The Duchess of Sussex is set to travel to Switzerland this weekend to take part in a key event for the World Health Organisation.
After news.com.au exclusively revealed on Friday that Meghan was heading to the World Health Assembly this weekend, a spokesperson confirmed she would join with World Health Organisation Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, global health leaders, and the families of those affected by online harm at the inauguration of the Lost Screen Memorial in Geneva’s Place des Nations.
The event, hosted by the WHO and Archewell Philanthropies, will see an illumination of fifty light boxes, each displaying the lock screen image of a child who lost their life as a result of online violence and digital
harm.
The memorial was created in partnership with The Parents’ Network and is making its debut in Geneva after first being unveiled in New York City last April as part of the No Child Lost to Social Media campaign.
Both she and Prince Harry have previously forged a relationship with the WHO’s director-general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who invited them to take part in a two-day visit to Jordan earlier this year, focused on supporting refugees in the region.
Among their activities, the couple were joined by United Nations representatives, diplomatic officials and donors in a discussion hosted by the WHO in Amman.
Harry and Meghan had first partnered with the organisation back in 2021, when they threw their support behind a global campaign to encourage vaccine equity.
Meanwhile, reports of Meghan’s appearance at the high-profile WHO event in Geneva comes just weeks after she and Harry undertook a whirlwind, four-day visit to Australia, which saw them adopt a “half-in, half-out royal” tour model which a source told news.com.au they now plan to use for the future.
According to insiders, the couple will “press on unapologetically” with hybrid foreign trips which will combine their philanthropic and commercial ventures.
The source explained that the Sussexes had “tested the model and it works”, and it meant they can now use “commercial means to help fund other humanitarian and charitable engagements”.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex together spent three days in Melbourne and one day in Sydney last month, with Harry branching off for military-related events while Meghan filmed an episode of MasterChef.
The bulk of their activities – including a visit to the Royal Children’s Hospital, youth mental health organisation Batyr, and a Movember panel – were related to their philanthropic work, but were tied in with speaking engagements for each royal.
During the tour, a member of the Sussex team told news.com.au that the commercial aspects helped pay for their charitable activities, given that they were travelling as private citizens, not working royals, and therefore weren’t covered by taxpayer funds.