International Widows’ Day, 23 June.
No woman should lose her rights when she loses her husband – but an estimated 115 million widows live in poverty, and 81 million have suffered physical abuse.
Girls married to much older men are especially vulnerable.
Let us use International Widows’ Day to advocate for the rights of all widows so they can enjoy better lives and realize their great potential to contribute to our world.
Ban Ki-moon
International Widows Day (IWD) is a global day of focus for effective action to raise awareness and help widows and their children around the world who are suffering through poverty, illiteracy, HIV/AIDS, conflict and social injustice. There are an estimated 245 million widows and 500 million children in the world, together with their family members the number is well over a billion people. Through no fault of their own they lose their husband or father and continue to suffer for the rest of their lives through stigma, discrimination and poverty. On the 22nd December 2010 at the 65th UN General Assembly, the United Nations recognised 23rd June as International Widows Day.
Why the UN recognised International Widows Day – 23rd June ?
° 245 million widows and over 500 million children suffer in silence worldwide
° Over 115 million widows live in poverty struggling to survive
° Many of these women and their children are malnourished, exposed to disease, and subjected to extreme forms of deprivation
° Widowed women experience targeted murder, rape, prostitution, forced marriage, property theft, eviction, social isolation, and physical abuse
° 1.5 million widows’ children in the world die before their fifth birthday
° Children of widows face horrors such as child marriage, illiteracy, loss of schooling, forced labour, human trafficking, homelessness and sexual abuse
° HIV/AIDS, armed conflict and poverty are amongst the most prolific causes of widowhood
° Persecution and abuse against widows and their children is not a crisis limited to the developing world, large groups of widows can also be found in Europe, including Russia and Central Asia
° Widows in developed countries face social isolation and commonly live with severe insecurity and poverty due to lack of affordable health care and employment.
Forum and Discussion of The Day
Join the Forum : International Widow's Day, June 23.
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| Empowering Women, Empowering Humanity, Picture It! |
UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director, Dr. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka cordially invites you to the launch of UN Women's global campaign to mark the 20th anniversary of the World Conference on Women in Beijing.
Speakers include United Nations Deputy Secretary-General,Jan Eliasson ; Under Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director,Dr. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka; activist Gloria Steinem and other eminent personalities, along with renowned musical artists Women of the World, Girl Be Heard and spoken-word artist Carlos Andrés Gómez.
26 June 2014 , Empowering women, Empowering Humanity Picture It! • 5-7 pm • Apollo Theater, 253 W 125th Street, New York
RSVP to http://goo.gl/BTBB9p
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