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Princess Basma bint Talal (born 11 May 1951) is the only daughter of King Talal and Queen Zein of Jordan, sister of
Hussein of Jordan Hussein bin Talal ( ar, الحسين بن طلال, ''Al-Ḥusayn ibn Ṭalāl''; 14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 11 August 1952 until his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of ...
and paternal aunt to the current king,
King Abdullah II Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein ( ar, عبدالله الثاني بن الحسين , translit=ʿAbd Allāh aṯ-ṯānī ibn al-Ḥusayn; born 30 January 1962) is King of Jordan, having ascended the throne on 7 February 1999. He is a member of t ...
.


Background

Basma's father became King of Jordan two months after she was born as a result of the assassination of her grandfather
King Abdullah I AbdullahI bin Al-Hussein ( ar, عبد الله الأول بن الحسين, translit=Abd Allāh al-Awwal bin al-Husayn, 2 February 1882 – 20 July 1951) was the ruler of Jordan from 11 April 1921 until his assassination in 1951. He was the Emir ...
in Jerusalem. King Talal was forced to abdicate as King for health reasons in 1952, when Basma was one year old. He lived on until 1972. Her mother was Queen Zein (1916–1994). After her father's abdication, her older brother Hussein (1935–1999) ascended the throne, and her mother was queen regent until Hussein came of age in 1953.


Education

Basma was educated at Ahliyyah School for Girls in Amman, then in England at
Benenden School Benenden School is an independent boarding school for girls in Kent, England, in Hemsted Park at Benenden, between Cranbrook and Tenterden. Benenden has a boarding population of over 550 girls aged 11 to 18, as well as a limited number of day ...
(where she was a friend of Princess Anne) and University of Oxford, where she read Modern Languages. In 2001, she was awarded a DPhil degree by Oxford University for a thesis entitled ''Contextualising development in Jordan: the arena of donors, state and NGOs''.


Marriage and career

Basma first married
Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...
Timoor Daghistani in Amman on 2 April 1970. They had two children: Farah Daghistani and Ghazi Daghistani. In the late 1970s they were divorced. Basma went on to marry Walid al-Kurdi in Amman on 14 April 1980, and they also had two children: Saad al-Kurdi and Zein Al-Sharaf al-Kurdi. Since the late 1970s, Basma has worked to promote human development, gender equity and children's charities. Through forums that include the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...
she contributes to the global debates on health, education, population and the environment.


Appointments

*Founder of the Queen Alia Jordan Social Welfare Fund (QAF) *President of the Arab Association for Women and Development (AWAD) *President of the
Jordanian National Commission for Women Jordanian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Jordan, a country in the Near East * Jordanian culture * Jordanian people, see Demographics of Jordan * Jordanian cuisine * Jordanian Arabic * Royal Jordanian, an airline See also * L ...
(JNCW) *President of the
Jordanian Association for Boy Scouts and Girl Guides The Jordanian Association for Boy Scouts and Girl Guides ( ar, جمعية الكشاف والمرشدات الأردنية) is the national Scouting and Guiding organization of Jordan. Scouting was founded in Jordan in 1954 and became a member of ...
*President of Mabarrat Um al Hussein *President of Goodwill Campaign *Chairperson of the Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development *President of
Save The Children-Jordan Save the Children Jordan is located in the Jordanian capital of Amman and represents the Jordanian branch of the UK's Save the Children, which has been working in Jordan since 1985. The branch is headed by its CEO, Manal Wazani, and Princess B ...
(SCJ) *President of the
Jordanian National Forum for Women Jordanian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Jordan, a country in the Near East * Jordanian culture * Jordanian people, see Demographics of Jordan * Jordanian cuisine * Jordanian Arabic * Royal Jordanian, an airline See also * L ...
(JNFW) *Honorary President of the
General Federation of Jordanian Women A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED On ...
(GFJW) *President of the National Committee for Women's Affairs *Member of Board of Trustees for the Higher Population Council *Member of the World Health Organization's Adolescent Health Programme Scientific and Technical Advisory Group, 1991–1993 *Honorary Human Development Ambassador of the United Nations Development Programme since 1993 *Member of the World Health Organization Global Commission on Women's Health, 1994 *Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Development Fund for Women since 1995 *Member of the United Nations High-Level Advisory Board on Sustainable Development to the Secretary-General
Boutros Boutros-Ghali Boutros Boutros-Ghali (; , ar, بطرس بطرس غالي ', ; 14 November 1922 – 16 February 2016) was an Egyptian politician and diplomat who served as the sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) from 1992 to 1996. An academic ...
, 1995–1998 *Member of the Earth Council since 1996 *Member of UNESCO Culture and Development Steering Committee, 1996–1997 *Member of UNESCO International Panel on Democracy and Development, 1998 *Member of UNESCO Scientific Committee for the World Culture Report, 1998–2000 *Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Population Fund's (UNFPA) since 2001 *Member of the International Advisory Board of the International Council on Social Welfare since 2001 *Member of the
Earth Charter The Earth Charter is an international declaration of fundamental values and principles considered useful by its supporters for building a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society in the 21st century. Created by a global consultation process, ...
International Commission.


Title, styles and honours


Title

* 11 May 1952 – present: ''Her Royal Highness'' Princess Basma bint Talal of Jordan


Honours


National honours

* : Knight Grand Cordon of the Supreme Order of the Renaissance, Special Class


Foreign honours

* : Grand Cross of the Order for Services to the Republic of Austria * : Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the Most Esteemed Family Order of Brunei, Special Class * Iranian Imperial Family: Recipient of the Commemorative Medal of the 2,500-year Celebration of the Persian Empire * : Paulownia Dame Grand Cordon of the
Order of the Precious Crown The is a Japanese order, established on January 4, 1888 by Emperor Meiji of Japan. Since the Order of the Rising Sun at that time was an Order for men, it was established as an Order for women. Originally the order had five classes, but on Ap ...
* : Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic * : Member Grand Cross of the
Royal Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star ( Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim. The Order of th ...


Awards


National award

* : ''Honorary Person'' for the International Year of Volunteers plus 10 - 2001


Foreign awards

* :
Honorary Degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...
of Doctor of Laws of the As-Syafiiyah Islamic University * : ''Dr. Jushichiro Naito International Childcare Award'' * ** ***
Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling) ...
: Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws of the University of Reading *** Oxford:
Honorary Fellow Honorary titles (professor, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as well as in ...
of Pembroke College ** *** : Honorary Fellow of the
Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) is a medical royal college in Scotland. It is one of three organisations that sets the specialty training standards for physicians in the United Kingdom. It was established by Royal charter ...
* : ''Woman of the Year 1995'' of the Arab Regional Preparatory Meeting for the
Fourth World Conference on Women The Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace was the name given for a conference convened by the United Nations during 4–15 September 1995 in Beijing, China. At this conference, governments from around the ...
** : Recipient of the UNESCO Golden Anniversary Commemorative Medal * ** ***
Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England ...
: Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws of the Smith College * World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts:
World Citizenship Award The World Citizenship Award is an award of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS). Launched in 1996, the award is given to people outside the Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting movement who have contributed to a better world in ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Basma Bint Al-Talal 1952 births Living people House of Hashim Jordanian princesses Princesses Royal People educated at Benenden School Alumni of the University of Oxford Recipients of the Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria Recipients of the Grand Decoration with Sash for Services to the Republic of Austria Order of the Precious Crown members Grand Cordons of the Order of the Precious Crown Recipients of the Order of Isabella the Catholic Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star People from Amman Daughters of kings