The Queen offered touching words of encouragement as she spoke with young leaders from the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust.
The monarch, 95, took part in a video call from Windsor Castle with the youngsters earlier this week to discuss the remarkable work they are doing around the world.
Nicola Brentnall, Founder of The Queen’s Commonwealth Trust, spoke to Her Majesty about the practical work of QCT in helping young leaders across the Commonwealth bring positive change to their communities before introducing four young representatives from the UK, the Maldives, Guyana and Rwanda.
During the call, the work of Safaath Ahmed Zahir from the Maldives was praised by Her Majesty. The Queen heard how a QCT grant allowed Women and Democracy, a non-governmental organisation established by Safaath in 2016, to provide help and support to over 130 women who were experiencing domestic violence.
Safaath told the Queen: “Ma’am six years in the running we have made some important strides.
“But our work is far from being finished. We remain committed in protecting women and girls, human rights in all circumstances in fostering their capabilities in every field, in unleashing their power in all dimensions, through interventions and strategies that build women, girls, resilience, and empower them with our main objective to create equal, and justice societies.”
The monarch said: “It’s really interesting to hear about it. And it’s obviously been very successful.”
Safaath replied: “Indeed, and we have a long way to go to do this.”
The Queen gave a smile of encouragement and said: “Go on trying.”
Safaath said: “Thank you, Your Majesty.”
Also on the call with the Queen was Brad Gudger, a recipient of The Diana Award and two-time cancer survivor, who spoke about how he founded Alike, a charity that connects young people with cancer through a tailored app, to help combat loneliness and offer mutual support and friendship.
Jubilanté Cutting, the founder of the Guyana Animation Network Inc, spoke to Her Majesty about how support from QCT allowed her to continue providing children as young as five with digital and creative training opportunities during the pandemic. Jubilanté outlined how funding from QCT allowed them to produce face shields for frontline healthcare workers across their community.
And finally, Jean d’Amour Mutoni spoke to the Queen from his centre in Kigali which helps young people create social enterprises, which in turn create jobs, tackling the youth unemployment challenge and benefiting communities across Rwanda.
Since its launch in 2018, The Queen’s Commonwealth Trust has grown into a network of nearly 1,000 young people from all Commonwealth countries working together to provide practical support for their communities and encourage others.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were previously President and Vice-President of The QCT up until February 2021.
