Meghan Markle delivered a speech in Geneva about online safety (Image: Getty)

Meghan Markle has called for urgent change and stronger protections for children online while paying tribute at a memorial in Geneva today. The Duchess of Sussex opened the The Lost Screen Memorial this evening at Geneva’s Place des Nation, which features fifty illuminated lightboxes, each displaying the lock screen image of a child who lost their life after online violence and digital harm.

Hosted by Archewell Philanthropies and the World Health Organization, she joined the WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, global health leaders, ministers and families affected by online harm. The installation was first unveiled in New York City last April as part of the No Child Lost to Social Media campaign, and it will be shown in Geneva until Friday, May 22, during World Health Assembly week.

“Behind me stands The Lost Screen Memorial,” Meghan began. “Not statistics. Not avatars. Not data points. Children. Each name belonged to a child who was loved beyond measure. A child whose laughter once filled a kitchen. Whose shoes once waited by a front door. Whose future once felt limitless.”

Meghan spoke with members of the crowd after the speech (Image: Getty)

She continued: “Now their faces ask the world questions we can no longer avoid. How many more millions of children will be harmed by products that, while innovative, are still designed without sufficient safeguards? When will children be able to enjoy the extraordinary potential of technology without it compromising their wellbeing?”

Meghan said addictive online platforms play a role in the declining mental health of children, adding: “Children today are being shaped by systems designed to capture attention at any cost: relentless algorithms, exploitative engagement, and endless exposure to harmful content that they are not seeking out.”

The Duchess called on parents to set examples for their children, including safe social media usage, writing to their elected representatives to put online safety laws in place, and join campaigners for child safety.

Meghan added: “If an adult is barely able to survive the bullying and predation of the online world and the dangers that these platforms can bring, how is a child?”

“Let our children look back at this moment, and let them feel proud of us, that we chose something better, for them, and for us all,” she concluded.

The memorial was created by Archewell Philanthropies in partnership with The Parents’ Network, a community of bereaved families advocating for safer online spaces for children and young people.

Meghan also spoke at the event last year, when she said: “It is a universal truth that our children are in harm’s way by what’s happening online.”

Prince Harry and Meghan have previously voiced their desire to protect young people in the age of social media, citing their two children as the inspiration for their work.

Speaking to CBS News Sunday Morning’s Jane Pauley last year, the couple opened up about social media and their children.

Meghan said: “Our kids are young. They’re three and five. They’re amazing. But all you wanna do as parents is protect them.

“So, as we can see what’s happening in the online space, we know that there’s a lot of work to be done there and we’re just happy to be able to be a part of change for good.”