COLOMBO (News 1st) – Today marks International Widows day. According to the UN, over 258million people in the world are widows.

Issuing a report on International Widows’ Day, the UN stated 1 out of every 10 widows is suffering from abject poverty.

This year’s theme is “Invisible Women – Invisible Issues.”

The United Nations says a special program should be implemented to empower widows and financially strengthen them.

Recent data reveals that over 12% of households in the Sri Lanka​n population are widowed.

Secretary of Women and child affairs Darsha Senanayake said a number of programs have been implemented for the welfare of the widows in the country.

• Long queues for fuel at LIOC filling stations
• Court order on Thursday’s (7) Pettah protest
• Senior citizen in fuel queue dies – 15th such death so far
• Rainfall likely on Thursday (7)
• Sri Lanka further tightens Monetary Policy Stance