The Duchess of Edinburgh was moved to tears after she met refugees and victims of conflict related sexual violence during the first British royal visit to the Republic of Chad.
The Duchess of Edinburgh was moved to tears after she met refugees and victims of conflict related sexual violence during the first British royal visit to Chad in Africa on Sunday.
At a hospital centre in Adré, near the border, the duchess hugged five survivors of conflict-related sexual violence after hearing what they had been through and teared up when speaking to the media following the private meeting. One of the women who Sophie met said afterwards she had fled the city of Geneina, in the west Darfur region of Sudan, after thousands of people were killed in a matter of days.
During the visit, she travelled to Adré, a town 400 metres from the border with Sudan, which is currently seeing approximately 400 new arrivals from Sudan per day 'So I'm here to try and help continue to shine a light on what needs to be done, on the work that is being done, but to ask for more to be done.'
'They're doing it with a good heart, and we need to help them to do more because, as I say, it's not enough.' During the visit, she travelled to Adré, a town 400 metres from the border with Sudan, which is currently seeing approximately 400 new arrivals from Sudan per day, with peaks of up to 1,000. Sophie also met refugees, including women and children, who had recently left Sudan due to the ongoing conflict.
The Duchess heard how the two grassroots, women's rights organisations are delivering support to affected communities, including survivors of sexual violence. Joined by young teenagers who have recently arrived in Chad, The Duchess heard how the project provides safe learning spaces and vital child protection services for children of all ages on arrival in Adré.
The eighteen-month conflict in Sudan has created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with over 9 million people facing emergency or famine conditions. This is more than Gaza, South Sudan, Mali, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan combined. While at Adré District Hospital, Sophie spoke with representatives from the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa Network and Darfur Women Action Group
The Duchess announced her commitment to champion both the WPS and PSVI agendas on International Women's Day in 2019. Elsewhere the Duchess met with local and regional civil society organisations, UN agencies and women-led organisations progressing women's empowerment and delivering for women in Chad
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