Duchess Sophie has once again championed a meaningful cause.
On Thursday, October 2, Buckingham Palace shared a major update about the Duchess of Edinburgh on the British Royal Family’s official Instagram handle, reporting that she has returned to the Democratic Republic of Congo for a key mission.
Alongside a carousel of photos from the visit, the Royals noted that Sophie embarked on the visit upon receiving a special request from Foreign and Development Office.
The Duchess, who is a global champion for the Women, Peace and Security agenda, witnessed the heartbreaking impact of the ongoing conflict in the country that poses a significant threat on women and girls.
“This week, at the request of the @ForeignAndDevelopmentOffice, The Duchess of Edinburgh has returned to the Democratic Republic of Congo to witness the devastating impact of the ongoing conflict, particularly on women and girls, and meet women peacebuilders working at the grassroots level to highlight their work supporting local peace initiatives,” stated the palace in the caption.
Briefing about Duchess Sophie’s work in Congo, they noted, “In the northeastern city of Beni, the Joint Force Headquarters of MONUSCO (the UN peacekeeping mission) and an increasingly important hub for humanitarian response, HRH met UN peacekeeper ‘blue helmets’ from around the world, to hear about their vital role in conflict resolution, community resilience and advocacy for women’s rights.”
The Royal Family went on to share that King Charles’s sister-in-law visited Beni General Hospital, where she met clinicians providing lifesaving UK-funded sexual and reproductive health services to conflict-related sexual violence survivors.
Concluding the post, they shared that Duchess Sophie has been a global champion for the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda and a supporter of the UK’s Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) for a number of years.
