KABUL - Sima, a widow for more than a year, is learning to sew at a centre in Kabul in hopes of making enough money to pay her rent and buy pencils and books for her four children. “Widows are very poor,” she told UNAMA. “We don’t have anything.”

Due to the extended conflict, of the approximately 245 million widows worldwide, at least 700,000 are in Afghanistan. Nearly half of all children in Kabul have lost a parent, according to the United Nations Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict.

In many countries, including Afghanistan, a woman’s social status is inextricably linked to her husband’s, so when her husband dies, a woman no longer has a place in society.

To give special recognition to the situation of widows of all ages and across regions and cultures, the UN General Assembly declared 23 June 2011 as the first-ever International Widows’ Day.

“In addition to coping with grief, they [widows] may find themselves for the first time since marriage without any social safety net,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a message marking the occasion.

“Far too often, widows lack access to inheritance, land tenure, employment and even the means to survive.”

In Afghanistan, harmful traditional practices curtail women’s rights after their husbands die. Widows are considered property of their in-laws and risk losing their children and inheritance if they do not remarry within the family.

“When my husband died, my in-laws forced me to leave the house, which was actually in my mahr (dowry). Since I was an illiterate woman, I didn’t know I had legal rights,” said Amida, a mother of six whose husband was killed in a suicide attack.

Amida’s neighbours and a civil society organization encouraged her to seek legal aid and go to Family Court. Read more about Amida’s case in the UNAMA Human Rights’ report, Harmful Traditional Practices and Implementation of the Law on Elimination of Violence against Women.

Abuse of widows and their children constitutes one of the most serious violations of human rights and obstacles to development today. Millions of the world’s widows endure extreme poverty, ostracism, violence, homelessness, ill health and discrimination in law and custom.

According to UN Women, widows are often neglected by laws and development strategies making “the situation of widows, in effect, invisible.”

“Rights of Widows to dignity and protection should be respected and promoted. Widows should be provided with opportunities for the full development of their potential and have access and right to participate fully in cultural, spiritual and recreational events of society as a respectful citizen,” said Sayed Sadiq A.J.,  Deputy Country Director and Officer-In-Charge of UN Women Afghanistan.

The Executive Director of UN Women, Michelle Bachelet, along with the Secretary-General’s wife, Ban Soon Taek, First Lady of the Gabonese Republic Sylvia Bongo Ondimba and other high-profile women will take part in a special conference on widows later today at the UN Headquarters in New York to raise awareness about the special needs of widows and help respond to them.

Back in Kabul, Habiba, a widow with seven children, has joined the sewing class.

“My husband was a retired worker in the airport. He was coming back from the city when he got caught in an explosion and died immediately,” Habiba said.

Unlike some women in her situation, her husband’s brother took them in. Two of her children study, the rest work in the market.

“After I learn sewing here, I will try to find a good job for myself because I have children to feed and I cannot stay at home.

By UNAMA Kabul