Continuing with their pre-wedding tour of the UK, Kensington Palace confirmed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will visit Birmingham on Thursday, 8th March, International Women's Day.
This engagement will have very much been planned with Meghan's advocacy work for women in mind. I first became interested in blogging about Meghan when I saw the stirring speech she gave on International Women's Day 2015 at the UN International Women's Conference.
During the powerful speech, she said:
'UN Women, as you guys know, has defined the year 2030 as the expiration date for gender inequality. And here’s what’s staggering, the studies show that at the current rate, the elimination of gender inequality won’t be possible until 2095. That’s another eighty years from now. And when it comes to women’s political participation and leadership the percentage of female parliamentarians globally has only increased by 11% since 1995. 11 percent in 20 years? Come on. This has to change. Women make up more than half of the world’s population and potential, so it is neither just nor practical for their voices, for our voices, to go unheard at the highest levels of decision-making.
The way we change that, in my opinion, is to mobilize girls and women to see their value as leaders, and to support them in these efforts. To have leaders such as President Kagame of Rwanda continue to be a role model of a country which has a parliamentary system comprised of 64% female leaders. I mean, it’s the highest of any government in the world and it’s unbelievable.
Women need a seat at the table, they need an invitation to be seated there, and in some cases, where this is not available, well then you know what, they need to create their own table. We need a global understanding that we cannot implement change effectively without women’s political participation.'
Prince Harry and Ms. Markle will then visit Nechells Wellbeing Centre to join Birmingham's Coach Core apprentices as they take part in a training masterclass led by Create Development. The Coach Core apprenticeship scheme was designed by The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry to train young people aged 16 - 24 with limited opportunities to become sports coaches and mentors within their communities.
Reminder: We'll see Meghan on Wednesday when she joins William, Kate and Harry to take part in the first annual Royal Foundation Forum. The foursome will appear on stage together to discuss why The Royal Foundation was set up, the projects they are currently working on, and their ambitions for the future. The theme of the day is 'Making a Difference Together'. Meghan will formally become the fourth patron of the Royal Foundation after the wedding.