As the world watches the atrocities taking place in Afghanistan and Haiti, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle used their platform to make their position on the humanitarian crises known. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex took to their Archewell Foundation website and released a statement that illustrated how “heartbroken” they are to see what is happening as the U.S. Military begins to withdraw troops from the Middle East. The couple is the first amongst high-profile members of the royal family to make such a decisive statement on the dangerous circumstances.
“The world is exceptionally fragile right now,” the couple’s statement began, seen here. “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,” they wrote.
These people from Prince Harry's past understand the difficulties of being connected to this royal and empathize with Meghan Markle. https://t.co/i1vMBL7wfg
— SheKnows (@SheKnows) August 6, 2021
“When any person or community suffers, a piece of each of us does so with them, whether we realize it or not,” the couple, who are parents to son Archie Harrison, 2, and daughter Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, 2 months, continued. “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.”
The couple provided a list of organizations readers could support to aid in each of the aforementioned conflicts — in Haiti, Afghanistan, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. “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,” their statement concluded.
Since taking a significant step back from their roles as senior members of the royal family, Meghan and Harry have used their platform to highlight specific political and social issues — including voting in the 2020 election and promoting the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine. It marks a noteworthy departure from practices of the British royal family, who act more as symbols of their country than an influential force on the government. Thus far, Queen Elizabeth II has issued her own statement on the horrific scenes plaguing Haiti, but she and other members of the royal family have yet to share such a succinct message concerning the crisis in the Middle East.
A new report from the United Nations Human Rights Council affirmed that those who will be most affected by the turmoil in Afghanistan will be displaced women and children, under threat as the Taliban continues to take over cities one by one. A burgeoning refugee crisis with a wide impact on Europe is all but certain. Though the royal family cannot intervene as a governing body here, their acknowledgement of and compassion for the unfolding crisis would still have great value on the global stage.
Before you go, click here to see the 100 best photos of the royal family from the past 20 years.
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