Addressing the Missing Piece of Global Human Rights Agenda: Untold Stories of Widows from Developing World

The Global Fund for Widows Calls for Prioritization of Widows Rights

Washington, DC (22 August 2023) – The Global Fund for Widows, the nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering widows and female heads of households to overcome poverty, is calling for increased attention for widows around the globe. The UN estimates that nearly one in ten widows live in extreme poverty, which has only been exacerbated by the polycrisis of the COVID- 19 pandemic, climate crisis, and ongoing conflicts in Eurasia, East Africa, and Latin America.

“The global human rights agenda must prioritize empowering voiceless widows through education, vocational training, and entrepreneurship opportunities to help women regain their independence and contribute positively to their communities,” said Global Fund for Widows’ Founder Heather Ibrahim-Leathers. “This can be achieved through legal and policy reforms that safeguard their rights and dignity, providing access to ensure their physical and mental well-being, advocating for gender equality, challenging harmful norms and attitudes that perpetuate discrimination, educating communities on widows' rights, and assisting with financial and economic empowerment to help rebuild their lives.”

Human Rights Watch recently published the World Report 2023, summarizing human rights conditions in over 100 countries and territories worldwide. Despite its comprehensive approach, the report fails to acknowledge the human rights needs of widows in the developing world. The topic of widows appears only once as “4,983 women were widowed” in the 363-page book, highlighting that the needs of widows are frequently misunderstood, disregarded, and overlooked. In 2017, Human Rights Watch addressed the struggle of widows in its excellent report “You Will Get Nothing” Violations of Property and Inheritance Rights of Widows in Zimbabwe. The Global Fund for Widows encourages Human Rights Watch to continue its good work and ensure that the human rights’ needs of millions of widows are included in its analysis. Raising awareness about the challenges widows endure is critical.

The Global Fund for Widows invites governments, NGOs, businesses, and individuals to advocate for the human rights of widows worldwide and remains available for consultation and guidance on how to empower widows to create a more just and inclusive world.

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Contact: Dr. Nagesh Borse, Executive Director, Global Fund for Widows, Washington, DC

Email: Nagesh.Borse@GlobalFundforWidows.org or Cell: +1 202-802-1290

About Global Fund for Widows:

The Global Fund for Widows is the world’s largest non-profit organization economically empowering widows in the developing world. We do this by building our own financial inclusion innovation of the Widows’ Savings and Loan Associations, or “micro-banks,” which provide them with a permanent source of capital from which they can launch micro-businesses. Thus far, we have built 185 banks around the world, and have empowered 26,000 widows and helped 64,000 of their children across Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, Cameroon, Malawi, and India.

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically affected widows around the world. To accommodate alarms of hunger emanating from global lockdowns, Global Fund for Widows pivoted from building banks for widows, to feeding the hungry and starting small income generating businesses. In just the last few months, we are proud to have offered widows with 6.5 million meals, and have launched 400 microenterprises. Global Fund for Widows uses its success in the field to advocate for widows at the United Nations General Assembly, United Nations Security Council, United Nations Human Rights Council, US Congress, the UK House of Commons and the UK House of Lords.

For more information on the Global Fund for Widows and to get involved, please visit www.globalfundforwidows.org or contact info@globalfundforwidows.org.

Media Contact: Dr. Nagesh Borse, Executive Director

Nagesh.Borse@GlobalFundForWidows.Org or 202-8021290

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