WUNRN
Link to Full SANWED Workshop Report:
Declaration on Needs, Roles & Rights of Rural Widows in South Asia
Two-Day Consultative Workshop on Global Networking and Mainstreaming
Widows’ isssues
10th December, 2011
Kathmandu, Nepal
WE, the members of SANWED (South Asian
Network for Widows’ Empowerment in Development) representing widows of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India,
Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka agree and adopt the following declaration during
the two days consultative workshop on "Global Networking and Mainstreaming
Widows' Issues" on 9th- 10th December, 2011 in
Kathmandu, Nepal.
OUR goal is to
see a world in which all widows irrespective of age, ethnicity, religion or
political allegiance, enjoy their full human rights, live with dignity without
any form of discrimination;
WE ASSERT that
while widows across the region experience bereavement as a 'social death',
widows must not be seen exclusively as poor, vulnerable and needy, for they
play key roles in society, peace building and should be recognised as effective
agents of change;
WE SOLEMNLY
AFFIRM our strong solidarity and integrity; expressing our unity in pursuance
of our common goals for the empowerment of widows;
WE COMMIT to
work together to eliminate the many
forms of discrimination ,abuse and violence facing widows and wives of the
missing (half-widows) to protect their human rights; reduce their poverty and
accord them due recognition of and support for their pivotal roles in their
families, communities and societies;
WE STATE that
the goal of SANWED is to see widowhood mainstreamed in national policies and
programmes through consultation with the national federations of widows in each
member country; that gives widows a
collective voice to articulate their needs, describe their roles and be
accorded equal participation in national decision making processes;
WE RECOGNISE
that the key global frameworks for equality, development and peace such as the
CEDAW, BPFA, MDGs, UNSCRs 1325 and 1820
and National Action Plans to implement these are effective instruments
for widows' empowerment;
WE RECOGNISE
that widows' human rights, their equality and access to justice are core components of democracy, good
governance, development and peace in the region;
WE NOTE the
urgency, in this region, to address the particular plight of widows and
half-widows in conflict and post conflict situations and their potential roles
in peace building processes as set out in UNSCR 1325;
WE NOTE the
serious gaps in national data collection systems as a barrier to governments'
addressing the issues of widowhood. (SANWED chapters will map and profile
widows and their issues to inform and influence national policies and
programmes) [1][1]
WE WORK in
coordination with WPD (Widows for Peace through Democracy), UK the
international organisation for widows which is SANWED's focal point;
WE REAFFIRM the
Widows' Charter that was adopted by SANWED in 2005;
WE COMMIT to
legally register SANWED as a regional network with the SAARC Secretariat in
Kathmandu, Nepal;
WE DEMAND that,
· The UN appoints a
Special Representative for Widows.
·
The UN commissions a Report
on the situation of widows in conflict and post-conflict environments
· UN Women establishes
a special unit focusing on widows' issues, inter alia coordinating the
gathering of data, and that the South Asia Regional Office provides financial
and technical support to SANWED and its national chapters.
· The UN adopts the
Widows' Charter and that SAARC supports and facilitates its implementation and
enforcement in the region.
· Governments in the
region support the proposed UN Resolution on Widowhood[2][2].
· CEDAW agrees a
General Recommendation on Widowhood and questions all governments in the
region, in their reporting process, and on how they are addressing widowhood
issues.
· CEDAW will also
respond to SANWED reports requesting it to initiate the Enquiry process on
widowhood under Article 8 of its Optional Protocol
· South Asian
countries effectively implement Article 32 of the Colombo Declaration.
Noting that
the priority theme of the 56th session of the United Nations CSW (Commission on the Status of Women) to be
held in New York from the February 27th to the 12th March 2012 is "The
empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication,
development and current challenges"
SANWED, in
collaboration with WPD and widows' NGOs in other regions, is hosting a
Roundtable on "Rural Widows' Needs and Roles: poverty, violence,
inheritance and land rights, food security, access to services and justice and
the situation of rural widows in conflict and post conflict scenarios".
Event
Description:
Rural widows are
among the poorest of all widows, and the most neglected of all women. A panel
representing widows' NGOs from South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East will
identify particular issues of rural widowhood and demand actions to be taken by
the international community and governments to alleviate rural widows' stigma,
poverty, hunger, homelessness; vulnerability to violence, trafficking, economic
and sexual exploitation; property and land grabbing, forced migration to urban
centres; and lack of data on their
numbers, ages and situation. It will also address the plight of confict-afflicted rural widows
in IP and IDP refugee camps and women bereaved through natural disasters.
CRITICAL
ISSUES:
The lives of
rural widows are most likely to be determined by discriminatory interpretations
of customary and religious laws which deny them, in spite of modern laws on
gender equality, rights to inheritance, land, and access to resources and
services that can protect them from extreme poverty, evictions,
property-grabbing, violence, and the perpetration of harmful traditional
practices. Rural widows are least able to access justice through modern laws
that on paper give them equality and protection from abuse. Rural widows in
many developing countries are often illiterate, disproportionately
disadvantaged, and often abandoned by their dead husband's family, and deprived
of any share in any land or assets he may have left. Or, treated as mere
chattels, they become the unpaid servants working long hours in domestic or
agricultural work. Even in those countries where widows are legally entitled to
some pension, rural widows are least likely to be able to obtain such support
for obvious social cultural, administrative and geographical
reasons. In many cases begging, sex
work, withdrawing children from school and dependence on their children's
labour, giving or selling the girl child to early marriage, or prostitution,
and forced migration to the towns in the search for income are the only
possible survival strategies. However, where rural widows do remain in their
either marital or natal villages and can access land for subsistence farming,
they are often excluded from agricultural extension training, micro-credit,
micro-finance and other services that could reduce their poverty and provide
them with food security. In rural areas. women widowed in the context of HIV
and AIDS, and especially older widows are often subject to physical and
psychological abuse and can be accused of being witches. The custom of
child-marriage is more prevalent in the villages and the extreme suffering of
child widows in the rural areas must be addressed.
It is
regrettable that the CSW Issues Paper for the Panel discussion on the
"empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger
eradication, development and current challenges" held at the UN on the 24th
February, 2011, omitted to make any reference to the special situation of rural
widows when it listed specific groups of the most vulnerable rural women.