Prince Harry and Meghan meet top UN official amid world leaders' gathering in New York

Prince Harry and Meghan have met with a top UN official during the world body's biggest annual gathering.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex visited the UN headquarters in New York to speak with deputy secretary-general Amina Mohammed.

Ms Mohammed said they discussed "how to engage on issues we care about deeply", such as vaccine equity, climate action, the economic empowerment of women, youth engagement and mental wellbeing.

"It was a lovely meeting," Meghan said afterwards.

The UN said Ms Mohammed welcomed the couple's work to address the organisation's 17 sustainable development goals, which were created in 2015 and include objectives like ending hunger and poverty, achieving gender equality and combating climate change.

The trio met ahead of their scheduled appearances at the Global Citizen concert in Central Park later on Saturday.

The star-studded, 24-hour event aims to encourage climate action and urge wealthier countries to share one billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines with other nations.

Billie Eilish and Ed Sheeran are among the musicians expected to perform at the festival, which features performances in cities including New York, London and Sydney.

Tens of thousands of people are set to attend, with millions likely to tune in to the broadcast.

Prince Harry and Meghan are due to speak at the event in New York as part of their first major public trip since quitting as senior royals.

Earlier this week they visited the city's memorial for the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, with New York City mayor Bill de Blasio and the state's governor, Kathy Hochul, joining them.

The UN is currently hosting the annual general assembly of world leaders, who have been discussing efforts to fight climate change and COVID-19.

Meghan has been involved with the UN women's agency for several years, acting as "advocate for political participation and leadership".

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were among those chosen as Time magazine's 100 most influential people last week.

Last year, the couple stepped down from royal duties, moving to California and launching their Archewell Foundation.

They have previously supported other Global Citizen initiatives, acting as campaign chairs for a Vax Live event in May which encouraged donations to Covax, an initiative working to provide vaccines for low and middle-income countries.

In a speech he made on stage, Prince Harry called for coronavirus jabs to be "distributed to everyone everywhere".