widowsday

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Crisis in Afghanistan: What Must the International Community Do to Support and Restore Women's Fundamental Rights.

Explore strategies to support Afghan women amidst extreme oppression under Taliban rule, focusing on human rights mechanisms and the potential role of the draft Treaty on Crimes Against Humanity.

This side event addresses the severe and escalating women's rights crisis in Afghanistan, marked by the Taliban's systematic oppression of women through restrictive decrees. It aims to provide a platform for Afghan women's rights activists, international advocates, and UN representatives to discuss how the international community can support and restore women's fundamental rights in Afghanistan. Key topics include establishing human rights-based engagement parameters with the Taliban, exploring the draft Treaty on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity, and devising a coherent international policy approach that prioritizes the rights and protection of Afghan women and girls. The event will highlight the urgent need for global action to address this crisis and advance gender equality and women's empowerment globally.

Watch Crisis in Afghanistan: What Must the International Community Do to Support and Restore Women's Fundamental Rights!

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Civilizational values and the UN: Women's Resilience and Empowerment.

Event featuring a conversation with Ms. Lakshmi M Puri, Former Assistant Secretary-General UN Women and Author of the Book 'Swallowing the Sun'.

Related Sites and Documents

Concept note.

Watch the Civilizational values and the UN: Women's Resilience and Empowerment!

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Just widowed - Webinar.

Losing a partner can create unexpected and difficult challenges, but it doesn’t have to hurt your financial confidence. Learn everything you need to know now to help you move forward when you are ready.

Just because you’ve experienced a major loss doesn’t mean you can’t carry on with strength and determination. Understanding the steps needed to help prepare and move forward is key to maintaining financial momentum. Striking the right balance of confidence, knowledge, and support will ensure you have everything it takes to forge a positive future for yourself.

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Empower widows and their dependants to achieve economic independence.

To mark the United Nations’ International Widows’ Day 2023, the UK Parliament held an oral questions and answers on the measures to empower widows and their dependants to achieve economic independence

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1972nd Meeting, 85th Session, Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)

CEDAW 85th Session (08 - 26 May 2023)

Provisional agenda.

Opening of the session.

Adoption of the agenda and organization of work.

Report of the Chair on activities undertaken between the eighty-fourth and eighty-fifth sessions of the Committee.

Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

Follow-up to the consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 18 of the Convention.

Implementation of articles 21 and 22 of the Convention.

Ways and means of expediting the work of the Committee.

Activities of the Committee under the Optional Protocol to the Convention.

Provisional agenda for the eighty-sixth session of the Committee.

Adoption of the report of the Committee on its eighty-fifth session.

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1971st Meeting, 85th Session, Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is the body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The CEDAW Committee consists of 23 experts on women's rights from around the world.

The CEDAW treaty is a tool that helps women around the world to bring about change in their daily life. In countries that have ratified the treaty, CEDAW has proved invaluable in opposing the effects of discrimination, which include violence, poverty, and lack of legal protections, along with the denial of inheritance, property rights, and access to credit.

CEDAW 85th Session (08 - 26 May 2023).

Programme of Work (First week) Monday 8 May 2023 1969th meeting 10h00-11h30 a.m. Agenda Item 1 Opening of the session (public) Agenda Item 2 Adoption of the agenda, organization of work; solemn declaration by the new Committee members (public) Agenda Item 3 Report of the Chair on activities undertaken between the eighty-fourth and eighty-fifth sessions of the Committee (public) Agenda Item 7 Ways and means of expediting the work of the Committee (public) 11h30 a.m.-1h00 p.m. Informal meeting with United Nations bodies and Specialized Agencies (closed)

1970th meeting 3h00-4h30 p.m. Informal meeting with non-governmental organizations (public) 4h30-5h00 p.m. Informal meeting with national human rights institutions (public) 5h00-6h00 p.m. Working Group of the Whole (closed)

