More than 20,000 widows in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, Malawi, Guatemala and Chile have so far benefited from The Loomba Foundation’s empowerment programs / Courtesy photo

Empowering widows to rebuild their lives with dignity and independence is a central pillar of our painstaking efforts — The Loomba Foundation’s mission. Across many countries, widows face deep-rooted discrimination, limited employment opportunities and acute economic vulnerability. Without viable livelihoods, many are pushed into exploitation, child labor or unsafe work. Our empowerment programs exist to break this cycle by providing widows with the skills, tools and support they need to thrive.

I was only 11 years old when my father, Jagiri Lal Loomba, died of tuberculosis, leaving my mother, Shrimati Pushpa Wati Loomba, widowed with seven children. My mother became a widow at the early age of 37. It was in 1954. A father is, in himself, a universe; and with his passing, the universe for all of us came to an end. I saw the grief, loneliness, suffering and discrimination that my mother faced as a widow. I witnessed the harsh social stigma and discrimination imposed upon widows in traditional society.

Despite the immense challenges my mother faced, she ensured that all her children received a good education. Her strength and resilience inspired me to a lifelong determination to ensure that widows are treated with dignity and given opportunities for economic independence and social inclusion.

After achieving success in my business in the United Kingdom, I dedicated much of my life to philanthropy and social justice. Forty-three years later, in 1997, I founded The Loomba Foundation, with the mission of supporting widows and educating their children in memory of my late mother, who was my inspiration.

In 1999, the then Hon. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee inaugurated The Loomba Foundation and launched our first project to educate 100 children of poor widows in India. To date, we have educated more than 10,000 children of poor widows in all 30 states of India. Each beneficiary was given a monthly scholarship of 500 rupees for a period of five years. This amount included school uniforms, lunches, health care and a sustenance allowance for the mother.

In 1999, the then Hon. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee inaugurated The Loomba Foundation and launched our first project to educate 100 children of poor widows in India. T / Courtesy photo

Over the years, the Foundation has developed pioneering programs focused on education, empowerment and advocacy. More than 10,000 children of poor widows have received educational scholarships, helping to break cycles of poverty and social exclusion. The Foundation has also empowered more than 24,000 widows through vocational training programs in different sectors, including tailoring, food processing, health care, tourism and hospitality, and computer education.

These initiatives have enabled widows to become financially independent and rebuild their lives with dignity. I believe that widowhood should never condemn a woman to poverty, isolation or humiliation.

The Foundation’s work has extended globally beyond India, with activities in Africa, South Asia, Europe, and North and South America. In recognition of its global impact, The Loomba Foundation was granted special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

Widows are treated badly in South Asia, Africa and other parts of the world. In some cases, they have to deal with murder, rape, prostitution, forced marriage, property theft, eviction and social isolation. There are an estimated 285 million widows worldwide, and of these, 100 million live in poverty and 81 million have been abused physically, psychologically and even sexually.

Perhaps our most historic achievement has been the establishment of International Widows Day. The campaign began in 2005 when I formally launched International Widows Day at the House of Lords in London. The aim was simple but ambitious: to bring global attention to the plight of widows and mobilize governments, international organizations and civil society to act.

That followed a tireless five-year international campaign. I traveled extensively, organized conferences, engaged political leaders and built support among diplomats, humanitarian organizations and world figures. International events were held across several countries to raise awareness of what I described as the “invisible suffering” of widows.

The campaign gathered support from influential global personalities, including former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Cherie Blair, Hillary Clinton, Yoko Ono and leaders from several nations.

The breakthrough came on Dec. 22, 2010, when the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted June 23 as United Nations International Widows Day. The first official U.N.-recognized observance took place on June 23, 2011, at U.N. Headquarters in New York. This landmark achievement ensured that widows’ rights and welfare would no longer remain invisible on the global agenda. Today, International Widows Day is observed annually around the world, highlighting the social, economic and human rights challenges faced by widows and their dependents.

As a member of the House of Lords and a globally respected humanitarian, I have continued to champion widows’ rights at every opportunity. I have repeatedly spoken about the need for governments to address discrimination, inheritance injustice, lack of access to education and economic marginalization affecting widows worldwide.

 

Over the years, the Foundation has developed pioneering programs focused on education, empowerment and advocacy / Courtesy photo

My advocacy has helped redefine widowhood not simply as a social issue, but as a major human rights and development concern. Through research publications, international conferences and grassroots programs, I have consistently argued that empowering widows is essential for achieving gender equality and reducing poverty.

More than 20,000 widows in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, Malawi, Guatemala and Chile have so far benefited from The Loomba Foundation’s empowerment programs, breaking the cycle of deprivation and transforming their prospects.

In India, The Loomba Foundation, in partnership with the U.S.-India Friendship Alliance, a charitable arm of the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum, started a Prosperity for Widows Project to empower 5,000 marginalized widows in the state of Uttar Pradesh on Jan. 1, 2023.

The first official U.N.-recognized observance took place on June 23, 2011, at U.N. Headquarters in New York. / Courtesy photo

We are honored and privileged that our Varanasi project to empower 5,000 widows was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi 10 years ago, in 2016. That project not only helped the widows, but it also supported 50,000 of their children and family members.

Each widow received training in tailoring for two months. Once the training was completed, the Foundation gave each beneficiary a sewing machine so that they could start their own business or work in a factory to earn money, become self-reliant and be able to educate their children and support their family members.

The widows come to Varanasi to spend the rest of their lives after being ostracized by their families and society. According to the 2011 census, more than 90,000 widows live in Varanasi.

Modi, who represents Varanasi in the Lok Sabha, said: “I met Lord Loomba about a year ago in Delhi and he mentioned that his foundation would like to support 5,000 widows in Varanasi. I met him again at the House of Lords during my visit to London in November last year. He told me that the Varanasi project had started and it was progressing as planned. Both Lord Loomba and his wife are dedicated to helping widows in India. I am pleased to launch their project here today. I commend their work and feel happy that both of them are present at this event here today.”

I also presented the World Widows Report to him; it was the most authoritative and comprehensive country-by-country data source on the plight of widows. The report revealed that the number of widows in the world had gone up by 9% since 2010. There are more than 258 million widows and their 585 million children worldwide. Later, I appealed to the prime minister that “since there are more than 46 million widows and more than 100 million children in India who need support from all of us as individuals, policymakers and corporations alike, the government should establish a National Commission for Widows to help them.”

Unless the government comes forward to help widows, India will never be able to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals that were adopted by all governments, including India, at the 69th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York in September 2015.

The writer is a distinguished nonresident philanthropist, recipient of the United Nations Association of New York’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the Forbes India Philanthropy Award, the Asian of the Year Award, and an honorary fellowship from the University of Northampton.

(The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of New India Abroad.)

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