RIYADH — Princess Ameerah Al-Taweel, Secretary-General and Vice Chairwoman of Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundations, participated in a panel discussion, titled “Communication by Design: Inspirational Change Agents” that was moderated by Piers Morgan in New York, and was aired on Piers Morgan Tonight on CNN.



“The strongest form of empowering women in the region and specifically in Saudi Arabia is economic independence,” Princess Ameerah said. “Not being able to drive hasn’t stopped us women from advancing; SR121 billion worth of real state are owned by Saudi women.”



The princess said: “Through Opt4Unity, we have the idea of a Food University .The average age of a farmer is 60, and we have 2 billion people coming in the next three decades, how are we going to feed them? 60 percent of crops are stuck in Africa and are unused. We want to bring technology and agriculture together and make farming cool again, where young people come back to the field.”



The panel session focused on the role of public figures, such as celebrities and dignitaries, in taking action on issues that impact the world over, helping to raise awareness of intractable global challenges and communicate their complexity to a variety of audiences.



Yet, by lending their voices and leveraging their resources, these talented advocates can serve an even more powerful function: showcasing solutions that can solve these problems.



The panelists included, Deepak Chopra, Founder of The Chopra Foundation; Founder and Chairman of the Board at The Chopra Center for Wellbeing and General Wesley Clark, Chairman and CEO, Wesley K. Clark & Associates.

 

During Princess Ameerah’s visit to New York and Paris, she was interviewed by CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Lee Hawkins of The Wall Street Journal, Rahim Kanani from Forbes, Caroline Preston from Chronicle Of Philanthropy and Jim Bitterman of CNN News in Paris.



As vice chairwoman of Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation in Saudi Arabia and Global, Princess Ameerah supports a wide range of humanitarian interests in both Saudi Arabia and around the world. The foundation is an international, non-profit organization dedicated to supporting programs and projects aimed at poverty alleviation, disaster relief, interfaith dialogue and, most importantly, women’s empowerment.



Princess Ameerah travels extensively in an effort to better understand the most pressing challenges facing the world. In visiting NGO’s and other aid and development organizations, she aims to improve and promote the image of Saudi women as she represents the foundations, implementing projects and conducting field service trips. — SG