[Pdf-women] Global Alliance: The Last Woman First - Invitation to Join

[Soloveni Vitoso]

Global Alliance: The Last Woman First



The only  alliance of  over 100 organizations representing members from over 20 countries working with widows who are absent in statistics, unnoticed by researchers, neglected by governments; who affected by disease, poverty and conflict are forced to support households against all economic, social, humanitarian, and cultural odds; who are truly the most vulnerable and swell the ranks of The Last Woman





Fact Sheet

·         Almost worldwide, widows comprise a significant proportion of all women, ranging from 7 per cent to 16 per cent of all adult women. However, in some countries and regions the proportion is far higher. The number of widows has grown by 9 percent since 2010, partly because of conflicts and disease.[1]

  *   There are an estimated 258,481,056 widows globally with 584,574,358 children (including adult children). One in seven widows globally is living in extreme poverty. One in three widows worldwide live in India or China

·         .

Why Widows Matter



·         Many more women than men face the likelihood of being

widowed for a significant portion of their lives.



·         Many women are widowed when they are young and remain

widowed the rest of their lives.



·         Many widows cannot depend on support from their in-laws,

parents, brothers, or even daughters.



·         Given that adult sons are traditionally the most reliable source of family support, young widows are economically and socially more vulnerable on an average than older widows.



·         There is an overlap between incidence of widowhood and aging among women and this has serious social and economic consequences. Large number of elderly and widowed women with not much access to income forms the future scenario.



·         Social isolation and avoidance of widows often leads widows to miss training, employment, healthcare, education and other information and opportunities

·         Inheritance laws by tradition and custom  discriminate against widows

·         Widowhood is a very significant a cause for inter- generational poverty, because gender bias against women in patriarchal societies places female-headed households at a greater risk of poverty.



One of the main reasons for the continuing cycle of poverty and deprivation in so many countries is the plight of widows. So it’s crucial that we acknowledge the particular problem of these women who make up such a large number of female-headed households across the world.



.The  Global Alliance of the Last Woman First:

§  A platform for sharing best practices so that they can be replicated for the benefit of the stakeholders.

§  A strong lobbying network for the strength of advocacy.’

§  Expand the outreach of advocacy with the United Nations and global forums

§  Expand the impact of the organisations by documenting and disseminating information on effective policies and programs



In 2017 the alliance was able to submit the communication:  Widowhood: A systematic Violation of Human Rights and an Economic and Social Humanitarian Crisis to the 61stsession of the Commission on the Status of Women. In 2018 the Alliance was invited by  UN Women to partner with them on the event: Leaving No One Behind for Planet 50/50 by 2030: every rural woman and girl everywhere at the 62nd CSW in New York in March 2018. In 2019 the Alliance endorsed written statement made to the CSW 63

This relentless advocacy is to ensure that widows are no longer invisible and absent from all global instruments as they are absent from the Beijing Platform for Action and the CEDAW.



The Alliance members work to

·         Alleviate economic deprivation that confronts widows

·         Erase the social stigmatization of widowhood

·         Eliminate their high risk of sexual abuse and exploitation

·         Remove the barriers to resources and economic opportunities that constrain their future,

·         Advance widows' equal rights to inheritance, property, land and other assets.



We invite you to join the global alliance to become a strong voice for the millions of last women. It is a free membership.



Do send us a mail at lastwomanfirst at gmail.com<mailto:lastwomanfirst at gmail.com>



We will send you the format for application for The Global Alliance of THE LAST WOMAN FIRST.



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[1] Loomba Foundation: World Widows Report

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