His Majesty King Hussein led the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan for 47 years between 1952 and 1999.
King Hussein was a passionate believer in the power and potential of each citizen to contribute to national development. By the late 1970s, His Majesty had put Jordan on a promising path of progress. Under his leadership, Jordan became a regional model for achievements in education, healthcare, socio-economic development, and political liberalization.
King Hussein’s approach to leadership and his public service stemmed from his most deeply held personal values. He achieved remarkable progress in modernizing a conservative developing society from a pre-industrial state to a modern post-industrial state in under two generations—accomplishing this through promoting universal education, women’s empowerment, and a participatory and pluralistic system of governance.
The King Hussein Foundation was founded in 1999 by Her Majesty Queen Noor to give enduring life to His Majesty King Hussein’s humanitarian vision and legacy by fostering equitable access for Jordanian and regional citizens to socio-economic, educational, health, and cultural opportunities for women, youth, and the marginalized to enable them to contribute meaningfully to national and regional development. The Foundation was built, in part, on the best practice sustainable development initiatives of the Noor Al Hussein Foundation which originated in the early 1980s.
Our programs have advanced development thinking in the region, through pioneering programs in poverty eradication, women’s empowerment, refugee and trauma support, education, microfinance, family health, and cross-cultural exchange providing training and capacity-building expertise across Jordan and in the MENA and West Asian Regions.
Learn more about our history here