Tuesday 9 May 2023 1971st meeting 10h00 a.m.-1h00 p.m. Agenda Item 4 Fourth periodic report of Timor Leste (CEDAW/C/TLS/4) (public) 1972nd meeting 3h00-5h00 p.m. Agenda Item 4 Fourth periodic report of Timor Leste (CEDAW/C/TLS/4) (public) 5h00-6h00 p.m. Working Group of the Whole (closed)

Wednesday 10 May 2023 1973rd meeting 10h00 a.m.-1h00 p.m. Agenda Item 4 Combined initial to fifth periodic report of Sao Tomé and Principe (CEDAW/C/STP/1-5) (public) 1974th meeting 3h00-5h00 p.m. Agenda Item 4 Combined initial to fifth periodic report of Sao Tomé and Principe (CEDAW/C/STP/1-5) (public) 5h00-6h00 p.m. Working Group of the Whole (closed)

Thursday 11 May 2023 1975th meeting 10h00 a.m.-1h00 p.m. Agenda Item 4 Ninth periodic report of Germany, submitted under the simplified reporting procedure (CEDAW/C/DEU/9) (public) 1976th meeting 3h00-5h00 p.m. Agenda Item 4 Ninth periodic report of Germany, submitted under the simplified reporting procedure (CEDAW/C/DEU/9) (public) 5h00-6h00 p.m. Working Group of the Whole (closed)

Friday 12 May 2023 1977th meeting 10h00 a.m.-1h00 p.m. Agenda Item 4 Ninth periodic report of China* (CEDAW/C/CHN/9) (public) 1978th meeting 3h00-5h00 p.m. Ninth periodic report of China* (CEDAW/C/CHN/9) (public) 5h00-6h00 p.m. Working Group of the Whole (closed) Second week Monday 15 May 2023 1979th meeting 10h00-12h00 a.m. Working Group of the Whole (closed) 12h00-1h00 p.m. Informal meeting with United Nations bodies and Specialized Agencies (closed) 1980th meeting 3h00-3h30 p.m. Informal meeting with United Nations bodies and Specialized Agencies (closed) (continued) 3h30-4h30 p.m. Informal meeting with non-governmental organizations (public) 4h30-5h00 p.m. Informal meeting with national human rights institutions (public) 5h00-6h00 p.m. Working Group of the Whole (closed)

Tuesday 16 May 2023 1981st meeting 10h00 a.m.-1h00 p.m. Agenda Item 4 Ninth periodic report of Spain, submitted under the simplified reporting procedure (CEDAW/C/ESP/9) (public) 1982nd meeting 3h00-5h00 p.m. Agenda Item 4 Ninth periodic report of Spain, submitted under the simplified reporting procedure (CEDAW/C/ESP/9) (public) 5h00-6h00 p.m. Working Group of the Whole (closed)

Wednesday 17 May 2023 1983rd meeting 10h00 a.m.-1h00 p.m. Agenda Item 4 Seventh periodic report of Slovakia, submitted under the simplified reporting procedure (CEDAW/C/SVK/7) (public) 1984th meeting 3h00-5h00 p.m. Agenda Item 4 Seventh periodic report of Slovakia, submitted under the simplified reporting procedure (CEDAW/C/SVK/7) (public) 5h00-6h00 p.m. Working Group of the Whole (closed)

Thursday 18 May 2023 1985th meeting 10h00 a.m.-1h00 p.m. Agenda Item 4 Ninth periodic report of Venezuela (CEDAW/C/VEN/9) (public) 1986th meeting 3h00-5h00 p.m. Agenda Item 4 Ninth periodic report of Venezuela (CEDAW/C/VEN/9) (public) 5h00-6h00 p.m. Working Group of the Whole (closed)

