Established 3 decades ago, in 1993 with the vision to be a “leading women’s rights organization in Ghana, working with others to see a Ghana that promotes, upholds, and protects the rights and dignity of Widows and Orphans, ensuring socio-cultural and economic justice for all,” The movement is delighted to record remarkable improvement in the lives of Widows and orphans in the Upper East Region.
At a recently held event to mark International Widows Day, Widows and Orphans Movement, a not-for-profit organization based in the Upper East Region has observed that there is remarkable improvement in the lives of many widows and orphans in the region and Ghana due to decades of advocacy.
The day was marked with a regional event held in partnership with the Network for Women’s Rights ( Netright) and Plan International, for women groups from Garu, Bawku West, Bolga East, Bongo, and Kassena West Districts as well as those from Builsa North, Kassena and Bolgatanga Municipalities to assess the performance of the various groups and how they can take advantage of services being rendered by state agencies.
The engagement afforded the widows the opportunity to share their experiences and challenges in their respective communities.
The United Nations observes 23 June as International Widows Day since 2010, to draw attention to the voices and experiences of widows and to galvanize support for them as a vulnerable population of society. In many countries with traditional societies, women find themselves left in poverty when their husbands die. In some parts of Ghana and the Upper East Region, some of these women find themselves denied inheritance and land rights, and evicted from their homes.
The day, therefore, seeks to encourage action in achieving full rights for widows.
Speaking to the Media, the Executive Director of the Widows and Orphans Movement, Fatima Abigail Abdulai, said the years of advocacy are seeing some significant improvement. According to her, many widows are no longer being put through dehumanizing rites to usher them into widowhood partly because women are now able to stand their ground against various forms of abuse.
She added that despite the gains made, there is room for improvement, especially in the area of access to land by women and widows. She is therefore hoping that various stakeholders especially chiefs will work to improve the situation.
“The stories of widows have come a long way. We know that globally, widows go through a lot of abuse. Usually after losing their husbands, they are accused as witches, we know that for some of them, their children do not have access to education. But because of the work we have been doing in partnership with other organizations, we have managed to raise awareness on the rights of these women and we know that we have chalked some successes. For instance, we know that these days, most of these women are no longer stripped completely naked when it comes to widowhood rites. We know that most of these women know that they can go to DUVSSU to report any form of abuse. So, we have made progress but some of these issues are also taking new dimensions which we are equally working to tackle.”
The theme for this year’s celebration is “Innovation and Technology for gender equality.”
