The Loomba Foundation is currently campaigning with the Govt. of India to set up a National Commission for Widows and Widows Help Centres through Panchayats in India, as part of advocacy initiatives.
In India, the Loomba Foundation to date has educated over 10000 children of poor widows in all 30 states, who received a monthly scholarship of Rs. 500 per month for a period of five years or more. In addition, the Foundation has empowered over 12000 impoverished widows, who received skills training in tailoring and upon completion of the training, they were also donated a sewing machine free of cost.
The Loomba Foundation was established in the UK in 1997 by Lord Raj Loomba CBE and his wife Lady Veena Loomba, in memory of Lord Loomba’s mother who became a widow at the early age of 37 and succeeded educating all her seven young children single handedly.
It has sister charities registered in India and the USA. Foundation is accredited by the UN Department of Global Communications and the Economic and Social Department (ECOSOC).
It is the first global charity which is committed to empower widows and to educate their children in India & around the world. The core work of the charity is in India; however, it has empowered widows in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal in South Asia; Syria in middle east; Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Rwanda, Malawi across Africa; Guatemala and Chile in South America.
In addition to empowering widows and educating children of poor widows the Loomba Foundation is actively engaged in advocacy to improve the lives of widows around the world.
In 2005 the Loomba Foundation launched International Widows Day at the House of Lords in the UK, as an effective day of action for widows and their children around the world.
After a tireless campaign for five years the UN adopted 23rd of June as the UN International Widows Day at its 65th UN General Assembly in 2010. 23rd of June is a significant day as it was on this day Lord Loomba’s mother, Shrimati Pushpa Wati Loomba, became widow in Punjab in India in 1954.
The Loomba Foundation has published books
(i) Invisible Forgotten Sufferers: The Plight of Widows Around the World
(ii) A Hidden Calamity – the plight of widows
(iii) One Man walking – 30 X 30 a walk for Widows
(iv) World Widows Report,
(v) 1997-2017 Twenty Successful Years: Fighting Injustice Against Widows,
(vi) International Widows Day: the story of a global campaign for justice and peace.
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