International Widows Day is a global awareness day ratified by the United Nations to tackle “poverty and injustice faced by millions of widows and their dependents in most of the countries. In many countries, women who eventually find themselves as widows are also in situations where their right to inherit monies or inherited land rights is denied.
Since 2011, the United Nations observes June 23 as a International Widows Day under the resolution A/RES/65/189 to draw attention to widows’ voices and experiences and to foster the unique help they need.
n the year 2005, the first International Widows Day was celebrated launched by Lord Loomba and the foundation’s president, Cherie Blair and by the sixth International Widows Day most of the countries started organizing events in Rwanda, Sri Lanka, the United States, the United Kingdom, Nepal, Syria, Kenya, India, Bangladesh and South Africa.
Problems of Widows during Pandemic
A partner’s loss is devastating. This loss is magnified for many women around the world, particularly in developing countries, by a long struggle for their basic necessities, human rights, and dignity. In recent months as the pandemic is more worse, and now it is only escalated with a devastating human tragedy and is likely to leave tens of thousands of women widows just as they’re cut off from their normal socio-economic and family support.
An estimated 258 million widows live in unimaginable poverty worldwide, and almost one of every ten widows face poverty. But, as the coronavirus and its adverse impact on health continues to spread around the world, the actual number is likely to be much greater. They have special needs as women, but are often absent from policies that impact their survival. their voices and experience.
Note: This year the UN has not decided the specific theme for International Widows Day 2020.
History
The Loomba Foundation founded International Widows Day to raise awareness of the issue of widowhood. The significance of 23 June It was on that day in 1954 that the founder of the Foundation, Lord Loomba, Shrimati Pushpa Wati Loomba, became a Widow. One of the main goals of the Foundation was to highlight what they described as an invisible catastrophe. The observance falls on June 23 because on that year, in 1954, Loomba ‘s mother became a widow.
Purpose of celebrating International Widows Day
International Widows Day aims to promote action to achieve full rights for widows, highlight the need for more research and information on widows suffering from abuse, discrimination and poverty, and establish policies and programs to tackle the problem.
The overall objective of the day is to build tools and policies for empowering widows and enabling them to have access to education, jobs, health care and violence-free lives.
Swikriti Dandotia
