Meghan Markle backs better access for women to higher education

JOHANNESBURG/MAUWA: Meghan, wife of Britain’s Prince Harry, said on Tuesday that empowering women through education could be transformational for communities during a visit to Johannesburg University in South Africa.

Meghan, who is visiting southern Africa with Harry and their four-month-old son Archie, is herself a university graduate and women’s rights advocate, and she spoke of how “deeply important and meaningful” the issue of education was for her.

“When a woman is empowered it changes absolutely everything in the community and starting an educational atmosphere is really a key point of that,” the Duchess of Sussex told a roundtable of academics and students.

“Education, I think higher education specifically, is such a key element for growth, economic growth but also personal growth and development,” she added.

Meghan took over in January from Queen Elizabeth, Harry’s grandmother, as patron of the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), a role the queen had held for more than three decades.

She announced three new “gender grants” from the ACU for South African universities, the goal of which she said was gender equality and supporting women working in higher education and research roles.

The duchess also announced four new Queen Elizabeth Commonwealth Scholarships that she said would see students from Tanzania, Zambia and Nigeria study in South Africa next year.

Later on Tuesday, Meghan visited the offices of ActionAid, a non-governmental organisation that works with women and girls living in poverty. She was welcomed with singing from staff and a bunch of flowers, a hug and drawings from young girls.

At ActionAid she discussed violence against women and girls with representatives from various organisations and then visited a local school to meet girls aged between 12 and 16.

‘PHARMACY-IN-A-BOX’

While Meghan and Archie have stayed in South Africa, Harry has also visited Botswana, Angola and finally Malawi, where on Tuesday he visited the Mauwa Health Centre.

Crowds gathered outside the remote clinic, which serves 23,000 people, hoping to catch a glimpse of Harry as he met Health Minister Jappie Mhango, local officials and aid workers.

 

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This morning, The Duchess of Sussex went back to college!  Joining students and educators at The University of Johannesburg The Duchess was able to announce a new series of gender grants from the Association of Commonwealth Universities, of which she is patron. She was also able to announce four new scholarships to help students study in different commonwealth countries, allowing cross cultural understanding and an opportunity to deepen their educational studies abroad. One of the recipients of these grants shared his story of growing up on farmland in Kenya, where he paid for his education trading vegetables to cover schooling costs (cauliflower leaves to be exact!) He is now doing a research study on carcinogens in his country, its link to cancer – his work is helping to change practices and to save lives. The Duchess was so moved by the work being done across the education sector and to talk with such like-minded thinkers about the importance of access to education and the support needed internally. When the round table discussion this morning moved to the challenges faced in this sector and how daunting it can all seem, The Duchess said, “Sometimes access to education can seem so big, you wonder where to even begin? So you begin with one student, or one school, you simply begin. And that’s when we see change.” She continued by referencing a Martin Luther King Jr quote: “Take the first step… you don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” Since @the_acu_official Gender Grants were launch in 2016, 28 universities in 17 countries have benefited with a minimum of 600 beneficiaries participating in workshops supported by the grants. #RoyalVisitSouthAfrica Photo ©️ PA images

A post shared by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (@sussexroyal) on Oct 1, 2019 at 3:26am PDT

On a tour of the clinic, he was shown its ‘pharmacy-in-a-box’ – a low-cost, solar-powered, air-conditioned storage facility for medicines.

Emmanuel Moses, the officer in charge of the health centre, said shortages of drugs had previously meant the clinic had to refer even minor cases elsewhere, but with the pharmacy it could now do much more to help.

The pharmacy, funded by the British and U.S. governments, is one of 353 across Malawi that health workers say have reduced theft and wastage of medicines.

Harry, who is sixth in line to the British throne and has been visiting southern Africa for two decades for holidays and conservation work, will rejoin his family in Johannesburg on Tuesday evening.

On Wednesday the couple will tour a township and meet Nelson Mandela’s widow, Graca Machel. They will also attend a business reception and meet President Cyril Ramaphosa before flying back to London on Wednesday evening.