By Zipporah Adenike Oladejo,
Director and Founder of Widows Rejoice Mission – Widows for Peace Network member in Lagos, Nigeria.
Adapted from presentation to Widows Rights International for Geneva Peace Week 2025.

The Consequences of War

War gives rise to war widows. These are women whose spouses died as a direct result of war during military action.

There is an urgent need for us to focus our attention on the role of war widows in building sustainable peace.

Understanding the consequences of war especially with regards to widowhood is very crucial for building and promoting peace, conflict resolution and sustainable development.

War is a state of armed conflict between different nations, states, or groups, and it is often characterized by violence, and destruction.

War often involves the use of military forces and weapons, to achieve political, or economic objectives.

War irrespective of the types, whether Civil or international has great consequences which can be very severe.

These consequences include:

• Loss of Humans Life;
• Displacement and refugees;
• Destruction of infrastructure and environment;
• Economic devastation;
• Psychological trauma and long-term health effects.

The Journey and Challenges of Widowhood

Above all is the total restructuring of women’s life into the journey of widowhood.

War widows face many challenges and these challenges include:

• Emotional trauma: as a result of grief, and trauma related to their partner’s death;
• Economic hardship: Many war widows experience loss of income, and financial instability;
• Social isolation and stigma intensify all the other challenges, due to their status now as war widows.

War Widows are Crucial to Peace, Reconciliation and Healing

War widows can play a crucial role in building and promoting lasting peace in our world.

The world can’t know a sustainable peace without war widows at the table of decision making!

War widows have a unique experience to bring to the tables and contribute to building the lasting peace that the world requires.

These unique experiences are very vital in many diverse ways in achieving sustainable peace.
The experiences can be very useful in:

• Advocacy
  War widows can advocate for policies and initiatives that promote peace and reconciliation for war affected communities and so should be involved;
• Leadership
  Many war widows can take on leadership roles in their communities, working to rebuild and promote lasting peace.
  War widows will engage with local communities, to promote tolerance, understanding, and peaceful coexistence;
• Dialogue, mediation and reconciliation
  War widows must be involved to facilitate dialogue, mediation and reconciliation efforts, that will quickly help to heal wounds and build trust;
• Emotional Support and Empowerment
  War Widows can provide emotional support and empowerment to other widows and affected individuals.

As the saying goes, “Only the wearer knows where the shoe pinches”.

War widows have been through the experiences, troubles and the difficulties associated with war. They fully understood the pain and the damage associated with war and are in a better position to caution the world against it.

To obtain lasting sustainable peace in our world today, war widows must be involved in the peace building process, creating awareness about the terrible impact of war on civilians, particularly women and children!
This will definitely promote empathy and understanding leading to a sustainable peace.

In all, war widows play a very crucial role in promoting lasting peace, reconciliation and healing in communities, and their contributions should be recognised and supported.

Widows Rejoice Misson – the Founder

Zipporah Omowunmi Adenike Oladejo is the Founder and Executive Director of Widows Rejoice Mission, Lagos, Nigeria, West Africa.
She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry (Education), from the Lagos State University. Also highly qualified in computer science, Zipporah worked in various organisations in Nigeria and outside the border of Nigeria as a System Analyst Programmer before going into humanitarian and mission work.
As well as advocating for the plights of widows of all ages, Zipporah serves as a Clergy, at The Lord’s Portion Restorers Ministry, ministering and counseling women and very vulnerable widows who are going through challenging moments.
Zipporah is the Founder and Proprietress of Zippotan School that offers tuition free education for orphans within Mowe, Ogun State, Nigeria.
Read more about Zipporah here.