Princess Basma welcomes Ashley Judd as UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador

AMMAN — HRH Princess Basma Bint Talal, long-time Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), welcomed fellow Goodwill Ambassador, actor and activist Ashley Judd, to Jordan on Monday, according to a statement by the UNFPA  

Princess Basma has been a UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador for several years while Judd is undertaking her first mission with the UNFPA. Together they are using this opportunity to reiterate their support for the fund’s work in supporting the empowerment of women and girls and to publicise these efforts in Jordan and also in the regional response to the Syrian humanitarian crisis, the statement said.

UNFPA “believes, and is working to ensure, that every woman and girl have the right to access affordable reproductive healthcare and be effectively protected from gender-based violence”, the organisation said. 

In Jordan and in the Syria refugee crisis, UNFPA and partners are scaling up efforts to empower and improve the lives of both Jordanian and Syrian refugee women and youth, including communities impacted by the large number of refugees.  

The UNFPA Goodwill Ambassadors have demonstrated their “strong commitment to social justice, believing that the sexual and reproductive health of girls and women is at the heart of poverty eradication and sustainable development. They  advocate the right of empowering children to safely enter adulthood, and for ending all forms of gender-based violence everywhere”.

“Having seen United Nations programmes at work around the world directly touching and helping individual lives, it’s natural and rewarding to partner with UNFPA,” Judd was quoted as saying. 

“I’m honoured to have been asked, and joyfully accept the grave and ambitious responsibility of helping end all injustice. Being a girl is not a crime, it is a privilege. I am excited to do what I can to help girls and women everywhere contribute to their potential to the progress of all humankind,” she added.