Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are speaking up about the situations in both Afghanistan and Haiti, acknowledging that the globe is in an “exceptionally fragile place right now” and urging world leaders to “rapidly advance” humanitarian dialogues.
In a statement posted Tuesday to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Archewell Foundation website, the duo say they have been “left heartbroken” and “speechless” around the rising COVID-19 cases due to the delta variant, the recent earthquake in Haiti and the Taliban’s unexpectedly rapid seizure of Afghanistan’s government just two weeks ahead of when the United States was expected to complete its troop withdrawal from the region.
“The world is exceptionally fragile right now,” the statement reads. “As we all feel the many layers of pain due to the situation in Afghanistan, we are left speechless. As we all watch the growing humanitarian disaster in Haiti, and the threat of it worsening after last weekend’s earthquake, we are left heartbroken. And as we all witness the continuing global health crisis, exacerbated by new variants and constant misinformation, we are left scared.”
The two acknowledge the fears, suffering and feelings of helplessness that many around the globe may be feeling “as you watch the state of the world spin rapidly,” and how in the midst of so much global crisis, things can feel “disorienting and defeating.” But the two champion “faith in the power of shared purpose” and call out complacency, something they say people are being conditioned to accept.
“When any person or community suffers, a piece of each of us does so with them, whether we realize it or not. And though we are not meant to live in a state of suffering, we, as a people, are being conditioned to accept it. It’s easy to find ourselves feeling powerless, but we can put our values into action — together,” they wrote.
As part of their public statement, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex outline various ways they intend to get involved, and include a list of resources, such as organizations where people can donate and where they can seek mental health support if needed. But they also strongly urge the world’s leadership to converge more quickly ahead of several planned fall dialogues to speed up conversations around how to address these compounding global issues.
“To start, we encourage you to join us in supporting a number of organizations doing critical work. We also urge those in positions of global influence to rapidly advance the humanitarian dialogues that are expected to take place this fall at multilateral gatherings such as the U.N. General Assembly and the G20 Leaders’ Summit,” they said.
On Monday, Prince Harry shared his own message to the community of his Invictus Games Foundation, which, in a statement posted to the foundation’s social media, notes many “are bound by a shared experience of serving in Afghanistan.” In their dual statement, he and Markle share a “hope to do what we can to meet the moment by offering support to the military community and the troops who served in Afghanistan, as well as to the Afghan people facing violence and terror.”
On behalf of the @weareinvictus community on the unfolding events in Afghanistan: pic.twitter.com/djvQnWxekP
— Invictus Games Foundation 💛🖤 (@WeAreInvictus) August 16, 2021
Beyond Invictus, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s are also working in partnership with the World Central Kitchen for the emergency response in Haiti, Women for Afghan Women to help provide resources and aid to displaced women and children in Afghanistan, as well as Vax Live and Global Citizen to support vaccine equity and combating vaccine misinformation.
“As an international community, it is the decisions we make now — to alleviate suffering among those we know and those we may never meet — that will prove our humanity,” the duo’s statement concluded.
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