Widows and peace: The role of war-widows in striving for peace
Fri 17 Oct
|Room VII
Data on widows is incomplete, however it is widely agreed by organisations working in the field that a conservative estimate would be over 300 million widows worldwide.
Time & Location
17 Oct 2025, 10:00 – 18:00 BST
Room VII, Palais des Nations, 1202 Genève, Switzerland
About the event
Data on widows is incomplete, however it is widely agreed by organisations working in the field that a conservative estimate would be over 300 million widows worldwide. Despite the size of this demographic there is no Special Rapporteur on widows, no CEDAW General Recommendation on widows, no UN Women desk on widows and the word “widows” is seldom seen in UN documentation. In the WPS agenda with its numerous resolutions, there is little mention of widows.
Due to early and forced marriage, children can be widows: a 16year old with 2 children can be a widow. The climate emergency, COVID and conflict all increase the number of widows and female headed households. Widows face harmful traditional practices such as cleansing rites and inheritance grabbing. Due to culture, in many places widows are considered bad luck and find they have no place in society. Their children become the most vulnerable to…