Friday 19 May 2023 1987th meeting 10h00 am-1h00 p.m. Working Group of the Whole (closed) 1988th meeting 3h00-6h00 p.m. Working Group of the Whole (closed) Third week Monday 22 May 2023 1989th meeting 10h00 a.m.-1h00 p.m. Agenda Item 4 Ninth periodic report of Iceland (CEDAW/C/ISL/9) (public) 1990th meeting 3h00-5h00 p.m. Agenda Item 4 Ninth periodic report of Iceland (CEDAW/C/ISL/9) (public) 5h00-6h00 p.m. Working Group of the Whole (closed)

Tuesday 23 May 2023 1991st meeting 10h00 a.m.-1h00 p.m. Working Group of the Whole (closed) 1992nd meeting 3h00-6h00 p.m. Working Group of the Whole (closed) Wednesday 24 May 2023 1993rd meeting 10h00-1h00 p.m. Working Group of the Whole (closed) 1994th meeting 3h00-6h00 p.m. Working Group of the Whole (closed)

Thursday 25 May 2023 1995th meeting 10h00 a.m.-1h00 p.m. Working Group of the Whole (closed) 1996th meeting 3h00-6.00 p.m. Working Group of the Whole (closed)

Friday 26 May 2023 1997th meeting 10h00 a.m.-1h00 p.m. Working Group of the Whole (closed) 1998th meeting 3h00-5h00 p.m. Working Group of the Whole (closed) 5h00-6h00 p.m. Agenda Item 9 Provisional agenda for the eighty-sixth session Agenda Item 10 Adoption of the report of the Committee on its eighty-fifth session - Closure of the session (public)

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22nd Meeting of States Parties to Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) - Election

The twenty-second Meeting of States parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women is taking place at United Nations Headquarters in New York on 17 June 2022. States parties will elect twelve members of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to replace those whose terms of office are due to expire on 31 December 2022. The terms of members elected will commence on 1 January 2023 and expire four years later on 31 December 2026.

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Poverty.

Across a wide spectrum of countries, religions and ethnic groups, a woman is left destitute when her husband dies. Poverty is often made worse by little or no access to credit or other economic resources, and by illiteracy or lack of education. Without education and training, widows cannot support themselves or their families.

Many widows in traditional societies have no rights, or very limited rights, to inheritance or land ownership under customary and religious law. Without inheritance rights, including a lack of rights to the property of their birth family, widows find themselves financially insecure and totally dependent on the charity of their husbands’ relatives. In India, where widowhood constitutes a low status social institution as well as a personal condition, thousands of widows are disowned by relatives and made homeless, forcing many women to seek informal work as domestic labourers or turn to begging or prostitution.

Widows in developed countries may also face particular difficulties, ranging from loss of insurance coverage to difficulties in accessing credit to becoming solely responsible for childcare. In some cases, widows can become liable for the debts of a deceased spouse

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Closing the protection gap for widows in conflict and post-conflict settings.

The Permanent Missions of Niger, the African Union, and European Union, as co-Chairs of the Group of Friends of Women of the Sahel, jointly with Estonia, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico, Norway, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia and Vietnam willco-host an Arria-Formula meeting to explore how to close the protection gap forwidows in conflict and post-conflict settings.

There are an estimated 350 million widows worldwide, many of which are collectivelyresponsible for 540 million children. Despite comprising approximately 13% of theworld's population, widows are under-researched and under-supported. The scale andunique risks of widowhood are amplified in conflict and post-conflict zones.The rate of widowhood in conflict zones can be greater than 50% of the femalepopulation, due to the higher rate at which men are killed or made victim to enforced disappearances. In different parts of the world, widowhood can exacerbatevulnerabilities. Owing inter alia to negative social norms and gender stereotypes,discriminatory legislations and structural inequalities confining women to their maritalstatus and to traditional gender roles, in many cases, when women become widows,they are made disproportionately vulnerable, subject to widespread forms ofdiscrimination, including disinheritance, and in some cases violence, including harmfulpractices. Very often, with limited or no access to previous assets, financial resources,or inheritance and, without, legal documents, widows may face exclusion in society aswell as significant obstacles to claiming their rights and accessing support, and bedeprived of their basic rights. This creates a particularly dire situation, in particular inlight of the COVID-19 pandemic and given that current humanitarian responses inconflict and post-conflict settings are currently under-addressing this issue, particularlyin displacement contexts.

