REPORTS
International Conference on Widowhood - "Widows' Voices Empowered"
Date: 2010-07-09
Women for Human Rights, single women group (WHR) organized the International Conference on Widowhood- "Widows' Voices Empowered" on 24th and 25th June, 2010 at Hotel Park Village, Budhanilkantha, Kathmandu, Nepal.
The major objective of the conference was to establish an international voice on the status of widows in order to effectively strategize on the equality of widows.
The conference started with the peace rally and formally inaugurated by the chief guest Minister Sarwadev Prasad Ojha, Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare. The book "Journey towards Empowerment and The Status of Single Women in Nepal" published by WHR was also formally launched during the conference. Over 200 participants comprised of representatives from 13 countries, Nepal Government officials, International Organization leaders and representatives from 68 districts of Nepal came together for the two day conference. The countries representing in the conference were Afganisthan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Germany, India, Italy, Nepal, Pakistan, Scotland, Sri Lanka, United States of America and United Kingdom. Each representative country reported on the status of widows in their state.
There was a plenary session with presentation by Lily Thapa, Founder President, WHR; Margaret Owen, Director, WPD and Dr. Mohini Giri, Founder, Guild of Service who are the pacesetters of the single women's movement. The women addressed the foundation of the single women's movement as well as its future and focused on the greatest issues facing the movement today.
The participants also had group discussions which focused on the following topics:
- Role of Widows in Peace Building and Conflict Management
- Ways to Mobilize Resources for Widows Focusing on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
- Mobilizing Single Women for Reducing Gender Based Violence
- Significance of Human Rights for the Protection of Widows' Rights
The international and distinguished delegates of the conference met Rt. Honourable President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav, the first president of Nepal. The meeting marked an important step by the government recognizing and showing support for the single women's movement.
One of the major highlights of the conference was the presentation of the Kathmandu Declaration (Please click here to download "The Kathmandu Widows Declaration"). The declaration will be used to raise greater awareness of single women's issues at the government level in order to address the needs of and provide support to widows. The declaration demands:
- the elimination of all discrimination against widows, in family, community and public life;
- the acknowledgement and adequate support for their social and economic roles;
- the right for all widows to access justice to empower them to remedy the wrongs they have experienced and
- the criminalization of all actions that deny widows' their fundamental rights
With the enthusiastic support of the conference's participants, the declaration was approved and is ready to bring single women's rights into both the national and international political arena.
Together, the participants discussed the issues facing single women today, debated solutions to the problems and finalized the Kathmandu Declaration. Hence, the International Conference is the symbolic step on the journey to equalizing the rights of single women around the world.
