The Duchess of Sussex is set to highlight the critical need for robust global protections for children online, as she attends a poignant memorial for young lives lost to digital harm.
Meghan will join Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organisation (WHO), at the opening of the Lost Screen Memorial in Geneva, Switzerland, this Sunday.
The event, held ahead of the 79th World Health Assembly, will feature an installation of 50 illuminated lightboxes.
Each display will show the mobile phone lockscreen image of a child who tragically died due to online violence and digital harm.
Her office confirmed on Friday that during the ceremony, the Duchess will “pay tribute to the children remembered in the installation and underscore the urgent need for stronger global protections for children online.”
Co-hosted by the WHO and Archewell Philanthropies, the charitable foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, in partnership with The Parents’ Network, the memorial aims to “highlight the measurable and preventable harms associated with online violence against children, including cyberbullying, grooming, sextortion, exposure to self-harm content and unsafe emerging technologies without adequate safeguards.”
Among those expected to attend are Geneva mayor Alfonso Gomez Cruz, various health ministers, and child safety advocates.
Amy Neville, an online child safety advocate whose son Alexander is featured in the exhibition, is scheduled to speak. A digital companion will allow visitors to hear the personal stories of the children honoured.
Lost Screen Memorial is “for children who have lost their lives as a result of the harm they suffered on social media. These images represent the ones their parents have on their phone lockscreens. Their faces serve as a constant reminder of what has been lost. The responsibility to keep children safe online should not lie with parents alone,” according to the website.
The Lost Screen Memorial also serves as a poignant extension of the Duke’s remarks at the 2024 Clinton Global Initiative, where he called for immediate action to protect children online. In his speech, he shared that his own lock screen features a photo of his children—a reminder of what’s at stake for families everywhere.