And the War Came to Us
Alyona Zalizko, Natalia Yevpak and Svetlana Khodorovska
Widows of fallen soldiers from Zhytomyr in Ukraine tell their stories.
- Trigger Warning -
Contains scenes of violence which some viewers may find disturbing.
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According to official data from the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine,
In the years 2014-2019 in eastern Ukraine about 5,000 Ukrainian soldiers died,
8,500 were injured
1,600 are considered missing.
Made by 'Dobra Wola' Foundation and the HAF film agency
Margaret Owen, Widows for Peace through Democracy
From March 2018
Margaret Owen speaks as part of the NGO CSW/NY - Media Zone: Voices of Rural Women at the 62nd Commission on the Status of Women Forum (CSW 62).
Carrie Pemberton Ford interviews Margaret Owen, founder of Widows for Peace through Democracy
Margaret Owen talks to Revd Dr Carrie Pemberton Ford, founder of One Boat Chaplaincy (International Chaplaincy for Covid Times).
Margaret talks about her dedication to widows' rights, her motivation, the immense challenges faced by widows of all ages - and the impact of Covid-19 on widows and the prevalence of widowhood.
One Boat Chaplaincy:
https://www.oneboatchaplaincy.org/
https://www.facebook.com/oneboatchaplaincy/
Widows for Peace through Democracy:
https://www.widowsforpeace.org/
https://www.facebook.com/WidowsforPeace/
https://twitter.com/widows4peace
Widows Speak Out - Ground-breaking report launched at #CSW65
At the #CSW65 virtual forum, Alice Lees introduces a ground-breaking report by Widows for Peace through Democracy (WDP):
‘WIDOWS SPEAK OUT: Abuse and Discrimination, Resilience and Agency: A dossier of evidence on widow discrimination and abuse' .
WDP were honoured to be joined at their CSW65 event by distinguished speakers from the United Nations as well as the authors of and contributors to our Dossier – joining live on the Zoom platform from Iraq, Kashmir, Kenya, Nepal, New York and the UK, along with a registered worldwide audience of over eighty and co-hosting by Susan O’Malley, WPD representative at the United Nations.
Read the full dossier (and download PDF) here:
https://www.widowsforpeace.org/widows-speak-out-cedaw-2020/
More about the WDP CSW65 event:
https://www.widowsforpeace.org/widows-speak-out/
More about Widows for Peace through Democracy:
https://www.widowsforpeace.org/
Roseline Orwa, founder of The Rona Foundation, speaks at WPD #CSW65 forum
Roseline Orwa, founder of The Rona Foundation, speaks at #CSW65 online event hosted by Widows for Peace through Democracy (WDP).
Roseline talks passionately and from personal experience about the many challenges faced by widows in Kenya, including discrimination and abuse.
Roseline is a contributor to the ground-breaking WDP report on widows' rights, which was launched at the event.
𝐅𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨:
https://www.ronafoundation.co.ke/
https://www.facebook.com/RonaFoundation/
Rona Foundation on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkizX5eSl4q8ty7g37MBBKA
Widows for Peace through Democracy website:
https://www.widowsforpeace.org/
WDP report ~ WIDOWS SPEAK OUT: Abuse and Discrimination, Resilience and Agency:
https://www.widowsforpeace.org/widows-speak-out-cedaw-2020/
Margaret Owen, founder of Widows for Peace through Democracy (WPD), speaks at CSW65 virtual forum.
𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐎𝐰𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐬 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐬' 𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐬:
"It’s an absolute scandal that in the latest draft of the CSW agreed conclusions there is no mention of widows…
"It looks as thought the very CSW itself is discriminating against widows! How could it be that they are not there in any of the paragraphs about violence to women, about marginalised and vulnerable women, about women in the context of women in peace and security.
What do all these conflicts do? Conflicts that are decided by men in power. They kill the men and boys. They divide the men and boys from the women and girls. They bereave the women. They rape the women. They put the women into sexual slavery…
"It’s extraordinary. I’ve just been talking to our ambassador. We really cannot allow this silence to go on. And I’m asking again and again. And remember - you can see how old I am – I’ve been working on this issue since 1995, at the Beijing Conference when I hosted the very first international workshop on widows.
But now, thanks to our friends in Kashmir, in Columbia, among the Rohingya, we’re now talking about not just the widows. But those huge numbers of half widows, who have no idea whether they are widows or not, whether their husbands are in mass graves or are they being tortured in police stations.
And also we’ve got to dispel the myth that widows are mainly elderly women. Because they are of all ages, including children. Many child widows. And what is extraordinary is the refusal to actually recognise that widowhood – the poverty, marginalisation, demonisation that they suffer is a key driver in taking girls out of school into early forced child marriage, often preceded by FGM.
"But that whole story about the education of girls... why is there no recognition, looking at the causes of why so many girls are out of school? And boys out of school, because their mothers can’t keep any children in school? They are also vulnerable to recruitment into – what? Boy soldiery? Crime? Trafficking?
Many of the unaccompanied child migrants, mostly boys, are left because their mothers are widows and they hope that by migrating and finding education and a job somewhere they will be able to support their widowed mothers.
"And now we have Covid-19 – and even in the draft conclusions for the Commission on the Status of Women, the whole bit about Covid-19, complete silence that the virus is killing more men than women, creating even more widows.... And in that lockdown situation that these widows are suffering from, there is even more abuse and violence that even the few avenues women have had to somehow put food on the table, to begging, agricultural labour, domestic service – all of that has gone…
“This [recent WDP] dossier surely is the evidence that we all need to ensure that we get the general recommendations from CEDAW and that the security council now recognises that they’ve got to address widowhood issues in their framework for women, peace and security. I mean, in spite of [Security Council Resolution] 1325, where do we ever see widows at the peace tables?
But one exception and I’m terribly sad that we’ve not been able to have here among you all the wonderful, indefatigable, creative Lily Thapa – the founder of the Single Women’s Group of Nepal. Because that was where they did get women at the peace table when that war ended… And when they got women into decision making. After that war, they got 41 women into parliament and 11 of them were widows.
“So we want widows not to be seen all the time exclusively as victims but – no – we want to have recognised their key social and economic role. Not just as parents but as people who are working in all sorts of ways to put food on the table and struggling to have their voices heard.
“Well done Rosaline of Rona Foundation, because you have done enormously well to take that blanket of invisibility and secrecy off the extraordinary violence that widows, particularly in Africa and south Asia, experience under traditional mourning and burial rights. You have been so brave Rosaline, I admire you so much, because you’re a role model for everyone to stop allowing this silence. We’ve got to break the silence.
“In all these ways, we need to do much more now to support, in every country… that widows get together. They can’t depend very often on national women’s organisations who’ve got enough issues to deal with. They’ve got to have their own organisations. And we’ve got to share the best practices that are found by people like the Rona Foundation in Kenya and what’s happening in Nepal. Because all over the world there are widows who can learn and share their best practice...
"This is the third day of the 65th session of the Commission on the UN Status of Women and widows are not in that draft conclusion, so I ask all of you to push, wherever you are, with your governments that widows are in there, and that all data is disaggregated for marital status.
"Thank you all of you. Thank you."