Widows
without Rights Conference
London
- 6-7 February, 2001
Fighting
Back Against
Prejudice and Discrimination
Preface
and acknowledgements: Kate Young, Chair, WRI
Since
EWD was launched in 1996 it has been slowly building up its
contacts with widows groups and concerned lawyers in Africa
and Asia. Margaret Owen, the founder of EWD, has been indefatigable
in her advocacy of the plight of widows. Last year the Trustees
of EWD decided that it was time to undertake a relatively
high profile activity in London to raise awareness amongst
international development agencies, the UK Government - and
through it the European Union - and the media, of the discrimination
and deprivations - both new and old - that widows suffer.
We
decided to organise a conference, and were extremely fortunate
to have three generous donors who saw the relevance of the
topic to the current debates on women's rights and human
rights. The Swedish International Development Agency, the
UK Department for International Development and the Oak
Foundation made it possible for us to invite 20 participants
from the groups we informally call EWD Partners to join
us in London for a week.
The aims of the Conference were:
-
to
alert the international community to the abrogation of widows'
human rights in the context of the world-wide struggle for
poverty reduction and sustainable development
-
to
demonstrate the need to design and implement policies which
are specifically formulated to support widows and their
children, and to make use of widows' rich experience and
knowledge in policy formulation; and
-
to
strengthen the capacity and effectiveness of widows' groups
in developing countries.
As
you will see from the report of the conference - Widows Without
Rights - these aims were richly met. Participants from India,
Sri Lanka, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania,
Zambia, Sweden, the United States, and the UK were able to
share experiences of widowhood and of combating ignorance,
illegality, abrogation of human rights; of the transformation
of widows from fearful, illiterate and subjugated beings into
fearless fighters for the rights of women and children. Participants
together crafted a Declaration which each will take back to
her government, and which has also been sent to the UN Secretary
General, Angela King, his Special Adviser on Gender Issues
and Advancement of Women, Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director
of UNIFEM and many others.
Organising
a conference is always a collective endeavour and this conference
was not different. Without the help of so many people it could
not have occurred, far less be the successful event that it
was.
I should therefore like to thank everyone who participated
and collaborated, in particular the Women's National Commission
for their help in reproducing materials; Baroness Crawley
and Baroness Greengross who organised a greatly enjoyed reception
at the House of Lords for the participants; Southall Black
Sisters, Akina Mama Wa Afrika and Newham Action Against Domestic
Violence who took time out of their busy schedules to meet
with participants and exchange information about their respective
commitments to women's equality and social justice; Jeremy
Hamand, Lucy Chandler, June Plyman, Fabienne Warrington and
Genevieve Painter for their excellent work as rapporteurs
and Jeremy Hamand for his excellent work in producing this
report; and to Karen Garvin for her professionalism, patience
and humour in making the travel arrangements for the participants
and coping with the fine details of conference organisation.
And of course to Birgitte Sevefjord of SIDA, Phil Evans of
DFID and the Trustees of the Oak Foundation whose confidence
in EWD and commitment to the cause of widows was translated
into the hard cash without which the conference could not
have taken place.
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