Every year on 23 June, the United Nations (UN) observes International Widows Day to amplify the voices of widows and advocate for their rights. This day highlights the systemic discrimination, economic hardships, and human rights violations faced by widows globally, particularly in developing nations.
- The observance aims to drive actionable solutions to uplift widows through legal, social, and economic reforms.
Background:
i.International Widows’ Day was initiated in 2005 by the United Kingdom (UK)-based Loomba Foundation, a charitable organisation dedicated to advocating for the rights and welfare of widows globally.
- The foundation has focused on addressing the challenges faced by widows since its establishment in 1997.
ii.Recognising the urgent need to highlight the discrimination and hardships endured by widows, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted resolution A/RES/65/189 on 21st December 2010, officially designating 23rd June of every year as International Widows’ Day.
iii.The first UN-recognised observance of the day took place on 23rd June 2011, marked by a conference held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, United States of America (USA).
Why June 23?
The date 23rd June holds personal significance for the founder of the Loomba Foundation, Lord Raj Loomba, as his mother became a widow on 23rd June 1954.
Link to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):
Supporting widows directly advances several SDGs:
- SDG 1: No Poverty – by lifting widows out of destitution
SDG 5: Gender Equality – by ensuring women’s rights to inheritance and decent work - SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth – by enabling financial independence
The Global Picture
i.With around 258 million widows worldwide, nearly one in ten living in extreme poverty, and egregious situations in countries like the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (where nearly 50% of women are widows), the global scale of this issue is immense .
ii.In India alone, approximately 40 million widows, accounting for 10% of the female population, face deep economic and social marginalisation.
iii.Widows are often subject to property and inheritance dispossession, social stigma, exclusion from pensions, and physical or psychological violence, sometimes stemming from harmful widowhood rituals
About Loomba Foundation:
The Loomba Foundation is a registered charity in the United Kingdom (UK), India and USA.
Chairman – Lord Raj Loomba
Established – 1997