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Give special recognition to the situation of widows of all ages and across regions and cultures.

Absent in statistics, unnoticed by researchers, neglected by national and local authorities and mostly overlooked by civil society organizations – the situation of widows is, in effect, invisible. Yet abuse of widows and their children constitutes one of the most serious violations of human rights and obstacles to development today. Millions of the world’s widows endure extreme poverty, ostracism, violence, homelessness, ill health and discrimination in law and custom. To give special recognition to the situation of widows of all ages and across regions and cultures, the United Nations General Assembly declared 23 June as the first-ever International Widows’ Day.

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invisible women, invisible problems.

Once widowed, women in many countries often confront a denial of inheritance and land rights, degrading and life-threatening mourning and burial rites and other forms of widow abuse.

Widows are often evicted from their homes and physically abused – some even killed – even by members of their own family. In many countries, a woman’s social status is inextricably linked to her husband’s, so that when her husband dies, a woman no longer has a place in society. To regain social status, widows are expected to marry one of their husband’s male relatives, sometimes unwillingly. For many, the loss of a husband is only the first trauma in a long-term ordeal. In many countries, widowhood is stigmatized and seen as a source of shame. Widows are thought to be cursed in some cultures and are even associated with witchcraft. Such misconceptions can lead to widows being ostracized, abused and worse. Research by HelpAge International, for instance, has found that in Tanzania hundreds of older women – mostly widows – have been killed because of accusations of being witches. The children of widows are often affected, both emotionally and economically. Widowed mothers, now supporting their families alone, are forced to withdraw children from school and to rely on their labour. Moreover, the daughters of widows may suffer multiple deprivations, increasing their vulnerability to abuse. Such cruelties are often seen as justified in terms of cultural or religious practice. Impunity for abuses of the rights of widows is rife, with few perpetrators ever successfully brought to justice. Even in countries where legal protection is more inclusive, widows can suffer social marginalization.

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Improve the position of women who have lost their husbands.

The World Widows Report is the only authoritative comprehensive data source about the discrimination and injustice faced by widows and their dependants country by country and worldwide, informing SDG-era policy formulation by the United Nations and national governments.

Key findings include:

The global affected population numbers 258m widows with 585m children.

Of these, 38m widows live in extreme poverty where basic needs are unmet.

Since an earlier Loomba Foundation study in 2010, there has been a significant exacerbation in conflict areas in the Middle East and North Africa, notably the Syrian civil war.

Worst affected by conflict are widows in Afghanistan, Iraq, South Sudan, Central African Republic and Syria; by the Boko Haram insurgency, those in northeast Nigeria, southeast Niger, west Chad and north Cameroon.

In Sub-Saharan Africa the worst conditions are faced by evicted and abandoned widows with dependants and by those caught up in the Ebola crisis areas, which is further exacerbated by traditional ‘cleansing’ rituals.

Widows with only female children and child widows aged between 10 and 17 face severe discrimination in many developing countries.

Social norms around sexual behaviour remain counterproductive with extreme poverty as a driver of ‘exchange sex’ and ‘survival sex’ relationships and poor quality healthcare.

Widows in western and developed countries have also been affected by cutbacks in social welfare and increased insecurity.

Customary ‘cleansing’ rituals, where widows are required to drink the water with which their dead husband’s body has been washed and to have sex with a relative, continue to spread disease and violate the dignity of widows in many Sub-Saharan countries.

