Widows for Peace – Press Release: Widows included in the UN #CSW67 Agreed Conclusions
Widows are specifically included in the Agreed Conclusions of the UN Commission on the Status of Women – for the first time, after 67 years!
We see this as a major achievement after thirty years of campaigning for the human rights of widows of all ages, by our founder Margaret Owen OBE…
“Terrific that at long last this 67th CSW recognises the specific needs and roles of rural widows in this digital age in Paragraph 83.
Of course widows merited being referenced in other sections. But marital status is there as a must in disaggregating data.
I regret widowhood is ignored in context HTPs* and conflict related texts. But we have finally a mention that gives us leverage to press for implementation”
Margaret Owen, OBE, Founder & President of Widows for Peace through Democracy (WPD).
Explainer
CSW is the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.
Each year, the CSW holds a series of meetings with stakeholders, including grassroots groups.
The ‘Agreed Conclusions’ contain a set of concrete recommendations (based on the CSW Priority and Review themes) for UN Member States, governments, intergovernmental bodies and other institutions, civil society actors and other relevant stakeholders, to be implemented at the international, national, regional and local level.
This year was the 67th year – hence CSW67. It was held from the 6th to 17th March.
Here is the ground-breaking extract of the Agreed Conclusions, in relation to widows:
“Widows
“The Commission recognises the need to ensure the economic independence and full participation of widows, including in the context of innovation and technological change and education in the digital age, by guaranteeing their access to digital technologies and promoting the control, ownership and management of their own businesses and entrepreneurships through the incorporation of financial instruments such as bonds and credit lines, mobilization of sufficient financial resources and capacity building.”
Paragraph 83. Page 17.
Click here to see the Agreed Conclusions.
(With our highlighting around the extracts that are especially relevant to widows.)
The following paragraphs of the Agreed Conclusions also represent significant milestones in relation to widows:
- Structural barriers, Page 4: Ref Paragraph 20 – reference to the vital importance of birth registration systems;
- Mainstream gender perspectives in resesarch and programmes, Page 23: Ref ii – reference to the need to record marital status;
- Data Science, Page 28: Ref ooo.((ii).split.a and jj.1.) – a second reference to the need to record marital status.
Press Release by Alice Fookes, WPD Trustee
*HTPs: Harmful Traditional Practices
Also read:
- WPD Statement on Rural Widows – #CSW67
- Invisible Widows – coming out of the shadows? #CSW66 (April 2022)
Please help us to advance the rights of widows of all ages