International Widows' Day, 23 June 2011

Worldwide, 23 June 2011 
Host / Sponsor: United NationsIn December 2010, the General Assembly declared 23 June as International Widow’s Day (resolution 65/189). The General Assembly decided, with effect from 2011, to observe International Widows’ Day on 23 June each year, and called upon Member States, the United Nations system and other international and regional organizations, within their respective mandates, to give special attention to the situation of widows and their children.

On the occasion of the first International Widows’ Day, UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet and First Lady Sylvia Bongo Ondimba of the Gabonese Republic cordially invite you to a conference moderated by renowned journalist Christiane Amanpour to discuss widows — their plight, their rights and their future.
The conference will include the following panels:

• Social and economic challenges faced by widows
• Widows, partnerships and the Millennium Development Goals

With the participation of:

• Ban Soon-taek
• Cherie Blair
• Amir Dossal
• Lord Raj Loomba

The conference will be webcast live at 10:00am EDT on 23 June 2011 on UN webcast: http://www.unmultimedia.org/tv/webcast/ 

» Secretary-General’s Message
» Website | UN Women event page
» Conference Programme 
» Resolution 65/189 adopted by the General Assembly (PDF) 
» Backgrounder: International Widow's Day (PDF)