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Listen to the podcast of the 2014 Annual Harrell-Bond Lecture, which took place on 5 November 2014 at the Oxford University Examination Schools. This year's lecture was given by Her Royal Highness Princess Basma bint Talal. The Annual Harrell-Bond Lecture takes place every Michaelmas term and is part of the RSC's Public Seminar Series.

ABSTRACT

The communities comprising the modern Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan have a long history as refugee hosts. Currently, 20 per cent of the residents of Jordan are refugees and asylum seekers from all over the world. Her Royal Highness Princess Basma bint Talal examines the ways in which earlier refugee communities’ experience of displacement itself contributed to their integration within the developing Jordanian state. Princess Basma discusses the ways in which Jordan’s Circassian, Chechen and Armenian communities have negotiated different aspects of their specific identities and integrated in Jordan, considering the role of forced migration itself in creating identities. Jordan’s own experience demonstrates how policies that engage and include refugee communities can have positive outcomes for both sides, creating peaceful and productive coexistence.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

For over thirty years, HRH Princess Basma bint Talal has worked nationally, regionally and internationally to promote a range of global issues, most notably in the areas of human development, gender equity, population, education, and the environment. She is particularly involved with supporting the implementation of sustainable development programmes that address the social and economic needs of marginalised groups, including refugees.

Princess Basma is Honorary Human Development Ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women). She is also a Global Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

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Photo credit: John Cairns