Harry and Meghan discuss impact of coronavirus on girls’ education with Malala Yousafzai

Pakistani activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai expressed joy at graduating
AFP via Getty Images
Emily Lawford8 October 2020

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have spoken with activist Malala Yousafzai about the difficulties faced by girls around the world in accessing education amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Harry and Meghan spoke with Ms Yousafzai, 23, in a video chat that will be released on Sunday to mark International Day Of The Girl.

They spoke about how the Covid-19 outbreak has impacted young women’s education.

Before the pandemic, around 130 million girls around the world were not in school. However, research by the Malala Fund has suggested 20 million more secondary-school aged girls may never return to the classroom following the pandemic.

The full video will be released on the fund’s YouTube Channel and website on Sunday October 11 at 4pm.

Ms Yousafzai was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman at 15 years old after campaigning for girls to be educated in Pakistan, where she grew up.

Malala Yousafzai founded a non-profit fund to help girls access education
Getty Images

She later founded a non-profit fund to support her work raising awareness of the challenges girls face in accessing education. In 2014, she became the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize winner. She graduated from Oxford University this year.

The duchess has long campaigned on female education and has said a lack of access to education is the single most important barrier to gender equality.

Meanwhile, a spoof website has been set up promoting former Suits star Meghan as a candidate for the 2020 US presidential election, The Sun reported.

Meghanforpresident.com features images of Meghan with mottos including “Together, we will lead” and “A brighter tomorrow begins today”.

The former senior working royal has been vocal about encouraging people to vote in the US.

A source close to the couple said: “It’s obviously fake.

“I would encourage people not to give it more attention than it deserves – especially as it’s collecting people’s email addresses and encouraging people to spoil ballots.”

Bookmakers have been offering odds of 50/1 for Meghan to become the US president in four years’ time.

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