Duchess Sophie Begins Packed Zambia Tour With Focus on Gender Equality, Conservation and Eye Health

The Duchess of Edinburgh has arrived in Zambia for a busy official visit that brings together several of the causes most closely associated with her royal work, from gender equality and education to environmental conservation and the prevention of avoidable blindness.

Sophie is visiting the Republic of Zambia from September 14 to September 19 at the request of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Her programme spans Lusaka, the Lower Zambezi and Livingstone and is intended to celebrate the longstanding relationship between Zambia and the United Kingdom. The official programme highlights gender equality, climate and nature, and education and research partnerships as key areas of shared interest.

A royal tour built around causes close to Sophie’s work

Sophie’s visit has a distinctly practical focus. Rather than being centered solely on formal ceremonies, her itinerary brings her into contact with women business leaders, artists, survivors of gender-based violence, educators, healthcare workers and conservationists.

Her first engagements in Lusaka included an eye health reception hosted by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness and Orbis. Sophie serves as the agency’s Global Ambassador and has spent years supporting efforts to prevent avoidable blindness, including through visits to Orbis projects in Ethiopia, Bangladesh and India.

The reception also looked ahead to the first Global Summit for Eye Health, due to take place in Antigua in November 2026. The summit aims to support efforts to end avoidable sight loss by 2030.

Her wider programme reflects the same themes. In Lusaka, Sophie has already met prominent Zambian women working across banking, investment, agriculture and manufacturing to discuss leadership, resilience and opportunities for the next generation.

She also visited Jewel of Africa, a family business founded in 1992 that works with ethically sourced Zambian gemstones. The company places an emphasis on direct sourcing from Zambian mines, traceability and responsible supply chains. Sophie toured its workshop and learned about the processes involved in manufacturing, cutting and polishing gemstones.

Gender equality takes centre stage in Lusaka

Another important part of the tour has been Sophie’s work with women and survivors of gender-based violence.

At Imvelo Studios, she met artists and survivors who are using creative expression as a way to support empowerment, healing and advocacy. She toured an exhibition before taking part in a discussion about the role of art and storytelling in building confidence, resilience and dialogue within communities.

The Duchess also met representatives and advocates working at both government and grassroots level to tackle gender-based violence.

The focus on women’s empowerment continues a theme that has featured prominently in Sophie’s international engagements, particularly her work supporting women and girls affected by violence and conflict.

Meeting President Hakainde Hichilema

The Duchess’s programme also includes a meeting at Community House with President Hakainde Hichilema.

Sophie met President Hichilema and First Lady Mutinta Hichilema in Lusaka on September 15. The meeting formed part of a wider programme celebrating the relationship between Zambia and the UK, with education among the areas highlighted during the visit.

Education is another prominent element of the tour. Sophie later joined students, educators, researchers, volunteers, UK alumni and education partners at the British High Commissioner’s Residence for a reception celebrating institutions and individuals creating opportunities through learning.

The event highlighted education as one of the longstanding links between Zambia and the United Kingdom.

From the Lower Zambezi to one of the world’s great natural wonders

The Duchess’s schedule extends beyond Lusaka, taking her to the Lower Zambezi before continuing to Livingstone.

Her conservation work in the Lower Zambezi has included a visit to Conservation Lower Zambezi, where she met Zambia’s first all-women ranger unit, the Kufadza Female Scouts. The engagement brought together Sophie’s interest in environmental protection with her work on women’s participation and leadership.

Later in the tour, Sophie is due to visit Mosi-oa-Tunya in Livingstone, better known internationally as Victoria Falls. The landmark is recognised as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.

During the visit, she is due to lay a posy at the First World War memorial, adding a commemorative element to her time in the region.

Eye health remains a major part of the programme

Sophie’s role as Global Ambassador for the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness is also reflected in the Zambia itinerary.

She is due to undertake engagements with the eye-care charities Orbis and Sightsavers, including a visit to a health clinic in Mukuni Village.

The clinic is involved in a programme focused on eliminating trachoma, an infectious eye disease and a major cause of avoidable blindness. The visit will allow Sophie to see work addressing a cause that has been a consistent part of her international advocacy.

Her eye-health work has taken her to projects in several countries over the years. In Zambia, that focus sits alongside her wider engagements on education, women’s empowerment, conservation and the relationship between the UK and Zambia.

Sophie’s previous visit to Zambia

This is not Sophie’s first trip to Zambia.

She previously travelled to the country in November 2014, when she was known as the Countess of Wessex. On that occasion, she represented Queen Elizabeth II at the state funeral of Zambia’s former president, Michael Sata.

More than a decade later, Sophie has returned to Zambia with a very different programme. Her current visit brings together diplomatic, charitable and community engagements across Lusaka, the Lower Zambezi and Livingstone.

From conversations with women in business and survivors of gender-based violence to conservation work, education partnerships and efforts to combat avoidable blindness, the tour places several of Sophie’s longstanding areas of work at the center of her time in Zambia.