Pan African Widows

01/10/2026

TAWS 2027 | North Africa

Widows and Wealth: Advancing Financial Inclusion for Economic Justice in Africa

How can the government, UN, and African stakeholders help move widowhood from a largely invisible social vulnerability to an actionable development, economic inclusion and gender-equality agenda?

For partnership and sponsorship...

Visit www.africanwidowsunion.com

African Union UN Women African Development Bank Group

30/09/2026

Pan-African Widows Growth and Development Initiative (PAWGADI)- The Union of African Widows

Launched
3rd September, 2026 at the African Widows Summit TAWSS2025 NAMIBIA

Women in Widowhood: Building a Sustainable Culture

29/09/2026

25/09/2026

WIDOWHOOD IN AFRICA: BEYOND LOSS TO RIGHTS, DIGNITY AND OPPORTUNITY

Part of the Paper Presentations at The African Widows Summit (TAWS) 2025, Windhoek, Namibia

Widowhood is more than the loss of a husband. For many African women, it can become the beginning of a difficult journey marked by grief, discrimination, economic insecurity, social isolation and loss of rights.

At TAWS 2025, two scholarly perspectives highlighted the realities and complexities of widowhood across Africa.

Professor (Mrs.) Lucy Adesomon Okukpon, PhD, MNAE, Director, Centre for Gender Studies, University of Benin, Nigeria, widow herself examined
"Widowhood Practices in West Africa: The Nigerian Perspective.” Her presentation highlighted the persistence of harmful widowhood practices, discrimination in inheritance and property rights, economic deprivation, limited access to justice and healthcare, and the continuing gap between protective laws and their implementation.

Dr. Nuwatuhaire Benard, PhD, Director, Post Graduate Studies, Research & Innovations, Ankole Western University, Uganda, a widow's son examined the broader emotional, psychological, social and economic consequences of widowhood. His perspective emphasised grief, loneliness, stigma, identity challenges, poverty, inadequate social protection and the need for psychosocial and economic support.

Together, these perspectives reinforce an important message:

Widowhood must no longer be treated simply as a private tragedy or charity issue. It is a rights, health, economic and development issue.

Widows need access to education, healthcare, psychosocial support, property and inheritance rights, social protection, financial services, employment and opportunities for economic independence.

But solutions must be designed with widows, not merely for widows...

The objective should not simply be to help a widow survive the loss of her husband.

It should be to ensure that she does not lose her rights, dignity, economic security, leadership or future because she became a widow.

Africa must move:

From charity to rights.
From vulnerability to opportunity.
From exclusion to inclusion.
From speaking for widows to building solutions with widows.

Widowhood is the loss of a husband for women. It must never become the loss of a future.

TAWS 2025 | Windhoek, Namibia

Watchout ..

For more enquiries
visit: www.africanwidowsunion.com

24/09/2026

A PROMISING ENGAGEMENT WITH TUNISIA 🇹🇳🇳🇬

PAWGADI – The Union of African Widows team was pleased to engage with H.E. Mohsen Antit, Ambassador of the Republic of Tunisia to Nigeria on 23/09/26, in a promising and insightful conversation on the possibilities of Tunisia hosting The African Widows Summit (TAWS) 2027.

The engagement opened an exciting window for connecting North Africa with the wider African widowhood agenda, particularly around financial inclusion, economic justice, women’s rights and inclusive development.

Tunisia’s experience in advancing women’s rights and strengthening institutional approaches to gender equality offers valuable opportunities for dialogue, knowledge exchange and cross-regional learning. Hosting TAWS 2027 in Tunisia could provide a meaningful platform for North African and Sub-Saharan African experiences to meet, learn from one another and build practical partnerships for widows across the continent.

As Ambassador Antit recently affirmed in an ECOWAS engagement, “Africa is our priority,” alongside his recognition of the necessity of women and widows’ empowerment.

We look forward to continued engagement as we explore what hosting TAWS 2027 in Tunisia could mean for Tunisia, North Africa and Africa as a whole.

The African Widows Summit 2027...

Widows and Wealth: Advancing Financial Inclusion for Economic Justice in Africa.

For more enquiries email [email protected] ✨

22/09/2026

TAWS2027
Widows and Wealth:....

From Financial Inclusion to Fiscal Inclusion: Are Widows Visible in the Systems That Allocate Public Resources?

Get ready for the next African Widows Summit.....

17/09/2026

The African Widows Summit (TAWS) follows a rotational regional model designed to ensure that the African widows' agenda is progressively anchored across the continent.

The Summit has already engaged East Africa through Zanzibar (2024) and Southern Africa through Windhoek, Namibia (2025), while the African Widows Agenda was presented internationally in London in 2026.

This rotational approach is intended to build a genuinely Pan-African institutional architecture for widowhood, allowing PAWGADI to develop relationships, leadership and locally rooted networks across Africa rather than concentrating its work in one geographical region.

....

WHERE?
WHEN?

14/09/2026

Africa’s future will be stronger when African Widows stop being seen only as beneficiaries welfare and development, but together with women, take their rightful place as partners, leaders, decision-makers, and builders of the Africa we want.

08/09/2026

“When African women connect across borders, our individual voices become a continental force for change...

The African Widows Summit is a continental platform advancing the rights and dignity of widows ...

Watch out

For partnerships and sponsorship email [email protected]
Visit www.africanwidowsunion.com

07/09/2026

“I thought losing my husband was the hardest thing. I did not know rebuilding our lives would be another journey.”

Amina lives outside one of major cities in her country.

Her husband worked for years to keep the family comfortable.

They were not wealthy.

But they had a home, a routine and plans for their children.

Then he died.

At the funeral, relatives surrounded her.

There were prayers.

There were embraces.

There were words of comfort.

For a few days, Amina did not have to think about tomorrow.

Everyone was thinking about today.

But grief has a way of giving way to practical questions.

The electricity bill arrived.

Then the children's school needs.

Then food.

Then healthcare.

Then the question she had been avoiding:

What would become of the household income?

Her husband's death had not only removed the person she loved.

It had changed the family's economic structure.

Amina suddenly had to become more than a grieving wife.

She had to become the family's financial planner.

The Five Dimensions Begin to Collide

Amina's story illustrates why widowhood cannot be reduced to one problem.

Economic

She needs income.

But income requires opportunity.

She needs either employment, enterprise or another sustainable livelihood.

Health

Grief affects her emotionally.

Stress affects the entire household.

If she or her children become ill, medical costs can create another burden.

Education

Her children still have dreams.

Their father's death should not become the reason those dreams disappear.

Housing

The family needs secure housing.

A woman cannot rebuild her economic life while constantly worrying about where she and her children will live.

Legal

And then there are documents, benefits, inheritance and property.

The law may provide protections, but Amina needs to understand them and know how to access them.

Like other countries what are the opportunities in Northern Africa?

How do their women in widowhood navigate the five interconnected dimensions of widowhood?

🇹🇳 Tunisia's Opportunity from research shows:

Tunisia's social-protection system offers an important foundation.

The AMEN programme has sought to combine assistance to vulnerable households with access to healthcare and economic empowerment.

This represents an important direction.

Because the question should not simply be:

“How much assistance can Amina receive?”

It should be:

“How can Amina become economically secure again?”

What if support helped her acquire a skill?

What if she could access affordable finance?

What if she could establish a small enterprise?

What if she could save?

What if she could enter a cooperative?

What if her children could remain in school while she rebuilt her livelihood?

Then social protection becomes something more powerful.

It becomes a bridge from vulnerability to opportunity.

And that is the future we should want for Amina today and widows tomorrow.
To be continued