Once again, Meghan Markle is using her royal title for good. As a part of her royal tour, the Duchess of Sussex is meeting with South African lawmakers, educators, and activists alike to learn about the struggles women in the country face — and educate others about the women who have pushed for change.
Meghan shared that on Thursday, she hosted an event honoring women, including Sophia Williams-De Bruyn, an anti-apartheid activist who led 20,000 women in a 1956 human rights protest; Nompendulo Mkatshwa, one of the youngest women in Parliament; and Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, the first Black female South African to get a Ph.D in mathematics education. “Issues of gender inequality affect women throughout the world, independent of race, color, creed, or socioeconomic background,” Meghan wrote on the Sussex Royal Instagram account. “In sitting down with these forward thinkers, it was abundantly clear it is not enough to simply hope for a better future; the only way forward is ‘hope in action.’”
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Meghan and Prince Harry arrived for their royal tour of South Africa on Tuesday, and have been as busy as you might expect. But between meeting Desmond Tutu and touring landmarks including the Auwal Mosque, Meghan has been prioritizing issues such as gender-based violence. On Saturday, she visited the site of 19-year-old Uyinene Mrwetyana’s murder and shared that she had spoken with Mrwetyana’s mother. Following her killing last month, women mobilized in Cape Town to take a stand against femicide, and, according to Sussex Royal, “Visiting the site of this tragic death and being able to recognize Uyinene, and all the women and girls [affected] by GBV...was personally important to the Duchess.”
Meghan has always taken a down-to-earth approach when it comes to her position, and this trip has been no different. After arriving in Nyanga, Meghan said, “While I am here with my husband as a member of The Royal Family, I want you to know that for me I am here with you as a mother, as a wife, as a woman, as a woman of color and as your sister.”
Today, September 29, Meghan and Harry met with a group of women who attended school through the Campaign for Female Education (Camfed) and its alumni network, CAMA. The network of 140,000 women works to directly bring communities out of poverty and help send girls to school. “CAMA and [Camfed] are changing the lives of many young girls [through] education and empowerment,” wrote the Sussex Royal account — and it doesn’t get much more Meghan than that.