Sunday marks Princess Basma’s birthday

AMMAN — Sunday marks the birthday of HRH Princess Basma Bint Talal, a pioneering advocate for women’s rights, youth empowerment and sustainable human development in Jordan and the Arab region.

Princess Basma is the founder and chairperson of the Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development (JOHUD), one of the Kingdom’s oldest and most impactful non-profit organisations, established in 1977.

JOHUD operates through a network of 52 locally managed Community Development Centres, offering a unique model of participatory development rooted in community engagement and decentralised governance, a vision closely aligned with Princess Basma’s lifelong commitment to inclusive development.

In recognition of her decades-long service, His Majesty King Abdullah awarded Princess Basma the Silver Jubilee Medal in April 2024.  In May 2022, she received the Order of the State Centennial for her contributions to Jordan’s progress and national development.

Among the national initiatives launched and directed by Princess Basma are the Goodwill Campaign (established 1991), providing support to thousands of families in need annually, and the Queen Alia Competition for Social Responsibility, which has been promoting social awareness among generations of Jordan’s school children for decades.

Since its inception in 1992, Princess Basma has chaired the Jordanian National Commission for Women (JNCW), playing a pivotal role in addressing women’s and gender-related issues, particularly in legislative and policy reform.

In 2025, the 2024 JNCW Law was passed to strengthen coordination between public and civil institutions and advance national strategies for women’s political, social, and economic empowerment.

 In 2004, she founded the National Alliance Against Hunger and Malnutrition (Najmah), hosted by JOHUD, to support national efforts to combat hunger through local and international partnerships.

On the international level, as a member of the Advisory Board of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, Princess Basma advocates for environmental sustainability, leveraging JOHUD’s networks as platforms for environmental activism. She serves as an Honorary Human Development Ambassador for UNDP and Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women and the UNFPA. She holds a PhD in development studies from Oxford University.

She has been married to Walid Kurdi since 1980. They have four children, Farah, Ghazi, Saad, and Zein Al Sharaf, and ten grandchildren: Fatima Al Zahraa, Zein Al Sharaf, Abdul Aziz, Aisha, Iman, Basma, Haya, Raya, Alia, and Jad.