- Title: IRAQ: Widow charity helps women re-marry and restart their lives
- Date: 22nd December 2009
- Summary: AL-BADRANI LOOKING THROUGH PHOTO ALBUM OF ORPHANS
- Embargoed: 6th January 2010 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Iraq
- Country: Iraq
- Topics: Population
- Reuters ID: LVA5GSFBPK750FAYGPAEVDMUG1IQ
- Story Text: A charity in Western Baghdad, run on donations from well-wishers, helps Iraqi war widows find new husbands and homes for their fatherless children.
Years of war and violence has left many Iraqi women widowed and their children orphaned, one charity in Iraq is trying to help these families regain what they have lost by offering the women financial support, advice, and help in re-marrying.
Set up in 2005 and running on donations from well-wishers, Al-Ethar charity focuses on helping the widows and orphans of Iraq.
Hana al-Badrani, the Charity's director says that more than 2,000 widows and a total of 7,000 children who have lost their fathers, are on Ethar's books.
"The number of widows is very high, in al-Ethar charity we have about 2,000. Some are very young, or they used to be students, some have children, others don't. So what can we offer to the widows here? Sometimes advice is the most useful thing, but we wanted a project that had a long-lasting effect and had more impact and so we thought of the idea of remarriage for the widows" she said.
Most of the widows who walk through the charity's door do not have any qualifications to help them get work, added al-Badrani.
Ethar pays 25,000 Iraqi Dinars (about 22 U.S. dollars) for each orphan and widow per month in addition to food aid.
Al-Badrani recognises that the idea of widows re-marrying is new and controversial to Iraqi society, and it hasn't been received well by all families.
"This project and this idea are certainly new, the reaction from some families has been negative, the reason being the reality of the society we live in. There are traditional, tribal customs that we still hold on to, some reject the idea of re-marriage for the widow, for many reasons. The first being that she (the widow) should hold on to her late husband's memory and there is fear of the future, that the new husband is not suitable for the children or orphans," she said.
Although al-Badrani is proud of the success rate of her charity's match-making, she acknowledges that the outcome is not always successful.
"The project (re-marrying of widows) was difficult initially, there were some failed cases, but most were successful. Approximately 85 percent of re-marriage cases which were arranged at al-Ethar charity were a success."
One widow, whose husband was killed in the surge of violence following the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, spoke on condition of anonymity and explained that despite the failure of her re-marriage, the choice of going through it was ultimately hers and it was intended to benefit her and her children.
"Thank God, during the time of my marriage, I did not face any objection neither from my family nor from strangers because this issue is up to me and I'm the one who had been hurt. When I agreed to get married it was for the sake of feeling secure and settled, it was better for me and my children," she said.
Iman and Hussein Lateef were one of al-Ethar's success stories. When Iman's husband was shot dead two years ago, she was encouraged by her family and friends to re-marry, and she did, to her late husband's brother. The couple visited al-Badrani's office with their little offspring Youssif.
"The project of marriage was successful, it helps keep my children united and allows us to be a family in one house. It's so my children and I are more comfortable and do not feel of the loss we have encountered. My children get to live with family and not strangers. We thank God for this," said Iman Lateef.
Iman encourages all young widows to re-marry and start a new family.
Among Iraqi women aged 15 to 80, one in 11 are estimated to be widows, though officials admit that figures are not 100 percent accurate, because of the continuing violence and the displacement of millions of people.
A recent United Nations report estimated that during the height of sectarian violence in 2006, dozens of women were widowed each day through militant attacks.
The recent violence brings back painful memories of many Iraqis of the Iraq-Iran war which produced many thousands of widows as the two countries suffered a combined fatality toll of one million according to most estimates.
While the number of violent incidents across Iraq has come down in the past year, the number of widowed women in the country remain high and only a fraction of them receive financial support from the government. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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