Empowering widows and poor women

The loss of a partner, for many women, is magnified by a long-term struggle for their basic needs, human rights and dignity. They may be denied inheritance rights to the piece of land that they relied on for livelihood or evicted from their homes, forced into unwanted marriages or traumatizing widowhood rituals. For widows and underprivileged women, life is challenging with no opportunity to work, no child care help and living in shelters or improvised homes. Basic human necessities such as warmth and food are a struggle while clean running water and children education is just a dream. These widows have no source of sustenance and have also to bear the responsibility of aged parents-in-law and young children.

The widows and impoverished women living in the village communities along the LoC in Pakistan-administered Kashmir are facing multiple challenges like lack of access to productive resources, discrimination, violence and extreme poverty. Sukhi works with widows and poor women from these areas for making them self-reliant, economically independent and socially empowered by provision of financial and technical assistance which help them start their self-owned sustainable income generating enterprises. Creating selfemployment and business opportunities is the key pillar of Sukhi’s approach to working with widows and destitute women. Sukhi provides business skills, training, equipment and funding to help widows become financially independent. Women can may opt any small scaled business; like opening school canteens, home-based shops, small backyard poultry, stitching clothes and school uniforms, school TuK Shops etc.