The UK's Prince Harry has been sharing his excitement about his family’s upcoming visit to Africa.
In an instagram post on Sunday, the prince shared the news that he and Meghan Markle — along with baby Archie — will be touring the African continent.
“In just a few weeks our family will be taking its first official tour to Africa, a region of the world that for the past two decades has become a second home to me,” he said.
The family will be visiting South Africa together, and then Harry will continue out to Malawi, Botswana, and Angola.
The prince is known for his passion for social advocacy — something that the couple has in common, with Meghan also being a passionate advocate for female empowerment, girls’ education, and menstrual health, among many other issues.
As the royal family prepare for their visit, Prince Harry has asked people to support to support a total of 22 organisations, which he says are “a small representation of the incredible work being done in Africa.”
Here’s just a selection of the inspirational organisations working to achieve Africa-led solutions to some of the world’s most pressing issues.
1. Sentebale
Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho founded Sentabale together in 2006.
The organisation supports the wellbeing of children and young people affected by HIV/AIDS in Lesotho and Botswana.
The HIV/AIDS epidemic is one of the world’s biggest problems, particularly in Africa where up to 19.6 million people were HIV positive in 2017, according to Global Statistics.
Sentebale has various projects to help support young people getting access to education, such as Let Youth Lead and Youth Hub.
Let Youth Lead aims to influence policy makers by giving young people a platform to share their experiences of living with HIV/AIDS as well as how the epidemic affects them. Meanwhile, the Youth Hub is a peer education programme where young people are trained and recruited to deliver life skills in schools and community youth clubs.
2. Nelson Mandela Foundation
Founded by former South African president, Nelson Mandela, the Nelson Mandela Foundation works to continue the legacy of the human rights hero, championing his life’s mission to bring freedom and equality to all people
The pillars of the foundation are dialogue, advocacy, and memory, which the organisation believes are essential in finding solutions to social ills.
Just last month, the Foundation’s trust won a historic court case to have displaying the apartheid flag made officially illegal in South Africa.
3. Dlala Nje
Dlala Nje provides a city tour of some of the most misrepresented areas in Johannesburg.
The organisation was founded in Oct. 2006, with the aim of challenging perceptions about certain areas, as well as to help create employment and training opportunities for young people.
Tourism improves the lives of millions of South Africans, with a contribution of up to R136 billion to the economy.
4. Halo Trust
Halo Trust is a non-profit organisation that operates in 25 countries around the world.
This is the world’s largest humanitarian mine clearance organisation, which works to remove landmines in areas affected by war and conflict.
According to the United Nations International Children’s Fund, landmines are currently believed to kill 800 people a month.
This passion runs in the family — Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, walked through minefields in Angola 16 years ago to help spark global awareness for the issue.
5. Everyday Africa
Everyday Africa is a collective of photographers who work to convey Africa more accurately than it is often portrayed in the media.
Advocacy organisation Developing Africa warns against how western media outlets often cover African stories in a way that paints a picture of Africa as a wasteland.
The collective is part of the Everyday Project — a global community of photographers with the common goal of showcasing the realities of life in their respective countries.
6. African Wildlife Foundation
African Wildlife Foundation is a Kenya-based wildlife and wildlands conservation organisation.
Over the past 50 years, AWF has been implementing unique African solutions to address the continents’ conservation needs.
While all animals are crucial to nature’s balance, wild animals like elephants and rhinos are under threat because of poaching and the destruction of their natural habitats.
7. Youth Alert
Youth Alert is a Malawian programme aimed at making sex education accessible to young people.
The programme focuses on creating a platform for children and teenagers to learn and talk about sexual and reproductive health.
Empowering young people with healthcare information allows them to make better decisions, which United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) says will help curb gender inequalities by emphasising consent, non-discrimination, and empathy.
The programme uses lots of platforms, like radio, school visits, and peer education, to reach as many young people as possible and encourage behaviour change to help them empower themselves.
The remainder of the list are a number of wildlife conservation organisation like Painted Wolf Conservancy, Conservation Lower Zambezi, and African Parks.
Prince Harry also mentions three of Queen Elizabeth’s organisations — the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust and Queen’s Young Leaders, which focus on empowering young people, as well as Queen’s Canopy, which is a forest protection organisation.
It has been four years since the implementation of the United Nation’s Global Goals, however Africa still lags behind in most of the goals, according to a recent report by the Sustainable Development Goals Centre for Africa.
The challenges faced in the continent require immense support of African organisations that seek to improve the living standards of all Africans, true to the phrase “African solutions to African problems”.