During her speech at the UN Girl Up Summit about gender equality, Priyanka Chopra sent an important message to women about their worth and what it takes to make it count, as well as highlighting the struggles refugees have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The UNICEF goodwill ambassador told the some 40,000 that tuned into the digital summit, “You don’t need millions of followers on social media to make a difference. All you need is heart, drive, and commitment. No act is too small. No age is too young.”
The star went on to say society needs to realise being able to social distance is a “privilege”, highlighting the difficulties refugees face.
“To recognise that even social distancing is a privilege, because people living in extreme poverty and refugees sheltering in makeshift tents, don’t have the luxury of staying six feet apart,” she said.
At the same summit, a similar sentiment was shared by Chopra’s friend Meghan Markle, who was the keynote speaker.
It has been a great privilege to be your @GirlUp champion for all these years. Thank you for having me with you live today. If there is any takeaway from today, it should be… pic.twitter.com/YW9RD0Tawj
— PRIYANKA (@priyankachopra) July 14, 2020
The Duchess of Sussex, who is currently residing in Los Angeles with husband Prince Harry, delivered her empowering speech on Tuesday, which is a first for her since stepping down from royal life.
In her speech, the former star addressed the “young women around the world who aren’t just poised to change the world, but have already begun changing the world”.
Meghan, 38, went on to encourage those watching and beyond to “keep challenging, keep pushing, make them a little uncomfortable” in order for change to happen.
“Because it’s only in that discomfort that we actually create the conditions to reimagine our standards, our policies, and our leadership; to move towards real representation and meaningful influence over the structures of decision-making and power,” she said.
Meghan noted the force for change to create better communities would be a step-by-step process, but encouraged everyone to look at the “big picture”.
As well as the Duchess of Sussex and the actress, former First Lady of the USA Michelle Obama spoke during the summit and Meghan, Nadia Murad, an Iraqi human rights activist and the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer and Mlambo-Ngcuka, director of UN Women.
