Cherie Blair to take plight of India's widows to UN
Designating September 7, 2005 as Int'l Widows Day in India, she planned to seek official recognition of the day by UN.
Designating September 7, 2005 as the International Widows' Day in India, Cherie Booth QC, also the first lady of the UK, pledged to take the cause of the neglected widows to the United Nations (UN). She plans to seek official recognition of the day by UN, dedicated to the welfare and uplift of widows and their children worldwide.
Rs 4.1 lakhs was raised for the neglected widows in India only fifteen minutes into the ceremony, organised by the Loomba Trust, in New Delhi. Booth, president of the Trust, stressed the need to fight the stigma associated with widowhood. "Around the world widowhood is related to issues such as poverty, HIV/AIDS, marginalisation, prostitution and human trafficking. By lending a helping hand to the cause, we will be fighting against all these ills," she said.
"Armed conflict, ethnic cleansing, HIV/AIDs or child marriage - many factors have contributed to the increasing number of widows worldwide. I appeal to all who care about justice to work with us, speak up and make the United Nations take note of the issue," she added.
Lord Navnit Dholakia, President of UK's Liberal Democratic Party and also a trustee in the UK said: "It is generally assumed that widowhood is a problematic issue only in India or developing countries. But my experience has shown me that even in rich societies, widows face big problems as single parents. There is no substitute for a family support and bringing up a child as a single parent brings its own share of problems.
"True the problems may be different according to the developing and developed societies, but there are shared problems as well which we seek to address. Taking it to the United Nations will mean securing their support for our various activities meant for the uplift of the widows," he added.
Widows in many developing countries face real hardship and bring up their children in poverty. There are an estimated 33 million widows in India alone, and despite legislation that protects their rights, many of these women are frequently over-ridden by local customs and traditions and become destitute.
The Loomba Trust, established in the UK in 1997 by prominent Indian industrialist Raj Loomba and his wife, Veena Loomba, runs a scheme in 15 states of India covering 2200 children who are given a monthly sum of Rs 500/- for five years.
As Lord Dholakia pointed out, a school child does not necessarily need that much money and it is basically putting the money in the hands of the mother - empowering the family via the child.
Bollywood actor Poonam Dhillon was also present to lend her support to the cause. The Trust is looking to start a vocational programme for slum children in Mumbai with her support. Dhillon, who has been working to provide a better living condition to Mumbai's street children, said"
"While it is important to educate the child, it is also essential to provide him a vocational training. With the education over and no job at hand, these young minds very often turn to a life of crime to sustain themselves."
She has urged Raj Loomba to look at a vocational training programme for these children to enable them to earn a livelihood by fair means.
Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic Airways is also raising funds for the Loomba Trust. The appeal started on September 1 and will run for 3 months on Virgin Atlantic Flights worldwide.
