BloomWell at CSW70: Collective Care, Collective Voice
9 March 2026 · UN Plaza, New York
In March 2026, BloomWell Collective joined Widows Rights International (WRI) and partners at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) in New York for a side event that put psychosocial community care at the centre of the conversation on widows' rights and gender justice.
The session — Collective Care, Collective Voice: Psychosocial Community-Based Approaches to Gender-Equitable Justice for Widows— brought together practitioners, advocates, and policymakers from across the DRC, Kenya, Haiti, Mongolia, and the UK to examine the gap between what the law protects and what women actually experience.
L-R: Amarsanaa Darisuren (Centre for Human Rights and Development, Mongolia),Zarin Hainsworth OBE,(Chair of Widows Rights International), Yasmin Wilkinson-Smith(NAWO Young Women's Alliance), Baroness Hodgson CBE, Farhana Ibrahim (Co-Founder, BloomWell Collective), and Heather Ibrahim Leathers(Founder, Global Fund for Widows)
Why this conversation matters
Most systems respond to crisis. But widows around the world are navigating trauma, social exclusion, disinheritance, and isolation long before they ever reach a crisis point — and often with no support in sight.
BloomWell Collective's Co-Founder Farhana Ibrahim joined the panel to share how community-based psychosocial approaches, including BloomWell's PEACCE framework — Prevention through Empowered Action, Community and Cultural Engagement — can strengthen women's confidence, voice, and ability to understand and exercise their rights. Not as a crisis response. As everyday care.
Farhana Ibrahim (Co-Founder, BloomWell Collective)
The panel
The session was chaired by Zarin Hainsworth OBE, Chair of Widows Rights International, and brought together:
Gisele Kapinga Ntumba — Director, National Human Rights Commission, DRC
Dianah Kimande — Founder, Come Together Widows and Orphans, Kenya
Farhana Ibrahim — Co-Founder, BloomWell Collective, UK
Yasmin Wilkinson-Smith — NAWO Young Women's Alliance, UK
Sasha Filippova — Institute for Justice and Democracy, Haiti
What the room heard
The conversation was honest and cross-regional. Across different contexts — from grassroots Kenya to post-conflict DRC to Mongolia, where no formal legislation protecting widows exists — the same pattern emerged: legal frameworks alone are not enough. Without culturally grounded community support, rights remain out of reach.
Participants co-created recommendations calling for integrated approaches that connect legal reform, economic empowerment, and sustained psychosocial support — all community-led, all survivor-informed.
Breakout sessions
BloomWell Collective's place in this work
This event reflects something we believe deeply: that wellbeing and justice are not separate conversations. When women feel supported, seen, and less alone, they are better equipped to know their rights, use them, and advocate for others.
Being part of CSW70 as a partner organisation — alongside WRI, NAWO, UN Women, and the Global Fund for Widows — is a reminder of why we do this work, and who we do it for.
BloomWell Collective is a peer-led wellbeing community for women navigating life transitions. To learn more or get involved, visit bloomwellcollective.com
