On 19th June, Wednesday, a House of Lords peer has urged the Government to create awareness around the plight of widows and advocated for a special rapporteur at the UN to investigate widowhood.
Ahead of the International Widows Day, Lord Raj Loomba of The Loomba Foundation, spoke about the violation of human rights of widows' across the world especially in developing countries such as India and Africa. Highlighting, the latest figures that show the number of widows increasing, especially amid conflict and disease in fragile states, Lord Loomba said-
“Sexual cleansing via rape, physical violence and losing their inheritance and possessions is rife throughout the continent. All around the world there are “half widows”, women whose husbands are unaccounted for. Those men are more than likely to be dead, but their bodies have not been recovered. Even while there is greater recognition of inhumane behaviour towards widows, they still face an uphill struggle for their voices to be heard.
"Widows endure daily obstacles and are at the forefront of gender discrimination as they face double discrimination.”
International Widows Day is a day of effective action for widows around the world, which was ratified by the United Nations at its 65th General Assembly in 2010. In his message on the first International Widows Day, the then UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said,
“It was an occasion to call attention to the many ‘firsts’ that women must face when their husbands die. In addition to coping with grief, they may find themselves for the first time since marriage without any social safety net.”
Today, various politicians including Baroness Nicholson and Baroness Sugg have praised him for his sterling work with widows in developing countries.
Addressing the issue of funding to help widows, Baroness Sugg said that the department is ensuring that smaller charities receive a fair share of the aid budget.
"We are explicitly welcoming applications focused on widows in the new tranche. So, I hope to see support for even more work in this area".
The Minister has agreed to pass on Lord Loomba's request to set up a Select Committee to look at the issues widows face, and more importantly, is looking to give "proper consideration" to “advocating for a UN special rapporteur".
Kenya is organising an event to mark International Widows Day, and the theme is “Skills Training for Widows—Supporting the Sustainable Development Goals”. More than 3,000 widows will be in attendance at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre with the chief guest, the President of Kenya. We have also received information from many other countries including Nigeria, Tanzania, Nepal, Bangladesh, among others who are marking International Widows Day to raise awareness.
