A GRADUATE of the American University in Cairo and a global advocate for community empowerment, Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan spoke at her alma mater on civic engagement in the Arab region and the role it can play in improving lives and ensuring progress. In her address yesterday, she called on the next generation of young Arabs, who have benefited from higher education, to accept their obligation, to advance their societies. AUC President David D. Arnold noted that the Queen stands as a role model for young people around the globe, pointing out that she chose “a life of service and volunteer leadership on behalf of others”, and that her example stands “as a testament to all the best qualities that we wish our graduates to strive for”. In her address the Queen pointed that civic engagement is rooted in Arab culture and that now is the time to revive it again and fuse fresh energy into it. She referred to the story of the founding of Alashanek ya Baladi (For my Country's Sake) and how Raghda El Ebrashi, when only 12 years old, was inspired by a poor woman to start her foundation. Queen Rania underscored how this story can serve as an example to be emulated by many others, saying that in "each and everyone of us is the ability to look beyond ourselves". She said; "Civic engagement is about leaving the four walls of your life, looking up." Looking up and beyond, change becomes possible because the "true value of the world lies in people".
