Asked policy makers to include widows in their policies.
Zakat and Sadaqat Foundation (ZSF) has charged the Federal Government to create an enabling environment for widows in the country, stating that policy makers should endeavour to address the plight of widows when making policies because they are always neglected after the demise of their husbands.
The foundation joins widows across the globe to celebrate 2021 International Widows’ Day themed ‘invisible women, invisible problem’ by empowering five widows with the sum of 6.5 Million naira.
Speaking during the empowerment disbursement, the Chairman of International Widows Day & ZSF Female Coordinator for Surulere District, Bashirah Jawando, said the foundation decided to commemorate the day with Nigeria widows who are faced with challenges that are difficult and sometimes not seen society.
“ZSF decided to commemorate the International Widows’ Day with the rest of the world because in this part of the world widows are always faced with poverty, maltreatment making them invisible to the world”.
She added that policy makers don’t usually include widows when making decisions and this was acknowledged by the United Nation. “ The United Nations chose this year’s team “invisible women, invisible problem’ because widows become invisible to the society when their husbands die. People don’t actually know what they are going through.
They become invisible in the society, even some ethnic groups usually deny them some privileges, they become an object of inheritance, and they feel they are worthless and abandoned, with their children.
She urged policy makers to address the plight of widows as policy they will considered when making decisions.
“ Government and non-governmental organisations should endeavor to come to the aid of widows”
The Executive Director of Zakat & Sadaqat Foundation, Sulayman Olagunju, said International Widows Day is a concern to all well meaning people in the society, considering the plight of widows in the society. “They have huge challenges such as loneliness, stigmatization and poverty.”
He said part of the programme of ZSF is to ensure that widows are properly taken care of.
“Our foundation is a charity organisation that collects zakat and disburses it to less privileged people in the society. “We commenced this year’s Zakat with International Women’s Day. This is a great opportunity for us to mark the widows’ day with the rest of the world.
“In this exercise we have got so many widows that applied for Zakat and after thorough screening we selected some of them because there is no way we could attend to all of them at this point in time. Zakat collection is a continuous one. So out of the Zakat collected we decided to disburse the sum of 6.5 million naira to five widows for empowerment.
They have undergone thorough training within the time they applied and now they are collecting the money to start business.”
