The Foundation will seek support from the dynamic industry players to progress their cause of ‘Educate a Widow’s Child’
NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 13, 2015: In hopes to raise support for their mission of empowering widows and educating their children, The Loomba Foundation, a UN accredited global charity, is all set to put up their booth in the NBCC Pavilion at the India International Trade Fair (IITF), which will kick off in the capital on November 14 and will go on till November 27, 2015.The 35th edition of the Trade Fair will be inaugurated by President Pranab Mukherjee and the NBCC Pavilion will be inaugurated by Minister of State for Urban Development, and for Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation, Babul Supriyo along with NBCC Chairman and Managing Director Dr Anoop Kumar Mittal.
The Foundation aims to garner tremendous support for their ‘Educate a Widow’s Child’ cause from the lakhs of visitors and the top brass of industry who grace the fair every year. In a statement expressing his vision on the outcome of the event, Founder and Trustee Chairman Lord Loomba said, “The IITF is one of the most significant events to take place in Indian business and trade industry. Celebrating this year’s ‘Make in India’ theme, we aim to encourage organizations and individuals of the industry to help further our endeavour to open new windows of opportunities for our hard-working widows and their hopeful children, who dream of climbing the ladder of education to create successful and dignified lives for themselves and their families.”
The Loomba Foundation has spearheaded the campaign to educate the children of the widows across India to build a better future for them and has successfully educated over 10,000 children till date. Currently, they are educating over 1600 children in over 13 states of India. Earlier this year, the Foundation held a charity dinner on the International Widows Day where they hosted a silent auction in an effort to raise funds to train and empower over 5000 widows in Varanasi. On its 10th anniversary this year, the foundation also released the ‘Global Widows Report’, highlighting the plight of the widows’ world over.
The India International Trade Fair, which is the annual flagship event of the Indian Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO), will be hosted at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. With an expected turnout of over 20 lakh people and participation of an estimated 7000 domestic and foreign firms, the IITF will provide a massive platform for SMEs to showcase their products and services in a bid to expand and grow their businesses.
ABOUT THE LOOMBA FOUNDATION
The Loomba Foundation was established by Raj Loomba CBE and his wife Veena in the UK in 1997. It promotes fundamental freedoms and human rights of widows and their children around the world, raising awareness of the gross injustices widows face and seeking to remove stigmas associated with widowhood.
The Loomba Foundation declared 23rd June as International Widows Day at the House of Lords in May, 2005. The Foundation also published a comprehensive Research Study on widows worldwide and the first edition of which was presented to the UN Secretary General, HE Ban Ki Moon on 22nd June, 2010 followed by presentations to the President of India and the US Secretary of State. The Foundation collaborates with UN bodies, other NGOs, government officials, Human Rights advocates and prominent leaders to fight for the over 245 million widows worldwide who suffer prejudice and discrimination.
The Loomba Foundation seeks to bring about gender sensitive reformS of national laws and policies, eradicating anti-widow superstitions, traditions, and social practices. It fosters gender equality and women’s empowerment by implementing poverty-reduction strategies and educational opportunities for widow’s and their children.