United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called for the inclusion of widows in the COVID-19 response plans.
Guterres is said to had made the call in a message on the occasion of this year’s International Widows Day, marked annually on June 23.
The News Agency of Nigeria’s report quoted Guterres advising governments to “include support for widows’ immediate needs in fiscal stimulus programmes, which for instance through access to cash transfers”.
“This year’s International Widows Day takes place as the number of deaths from COVID-19 continues to rise in many places, especially for men.
“This is an opportune moment to focus on an all-too-often forgotten dimension of the crisis: the lives and futures of the widows left behind.
“The death of a partner at any time can leave many women without the rights to inheritance or property.
“In times of a pandemic, these losses are often multiplied for widows and accompanied by stigma and discrimination,” the UN Chief was quoted.
The report said he highlighted the socio-economic impact of the pandemic on widows, noting that it could further compromise their ability to support themselves and their families.
Adding that the crisis was also “cutting them off from social connection at a time of profound grief”.
“And as we work to build back better from this crisis, recovery efforts must be accompanied by long-term structural changes.
“They should include ending discriminatory laws that deny women equal rights to men and ensuring the availability of social protection, so that women do not start out at a disadvantage.
“We also need quality data, broken down by age and sex, to ensure that widows are counted and supported, now and in the future.
“On this International Widows Day, let us strengthen communities, value families and rebuild societies that support widows in all their diversity,” the Secretary-General stated.
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