Neve Gordon-Farleigh
Announced on her 40th birthday, regaining and rebuilding is the drive behind Meghan Markle’s new 40×40 project.
As The Duchess of Sussex turns 40, in a new video on the Archewell website, she has announced a brand new project.
“what would happen if we all committed 40 minutes to helping someone else or to mentoring someone in need?”
In the video, The Duchess of Sussex reflects on everything people have missed out on this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “Time with our loved ones, time doing the things we love,” have all been put on hold whilst countries around the world went into lockdown.
In a statement on the Archewell website, she asks, “what would happen if we all committed 40 minutes to helping someone else or to mentoring someone in need? And then what would happen if we asked our friends to do the same?”
The project itself has come about in response to the effects of the pandemic on women in particular.
In a video featuring Melissa McCarthy, Meghan outlines the idea of her project. She explains that she is “asking 40 friends to donate 40 minutes of their time to help mentor a woman who is mobilising back into the workforce.” Which subsequently will “create a ripple effect”.
Later on in her statement, she expresses how, “tens of millions of women around the world have left the workforce, including over two million women in the U.S. So many of these women are also shouldering the brunt of the crisis when it comes to unpaid labour, including schooling and caring for family members.”
The concerns are that, due to women leaving the workforce, “fewer women than men will regain work as we recover from the pandemic.”
“Many have taken to Instagram to share their involvement.”
Who’s Involved in the Project?
The 40 friends Meghan has asked to be involved include athletes, activists, artists and world leaders. Many have taken to Instagram to share their involvement.
Princess Eugenie, Amanda Gorman and Priyanka Chopra Jonas will all be joining The Duchess giving 40 minutes of their time to others.
With many individuals giving up 40 minutes, the question is, will you?
Featured image courtesy of Katherine Hanlon on Unsplash. No changes or alterations were made to this image. Image license can be found here.
Neve Gordon-Farleigh
Neve is a 21 year old freelance journalist, and our Head Current Affairs and Instagram Editor for Empoword Journalism. She specialises in social media journalism and runs the Journo Resources Tik Tok page. You can find her on Twitter @Neve_GF.