WUNRN
56thCommission
on the Status of Women
ParallelEvent
on Rural Widowhood
Wednesday,February 29th, 2012;
Boss Room,
Church Centre, 2.30 pm – 4.00pm
RECOMMENDATIONS FROM
RURAL WIDOWS EVENT
To: UN, International Community, Governments, and CEDAW
· Appoint a Special
Representative on Widowhood (in Conflict Zones)
· Commission a
Special Report on Widowhood in Developing/Conflict afflicted countries
· UN Women should
establish a special section to address widowhood issues in context of human
rights/VAW/poverty reduction/conflict resolution and peace building
· Adopt a UN
Resolution on Widowhood
· Acknowledge rural
widows as sub-sect of women experiencing special forms of abuse that require specific responses and remedies
· Support widows'
groups through resources for their empowerment, and fill gap in data
· Acknowledge that
abuse of rural widows of all ages is one of root causes of poverty, hunger,
homelessness and GBV
· Address the impact
of rural widowhood on the girl child
· Address
widow-abuse as a major issue in combating GBV
To: Governments and UN WOMEN
· Mainstream
widowhood issues in all gender/equality/Human Rights policies and laws
· Ensure
implementation of International and modern laws to eliminate discrimination
against widows take precedence over discriminatory customs and traditions
· Criminalise
discriminatory and abusive practices perpetrated against widows
· Provide for all
land registrations to be in wives’ names as well as husbands’
· Prohibit “land
grabbing” by multinationals and industry, or “gifts” of land to political
allies, where such land could be available to women heads of households.
· Support widows’ to
“band together” to form their own
associations so as to have:
o a collective voice to articulate needs and
describe roles
o fill
gap in data through “mapping and profiling” themselves
o access
literacy, education, training, services, justice
o be
represented in appropriate decision-making committees
o be
consulted, and contribute to strategies to implement
To: CEDAW; BPFA; UN SCR 1325; MDGs
· Criminalise
actions that deprive widows of their inheritance, property, and land rights:
such as “chasing-off” and "property-grabbing"
· Criminalise
coercion of HTPs including harmful and degrading mourning and burial rites
·
Develop
special “land allocation” schemes,
and registration of title to ensure
rural widows can own and cultivate land for food security
· Develop extension
services and income-generating strategies that will enable rural widows to
remain in their villages
· Devise systems to
ensure widows enjoy pensions, social security and micro- credit
· Identify economic
and sexual exploitation of widows and their daughters in rural areas and as
migrants to urban centers
· Protect widows
from physical, sexual, and psychological violence.
· Address the
specific needs for resettlement and rehabilitation of conflict widows in IDP
and refugee camps
·
Use all
means to remove stereotyping and stigma of widowhood