Bala Vikasa holds online conference on International Widows Day

Bala Vikasa, an NGO which has been striving for the well-being and empowerment of women and widows, hosted two virtual events on the occasion of International Widows Day

Warangal Urban: Discrimination against widows is not endorsed by any sacred text and that a lot of awareness building efforts need to be taken up to eradicate such practices, especially at the rural community level, observed panelists at a conference on World Widows Day on Wednesday.

Bala Vikasa, an NGO, which has been striving for the well-being and empowerment of women and widows, hosted two virtual events – a Global Conference and a State Level Convention on the theme ‘Invisible Women, Invisible Problems’ on the occasion of International Widows Day.

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Shoury Reddy Singareddy, Executive Director of Bala Vikasa, who moderated both the events, observed, “Social justice for Widows can be achieved, if the governments, NGOs, feminists, social activists, media, religious leaders and the civil society become active advocates for their cause. There is a need to have recurring events, activities, discussions, involving young and old alike, to highlight the challenges of widows and propose solutions for their emancipation and empowerment,”

Addressing the meetings, the panelist also stressed on the need to change the nomenclature around widows to make it more inclusive and respectful, especially across important communication channels like the media.

Over 5,000 participants from the villages of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh joined the State Level Convention which saw discussions on several challenges faced by widows and the possible solutions put forth by Dr G B Reddy, Dean, Faculty of Law, Osmania University (OU), Kondaveeti Sathyavati, Secretary of Bhumika Women’s Collective, and Gangu Upender Sharma , President of Telangana Archaka Sangam.

The Global Conference held in the evening with Saloni Pradhan Singh, Executive Chair, Didi Bahini from Nepal, Betty Vershima Pete-Ekanem, Director of Renascence of Hope Initiative from Nigeria, Richard Rochefort, president of Dare to Lead from Canada, G Uday Kumar, Senior Civil Judge, and Kondaveeti Satyavathi, Secretary of Bhumika Women’s Collective, India was attended by over 500 participants.

Founders of Bala Vikasa, Andre Gingras and Bala T Singareddy Gingras, have launched the conversation on the status of widows in India. The panelists shared the current status of widows in their countries and presented different perspectives on empowering widows socially, intellectually, psychologically and financially so that they can live a life of dignity and self-respect.

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