Global study on condition of widows released

A global study on the condition of widows conducted by a United Nations accredited non-governmental organisation, has been presented to President Pratibha Patil.

A global study on the condition of widows conducted by a United Nations accredited non-governmental organisation, has been presented to President Pratibha Patil.

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The study Invisible, Forgotten Sufferers :The Plight of Widows Around the World, has been conducted by a UK based NGO, Loomba Foundation. “We decided to commission a study, since no authentic data on the plight of widows was available across the globe,” the NGO founder and chairman, Raj Loomba said.

It has already been presented to the U.N Secretary General Ban Ki Moon.

The study highlights human rights violations suffered by widows across the world. According to the study, around 245 million women across the globe are widows. The number in India is 42.4 million.

Nearly half of the widows are spending their lives in poverty, the study stated.

The Loomba Foundation was established in the UK on 26 June 1997, in the presence of then British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife, Cherie Blair, who is now the President of the Foundation.

The NGO website says it has received the support of the Indian governments. Former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee inaugurated the Foundation in Delhi on 31 March, 1999.