FORUM: Towards progress for widows. International Widows Day 2022.
The Day is an opportunity for action towards achieving full rights and recognition for widows – too long invisible, uncounted and ignored.
A dearth of reliable hard data remains one of the major obstacles to developing the policies and programmes to address the poverty, violence and discrimination suffered by widows. There is a need for more research and statistics disaggregated by marital status, sex and age, in order to help reveal the incidence of widow abuse and illustrate the situation of widows.
Furthermore, Governments should take action to uphold their commitments to ensure the rights of widows as enshrined in international law, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Even when national laws exist to protect the rights of widows, weaknesses in the judicial systems of many States compromise how widows’ rights are defended in practice and should be addressed. Lack of awareness and discrimination by judicial officials can cause widows to avoid turning to the justice system to seek reparations.
Programmes and policies for ending violence against widows and their children, poverty alleviation, education and other support to widows of all ages also need to be undertaken, including in the context of action plans to accelerate achievement of the Global Goals.
In post-conflict situations, widows should be brought in to participate fully in peacebuilding and reconciliation processes to ensure that they contribute to sustainable peace and security. Empowering widows through access to adequate healthcare, education, decent work, full participation in decision-making and public life, and lives free of violence and abuse, would give them a chance to build a secure life after bereavement. Importantly, creating opportunities for widows can also help to protect their children and avoid the cycle of inter-generational poverty and deprivation.
EVENTS: Ending the world's silence on widows: Opportunities for leadership around the world.
For more information about the Global Fund for Widows’ June 21 event please visit
The event, entitled, “Ending the World’s Silence on Widows: Opportunities for Leadership around the World,” will be held on Tuesday, June 21. During the event, the speakers, comprised of policymakers and gender advocates from around the world, will discuss opportunities to mainstream widows into social policies, human rights reporting, and business practices. Using the UN Sustainable Development Goals as its framework, the event aims to provide concrete and actionable recommendations across sectors in order to address the needs of widows suffering human rights violations and discrimination in certain parts of the world.
The panel will feature:
- High Commissioner Callista Mutharika, Former First Lady of Malawi and widow of former President Bingu wa Mutharika.
- The Honourable Baindu Dassama, Minister of Social Welfare of Sierra Leone
- Karen Fowler, designer and Co-Founder of Pour Les Femmes
- Ms. Heather Ibrahim-Leathers, President of the Global Fund for Widows
- and feature Mr. Vikas Khanna, Michelin-starred Chef and Global Goodwill Ambassador for Widows.
