WRI Newsletter 8th Edition September 2006
Editorial
"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places--close to home--so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Such are the places where every man, woman and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, and equal dignity, without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere." Eleanor Roosevelt, Chair United Nations Commission on Human Rights
The astonishing and heartrending testimonies from widows in countries where we have close partnerships with locally-based organizations continue to reach us on a regular basis. We share some of these testimonies by printing them on our website and in this newsletter but there are many documenting the truly dreadful practices which demean widows and their children and deny them their basic human rights.
These heartrending pleas for help strengthen our resolve to continue our work with partners in countries such as India, Nigeria and Uganda. To do this we need to make WRI a viable organization, well-funded and well administered. This autumn we intend to make every effort to garner support from a range of funders so that we can deliver a well managed programme combining strategic interventions and national and international levels as well as the fullest possible support for local initiatives.
WRI is now in the process of looking into all the aspects of our work which will enable us to grow, to reach out for support from the international women’s community and to build public support. If we are successful, we will be in a position to build up our administrative, fundraising and advocacy capabilities. We will also be able to give more support to our partners and especially to those widows and their children who have turned to us for help.
The Trustees of WRI are confident that we will succeed in these endeavors and that we are taking the necessary steps now that will secure our future.
Patsy Robertson, Chair
International Widows Day June 23rd in London
Two of our partners made presentations on their work at a conference organised by the Loomba Trust.
Transforming communities and changing widows’ lives in Uganda
Jane Opolot (Hope for Widows Project)
Case Studies from Nigeria
Eleanor Nwadinobi (WiDO)
NEWS FROM AFRICA
WRATH_AFRICA, Widows in Resistance and Against Threats and Harassment in Africa 
Treatment given to Widows in Nigeria
This account was emailed to us by a young woman now living in London.
African Countries Discuss Protecting Women's Property Rights
NEWS FROM ASIA
ACT TOGETHER: Women's Action For Iraq
Widows - India – Vrindavan: Wedded to enterprise
Suicide Only Option for Majority of Afghan Widows
Other News
Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures Scholars
EWIC is an interdisciplinary, cross-cultural, transhistorical encyclopedia, focusing on women and Islamic cultures. Led by a distinguished team of editors (Suad Joseph, General Editor; Afsaneh
Najmabadi, Julie Peteet, Seteney Shami, Jacqueline Siapno, and Jane Smith Associate Editors; and Alice Horner, Assistant Editor) EWIC is the first such encyclopedia. Six volumes (4,000,000 words) of EWIC are scheduled to be published (Leiden: Brill). Volume I (Methodologies, Paradigms and Sources) was published in 2003 and Volume II (Family, Law and Politics) was published in 2005. Volume III (Family, Body, Sexuality and Health) will appear at the beginning of 2006. Volumes IV (Economics, Education, Mobility, and Space) will appear in 2006 and, V (Practices, Interpretations, and Representations) and VI (Supplement and Index) will appear in 2007.
We have received a grant from the International Development Research Center to build upon our existing database and create the Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures (EWIC) Scholars Database for publication as an online resource for free public access. The EWIC Scholars Database is an invaluable listing (we believe the largest) of over 3,000 scholars from all over the world and from all disciplines whose work focuses on women, gender, and Islamic cultures from a broad culturally-based rather than theologically-based perspective. The EWIC Scholars Database includes scholars who work on issues of economy, politics, popular culture, health, family systems, law, demography, arts, literature – the full span of issues relevant to women in cultures in which Islam is significantly represented. The EWIC Scholars Database welcomes the participation of scholars and graduate students from all disciplines, and from all regions of the world, and all areas of research relevant to women in Muslim majority societies
and to Muslim women in Muslim minority societies.
As a free publication, this searchable database will connect scholars, students, planners, and activists with each other and with NGO’s, governmental agencies, and potential employers seeking researchers whose work specifically covers issues on women and gender related to Islamic cultures. The online database will be published online by June 2006, at http://sjoseph.ucdavis.edu/ewic.
EWIC Online database
Widows Without rights: challenging marginalisation and dispossession
This article describes some of the abusive practices to which widows are subject, and discusses some of the possible reasons for these practices. It describes steps being undertaken at the local level in many countries to challenge abuse of widows, and change cultural perceptions of widowhood. The aim is that widowhood may have as little social or economic impact on widows as it does on widowers. The article also briefly discusses the lack of specific concern and recognition of the abuse of widows in the international human rights instruments, and recommends support for campaigns to remedy this. Kate Young ex-Chair of Widows Rights International Gender and Development, Vol.14:2 July 2006
From WRI Newsletter 8 - Full copies of the Newsletter available from WRI office or download PDF