Widows are regularly accused of killing their husbands either deliberately or through neglect – including by transmitting HIV/AIDS – in India, Nepal, Papua New Guinea and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Systematic seizure of property and evictions by the late husband’s family remains widespread in Angola, Bangladesh, Botswana, Republic of Congo, DR Congo, India, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The World Widows Report was published to coincide with the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals by the United Nations and provides a basis for researchers, international and local agencies, governments and all who care about gender inequality and the desperate plight of widows to develop sound, evidence-based policy for a better world. An academic review of the Report by the Centre for Population Change at the University of Southampton described the Report as “an important contribution to academic scholarship on the subject of widows, [which] provides a vital resource to advocates working worldwide to improve the position of women who have lost their husbands”.

The World Widows Report is produced by The Loomba Foundation.

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Step It Up! Most Left Behind Adolescent Girls – Turning the Tide on HIV, ensuring SRHR for all by 2030 - CSW63 Side Event

A dialogue with experts from young people´s movements and high-level decision-makers from government, the UN, donors, academia and civil society.

This event will put the spotlight on most left behind adolescent girls—living in poverty, with HIV, with disabilities, survivors of gender-based violence, migrants, sex workers, LGBTQI, those who use drugs, domestic workers, young widows, among others—who remain largely invisible in policies, services and investments.

The Panel discussion with audience participation will lay solutions for the way forward and advance our learning of new ways of doing things—with young women´s voices, participation and leadership at the forefront.

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Violence against widows.

Violence against Women is one of the most widespread violations of human rights, affecting women of all backgrounds, ages, cultures and countries. Widows are no exception and may in fact be at particularly high risk of violence. In many countries, but particularly across Africa and Asia, widows find themselves the victims of physical and mental violence – including sexual abuse – related to inheritance, land and property disputes. With no rights to ownership of her husband’s property, a widow may be subject to abuse and cast out of her home altogether. In Africa, widow abuse cuts across ethnic, class and income boundaries, rendering widows among the most vulnerable and destitute women in the region. Widows are coerced into participating in harmful, degrading and even life-threatening traditional practices as part of burial and mourning rites. In a number of countries, for example, widows are forced to drink the water that their husbands’ corpses have been washed in. Mourning rites may also involve sexual relations with male relatives, shaving of the hair and scarification.

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The Impact of Fundamentalism and Extremism on the Cultural Rights of Women: Time to Take a Stand.

A Panel discussion of the report presented by the UN Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights.

Speakers: - Karima Bennoune, Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights.

- Rafida Bonya Ahmed, author, human rights activists and moderator at Mukto-mona blog; visiting research scholar at UT Austin; widow of Bangladeshi blogger Avijit Roy.

- Sheema Kermani, activist, theater practitioner and dancer; founder of Tehrik-E-Niswan in Karachi, Pakistan.

- Wanda Nowicka, Chair of Equality and Modernity Association; Honorary President of Polish Federation for Women and Family Planning.

- Cole Parke, LGBTQ and Gender Justice Researcher at Political Research Associates, USA - Wai Wai Nu, Director of Women Peace Network Arakan, Myanmar.

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Impact of Health.

Poor nutrition, inadequate shelter and vulnerability to violence, combined with a lack of access to health care, can impact the physical and mental well-being of widows. The sexual and reproductive health needs of widows may go unaddressed, including the fact that widows are often the victims of rape. Widows are particularly vulnerable in the context of HIV and AIDS. Women may be kept unaware of the cause of their husband’s AIDS-related death and made to undergo ritual cleansing through sex with male relatives regardless of HIV status. The economic insecurity stemming from widowhood also drives some women and girls to sex work.

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Press conference to mark the occasion of the first International Widows' Day.

This event is sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Gabon. Speakers will include: Lord Raj Loomba, Founder and Chairman Trustee of the Loomba Foundation; Dr. Peter Rajsingh, US Trustee of the Loomba Foundation; and Mr. Amir Dossal, Founder and Chairman of the Global Partnerships Forum.

first International Widows' Day