UN chief calls for ensuring that widows are ‘not left out or left behind’

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 23 (APP):United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres has urged everyone to reflect on the “economic hardship and increased vulnerability” of widowed women and ensure “they are not left out or left behind”.

In the “absence of social and legal protection”, he said in his message marking International Widow’s Day on Sunday, that “widowed women’s lifetime earnings and savings are often too little to avoid poverty”.

Even in countries with good pension coverage, “women are significantly more likely to suffer poverty in old age than men”, he added, pointing out that “social services are particularly important for older widows who may live alone or have greater need for elderly care services”.

In many countries, widows do not have the same inheritance rights as their male counterparts, “meaning that they may be stripped of land, property and even rights and access to their own children”, according to the UN chief. “Even where laws do not discriminate, those rights need to be equally applied and enjoyed in practice”.