London: More than 300 international celebrities and stars are set to join an Indian-born businessman campaign for the United Nations to declare a world widows day.

The Loomba Trust, run by British textiles tycoon Raj Loomba, is hosting a summer concert at Trafalgar Square - a central London favourite of tourists - June 23 to raise awareness of the plight of widows in India and elsewhere in the developing world.

The Trust, which is headed by Cherie Blair, wife of former British premier Tony Blair, wants the UN to recognise June 23 as World Widows Day.

“That was the day in 1954 when my father passed away, leaving my mother Pushpa Wati to single-handedly raise and educate seven children,� said Loomba, who last week was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire), as part of the Queen's Birthday Honours, for his work for widows and the promotion of Indo-British relations.

"I grew up as a widow's son. I saw my mother's life change overnight when my father died, when she had to remove her jewellery, put on white clothes and was even ordered away from the my wedding ceremony," Loomba told IANS.

The Loomba Trust works in 23 countries around the world to try and end discrimination against widows, a problem that is particularly widespread in India - home to 35 million of the world's estimated 100 million widows.