement of women in business and the economic life of communities, and in political representation. There, we've lagged behind the rest of the world, and there, we would see a transforming difference if we could increase the number of women in those areas.

ZAHN: In spite of the progress you just outlined, particularly in Jordan, an issue that you've worked extensively on is the issue of honor killings. Can you describe to our audience what that is and whether you've achieved any kind of progress in that arena?

QUEEN NOOR: Well, Jordan has -- and I and others, have been identified with this issue, in part -- in large part, because we have spoken about it more openly in our country in the late '90s. There was an open discussion, led by a very courageous young woman who, in the face of extraordinary pressures, including threats and others, nonetheless persisted in bringing to both national attention, and it became international attention, a subject that affects women throughout the Middle East, but also in many other countries in the world, and has traditionally affected women even in the United States, where there has been exceptions made, allowances made, more often than not, for men involved in crimes of passion.

In the Middle East and in Jordan, in Jordan in particular, we've made progress in the laws. We still have some distance to go to ensure that there are no allowances made, there is no discretion that the judges have in passing more lenient sentences for men involved in what is contrary to our institution and to Islamic law. Honor killings are not -- are forbidden by Islam. Taking the law into your own hands is forbidden in Islam. And we have now -- just recently, our laws now, constitution now will require the same penalties for any other murder for those who commit honor crimes. It's in the sentencing that we still have to make some progress.

In other parts of the region, progress is made in some respects and, in others, there is a great deal that needs to be done. People need to talk about these issues and that is not happening enough.

ZAHN: Before we let you go, obviously, there is a great deal of concern that the United States might be on the verge of war with Iraq down the road. Just your thoughts about how that's going to impact the region where you still live.

QUEEN NOOR: Well, my concern and my work has been and continues to be focused on providing hope and promoting peace-building in the region. And conflict has held back progress, has injured more often than not women and children, the most vulnerable members of our population, and the progress that has been made in so many areas is always endangered by any kind of conflict.

So I am looking at and focusing on especially at this moment, trying to advocate for as much discussion, for as much dialogue, and as my husband always did, promoting negotiation, diplomacy and cross- cultural, if you will, understanding of the fundamental issues that divide and that drive people to despair and to extremes. And If we can focus more attention on that discussion, I think perhaps we might succeed in having a win-win, rather than a lose-lose situation, which usually results from war and conflict.

ZAHN: We will end on that hopeful note. It's a delight. Queen Noor, thank you for spending time with us this morning. QUEEN NOOR: Thank you, Paula.

ZAHN: Appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired October 2, 2002 - 08:53   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: She may come from a privileged upbringing, and even married into royalty, but Queen Noor of Jordan knows about the challenges facing women all over the world, and this week, she participated in "Fortune" magazine's forum for the most powerful women in business, helping the pave the way for future generations of women. It's our honor to welcome her now to AMERICAN MORNING.
Welcome back to the show.

QUEEN NOOR OF JORDAN: Good morning, Paula.

ZAHN: Great to see you.

What is the bottom line? I know you've delivered the keynote address, and women have all different kinds of challenges all over the world, but the bottom line of status of women in this world today.

QUEEN NOOR: It shows significant improvement, tangible improvement, and many parts of the world, including the Arab world, which also has some of the greatest challenges that continue to face women. On the other hand, I think most of us are focusing on what remains to be done on ways in which women can be -- their voice can be enhanced, their engagement in decision making, in particular, and also in many parts of the world, Middle East and other developing regions, their ability to become productive economic forces in society.

ZAHN: But, clearly, there are tremendous obstacles in place, particularly in the Middle East, for women. What do they have to overcome?

QUEEN NOOR: It depends. The Middle East is a very extensive region that -- in which women play many different kinds of roles in different countries and have different kinds of rights and opportunities. In Jordan, for example, women have increased their role in the labor force considerably, their access to education and to health is very, very good, and in the region at large, even though women are perhaps less represented in parliamentary and political activity, and in the labor force than any other region in the world, literacy has trebled over the past several decades.

Health indicators, life expectancy and infant and maternal mortality have dropped very radically. So we've made great progress. But we need to focus in on the involvement of women in business and the economic life of communities, and in political representation. There, we've lagged behind the rest of the world, and there, we would see a transforming difference if we could increase the number of women in those areas.

ZAHN: In spite of the progress you just outlined, particularly in Jordan, an issue that you've worked extensively on is the issue of honor killings. Can you describe to our audience what that is and whether you've achieved any kind of progress in that arena?

QUEEN NOOR: Well, Jordan has -- and I and others, have been identified with this issue, in part -- in large part, because we have spoken about it more openly in our country in the late '90s. There was an open discussion, led by a very courageous young woman who, in the face of extraordinary pressures, including threats and others, nonetheless persisted in bringing to both national attention, and it became international attention, a subject that affects women throughout the Middle East, but also in many other countries in the world, and has traditionally affected women even in the United States, where there has been exceptions made, allowances made, more often than not, for men involved in crimes of passion.

In the Middle East and in Jordan, in Jordan in particular, we've made progress in the laws. We still have some distance to go to ensure that there are no allowances made, there is no discretion that the judges have in passing more lenient sentences for men involved in what is contrary to our institution and to Islamic law. Honor killings are not -- are forbidden by Islam. Taking the law into your own hands is forbidden in Islam. And we have now -- just recently, our laws now, constitution now will require the same penalties for any other murder for those who commit honor crimes. It's in the sentencing that we still have to make some progress.

In other parts of the region, progress is made in some respects and, in others, there is a great deal that needs to be done. People need to talk about these issues and that is not happening enough.

ZAHN: Before we let you go, obviously, there is a great deal of concern that the United States might be on the verge of war with Iraq down the road. Just your thoughts about how that's going to impact the region where you still live.

QUEEN NOOR: Well, my concern and my work has been and continues to be focused on providing hope and promoting peace-building in the region. And conflict has held back progress, has injured more often than not women and children, the most vulnerable members of our population, and the progress that has been made in so many areas is always endangered by any kind of conflict.

So I am looking at and focusing on especially at this moment, trying to advocate for as much discussion, for as much dialogue, and as my husband always did, promoting negotiation, diplomacy and cross- cultural, if you will, understanding of the fundamental issues that divide and that drive people to despair and to extremes. And If we can focus more attention on that discussion, I think perhaps we might succeed in having a win-win, rather than a lose-lose situation, which usually results from war and conflict.

ZAHN: We will end on that hopeful note. It's a delight. Queen Noor, thank you for spending time with us this morning. QUEEN NOOR: Thank you, Paula.

ZAHN: Appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com