Meghan Markle and Prince Harry will join activist Malala Yousafzai in marking International Day of the Girl on Sunday, October 11.
The trio will team up for a virtual conversation that will be streamed online on malala.org, as well as the Malala Fund's social media platforms and YouTube channel. Topics will include the importance of a girl's right to a fair education, and why the Covid-19 outbreak has has a disproportionate effect on education opportunities for young women around the world.
Nearly 130 million girls were out of school before the pandemic begun — and it is estimated that an additional 20 million girls may have their education cut short because of it, according to the Malala Fund.
The not-for-profit organisation has been working to ensure that girls continue learning during the Covid-19 crisis, and is investing an additional $3 million in grants to education organisations in the countries where it works.
Earlier this year, Malala graduated from Oxford University, having survived being shot in the head by a Taliban gunman at the age of 15 in her native Pakistan. She went on to become the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2014.
Markle has long campaigned for female education and frequently spoken out about how a lack of access to education is the single most important barrier to gender equality. In celebration of Prince Harry’s birthday in September, the couple donated $130,000 to Camfed, a pan-African nonprofit that supports the education of young women and girls.
“When a woman is empowered it changes absolutely everything in the community,” Markle has said.