UN sets June 23 as International Widows Day

22.12.2010 [18:33]
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Baku, December 22 (AZERTAC). The U.N. General Assembly has designated June 23 International Widows Day to spotlight the plight of some 245 million women around the world who have lost their husbands.

In a resolution approved Tuesday, the Assembly calls on member states, international organizations and civil society to observe the day annually starting in 2011 to raise awareness of the difficulties faced by widows and their children.

The resolution, approved by the 192 representatives of the Third Committee of the General Assembly, was a passionate personal initiative of Sylvia Bongo Ondimba, the First Lady of Gabon. In a statement she said that widows are everywhere but in many countries “they are nowhere to be seen or heard.”

This rare designation of an international day of recognition by the UN follows independent verification of shocking levels of violence and deprivation faced by hundreds and millions of widows around the world.

The resolution was sponsored by Gabon following the publication of a report by the Loomba Foundation which found that almost 60 million widows live in extreme poverty. UK-based Loomba Foundation had been campaigning for it at the UN for the past several years.

UN sets June 23 as International Widows Day

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