Parihaar Foundation Inauguration and Observance of international widows day

Profile of Parihaar Foundation, to the development of widowed and divorced women, and senior citizens

Parihaar Foundation:

An NGO promoting the welfare of widowed and divorced women, and providing social support services to senior citizens.

Parihaar Foundation, a non-profit organization promoting welfare of widows, strives to eradicate the woes of widows from society. Besides widows, Parihaar also endeavors to provide its services to divorced women. And also providing social support services to senior citizens.

Our nation,  although has witnessed great reforms in human rights still has a long way with respect to its treatment towards women, particularly widows. With every remedy, crops a new issue for widowed and divorced women. Even today, issues such as livelihood, self-respect, social discrimination, second marriage and sexual harassment loom large and remain unaddressed due to lack of support from society at large and even family on a personal level.

Widowhood is not a comfortable state of life in India – it is more a living death! Deprivation and starvation often plague many a widow. Indian society is dominated by religious superstitions and cultural practices wherein a widow is deemed as bad omen and forced to live a lonely and depressed life. Auspicious occasions are called off when a widow is found nearby. Remarriage, literacy and acceptance are very rare for widows. More often than not, a widow’s health is affected due to malnutrition, poverty and lack of medical help. Widowhood is the most neglected issue in India. Seven percent of widows are living alone.

Ø  There are 34 million widows

Ø  8% of total female population are widows  

Ø  50% of female population are over 50

Ø  in terms of prevalence of widowhood, India ranks highest in the world

Ø  Of existing widows 64% are aged 60 and above out of which 80% are aged 70 and above

Ø  In contrast 2.5% Indian men are widowers

Ø  At 60 years and above, 93% and 68% of widows are illiterate in rural and urban areas respectively

While widows in general face social, economic, emotional and health problems, widows in India experience all of these plus difficulties with the negative social attitudes they face and deprivations which restrict their scope of activities and their lifestyle.

Inspired by illustrious social reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Keshav Karve and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagars, Parihaar has stepped into help widows and divorced women claim their rightful place in the society. It is our aim to reestablish their dignity and self-respect. Through the many services Parihaar provides, we seek to create a holistic approach to widows social transformation and re integration into society.  Parihaar urges the nation to accept widowed and divorced women issues with equanimity and join hands with us as volunteers, social transformers, members, servant leaders and dignitaries of our governing body. Parihaar is founded on the principle of bringing succor to widowed and divorced women through social transformation, education and counseling. Through the many services Parihaar provides, we seek to create a holistic approach to widows social transformation and re integration into society.  In keeping with the sweeping changes that are observed in other areas of social upliftment it is our earnest endeavor to remove the crippling stigma that has brought the lives of these hapless women into a halt for no fault of their own. We also believe in transparent professional practices and adopt a collaborative approach with organizations and people with similar interests. We wish to extend social support services to senior citizens too keeping in mind issues faced by them.

Founder:

 N B Jayaprakash Stage, TV and Film actor, Co-producer of Kannada Film “Hoomale”, Former Director of Dignity Foundation, Bengaluru Chapter. He has been previously associated with widow marriage organization Parivarthana with over 20 widow successful marriages. Now, completely involved with Parihaar Parivaar working for cause of widows and senior citizens.

Vision:

• Restore *Social Status of widowed and divorced women, and senior citizens

*Social Status – 2014 will focus on Dignity and Acceptance

Mission:

• Transform the society for indiscriminating, complete participation of widowed and divorced women in mainstream society
• Provide a multi-dimensional approach to solve financial, social, emotional, moral, medical and physical issues of widowed and divorced women
• Providing social support services to needy senior citizens

Values:

• Tolerance
• Pragmatism
• Social Transformation

This is the basis of our projects and action statements.

Action Statements:

• Securing the interests, future and livelihood of widowed and divorced women
• Sowing seeds of social status for widowed and divorced women today, to reap social transformations tomorrow
• Social support services to senior citizens, fighting for the rights of senior citizens lobbying with the Govt agencies

Parihaar- Path forward:

To begin with, our operations will focus on major cities in every state to awaken and gather the educated, forward thinking social transformers-to address and spread the activities across cities and suburbs alike.

 Objectives – 2014:

Parihaar to function completely;

• Promote Parihaar and the cause
• Enable widowed and divorced women wedding
• Extending all type of support to needy senior citizens
• Render Parihaar as a self sustainable organization

The cause – Identify, address widowed and divorced women issues, and senior citizens

Our services focus on providing:

• Helpline for widowed and divorced women, and senior citizens

·         Moral, social and security support

·         Emotional, legal and medical counseling

     Conciliation and Mediation centres

·         Career development

·         Livelihood creation

·         Widow Pension

·         Education

·         Companionship solutions

·         Outlook change and mentoring programs

·         Hotline support

·         Volunteer management wing

·         Marriage services

o        Private registration, matchmaking on a database of verified prospects

o        Detailed match verification

o       Face to face meeting events

o        Legal and medical counseling

·         After services: support through post-marital counselling

Parihaar Foundation, 2992, 2nd Main, 17th Cross, BSK 2nd Stage, Bangalore - 560 070

Ph: 91-80-4148 2727 Mob: 91-9972 322 322

parihaar.foundation@gmail.com

www.parihaarfoundation.com