Why Empowering Widows Is a Global Human Rights Imperative

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.

Rajinder Paul Loomba•Updated: Aug 24, 2026 05:35 AM• 1319 views

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

Credit: Courtesy photo

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Rajinder Paul Loomba

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The writer is a distinguished non-resident Philanthropist, recipient of the United Nations Association of New York’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the Forbes India Philanthropy Award, Asian of the Year Award, and an Honorary Fellowship by The University of Northampton. His global research study on widows led to the UN to designate June 23 as the International Widows Day.

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