Prince Hassan celebrates 68th birthday Friday

AMMAN — HRH Prince Hassan Friday marks his 68th birthday.

The past year has seen the prince undertake numerous engagements and initiatives in Jordan and the West Asia–North Africa (WANA) region, as well as internationally. His focus remains firmly on regional issues, interfaith dialogue, water, energy and the human environment, and central to all of these is the overarching issue of human dignity.

Through Prince Hassan’s institutes: The Royal Scientific Society, the Royal Institute of Inter-Faith Studies, the Arab Thought Forum, the Higher Council for Science and Technology, the WANA Institute and the El Hassan Youth Award and many of their umbrella organisations, he dedicates a large portion of his efforts to serving Jordanians and the broader interests of the region. 

The prince is an outspoken advocate of human dignity for all and believes in the importance of resilience, good governance, inter-regional cooperation and intra-regional understanding and open dialogue between different faiths.

Over the past year, he has continued his tireless commitment to bolstering understanding and dialogue between the adherents of religions and cultures throughout the world, at a time when violence has dramatically increased and exclusion of the other is rampant. 

During his meeting with Pope Francis last September, the prince presented a proposal laying out steps towards a more cohesive future for humanity and the coming generations. Most prominently, he urged influential religious leaders in all corners of the globe to work together towards a pluralist society and bolster the idea of “human dignity” and render it the core of all developmental efforts. 

In December last year, Prince Hassan led the Muslim delegation at the third Christian-Muslim Summit held by the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue in Rome at which they developed a Call to Action to address the rising tide of violence throughout the world.

As part of his work in the area of human security, the prince was once again invited to address the NATO Defence College in Rome, where he called for countries in the Arab world to work together to respond to the pressing security problems facing the people of the region.

At a meeting of high-level experts on Global Justice in Syracuse, Italy, last September, he addressed an audience of international human rights experts and lawyers on legal empowerment issues and their impact on the future of human rights and international criminal justice.

Last year also saw Prince Hassan continue his role as Chairman of the High Level Forum for the Blue Peace Middle East Plan. The initiative addresses trans-boundary water issues in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey and proposes cooperation policies. In Vienna, during the Conference of the Security Days of the European Security and Cooperation Organisation, he delivered a keynote address calling for improved security through water diplomacy.

During the past year Prince Hassan has been honoured multiple times at an international level. He was the recipient of the Four Freedoms Award for freedom of worship from the Roosevelt Foundation during a ceremony held in the Netherlands. The award was in recognition of his contributions and long-term commitment to deepening mutual understanding between the Muslim and Western worlds, and for his pioneering role in promoting dialogue between the adherents of the three monotheistic religions. 

The prince was also honoured by the European Academy for Sciences and Arts who conferred on him the 2014 Tolerance Award in recognition of his continuing efforts to promote the values of human tolerance, acceptance of the other and the reinforcing of universal commonalities. 

Prince Hassan will be spending his birthday quietly with his family.