Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69)/Beijing+30

Putting older women at the heart of the vision for gender equality

In 1995, governments around the world adopted The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. This framework set out goals and actions needed to address gender inequalities and advance women's rights globally.

However, 30 years after the publication of this document, older women are still missing from these conversations. Their experiences and contributions remain invisible, and their rights and needs have not been met.

At the 69th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69), the UK Government has a unique opportunity to champion older women's voices and ensure they are included in decision-making. 

Recommendations 

We urge the UK Government and its partners, including INGOs and UN agencies, to take the following key actions to ensure older women’s inclusion:

• Ensure an explicit focus on older women within inputs to the Beijing +30 and CSW69 discussions on CSW revitalisation and future themes.
  
  
• Reinforce previously agreed CSW language in the Political Declaration and across CSW69/Beijing +30 discussions. This should include that relating to: the impact of extreme poverty on older women, older women’s positive contributions to the economy and society, meaningful participation of older women, and the value of comprehensive social protection for groups including older women.
  
  
• Carry forward and address agreed recognition of the global gender pensions gap in future CSWs, including the implementation of recommendations on universal social protection.
  
  
• Reinforce commitments to disaggregating data by sex, age, disability, marital status and other characteristics to respond better to the needs of women and girls in all their diversity.
  
  
• Recognise the importance of the unpaid care contributions made by women of all ages that underpin economies, and commit to strengthening the vital public health and care infrastructure that carers need to secure their own rights as well as the rights of those requiring care and support.
  
  
• Restate the Sustainable Development Goal pledge to “Leave No One Behind”, and bring this to the heart of CSW discussions involving global leadership on climate and cross-cutting areas.
  
  
• Champion the representation of older women from poorer contexts at CSW and include representatives of older women’s groups in Government delegations.

• The life course: Implement the Government’s commitment to embedding a life course approach, both domestically and internationally, that explicitly includes older women - recognising both older women’s rights and the multigenerational co-dependencies that underpin daily life.
  
  
• Data gathering and analysis: Work with partners to ensure international data gathering and analysis on poverty, health and violence explicitly includes data on older people disaggregated by five-year age cohorts, as well as by sex and disability. Challenge ageist data caps in household surveys so that older people’s diversity and experience are properly represented. Require programme partners to include older women in all relevant evidence gathering and monitoring.
  
  
• Social protection: Recognise that all social protection programmes need to be informed by a life course approach and an in-depth analysis that includes gender, age and disability-specific risks. Make this a part of disaster risk reduction, humanitarian recovery, and climate adaptation plans.
  
  
• Health system strengthening: Integrate Public Health England guidance on prevention and a life course perspective in the Government’s global health policy and funding to ensure a more holistic approach that focuses on health system strengthening and primary health care in the community, with specific attention to older women’s wellbeing. 
  
  
• Tackle violence against older women: Address the gaps in tackling violence against older women - including the barriers of shame and stigma that prevent older women from reporting their experiences of violence, abuse and neglect.
  
  
• Older women’s economic empowerment: Ensure that Women’s Economic Empowerment policies, programmes and research capture the contributions of older women and support their rights.
  
  
• Older People’s Associations: Promote and engage with Older People’s Associations (OPAs) which strengthen older people’s capacity for local leadership, provide community level support, and promote older women’s economic empowerment.
  
  
• Participation of older women at the grassroots: Support older women’s full participation as part of commitments to work with grassroots women’s rights organisations, and build collaboration between existing grassroots groups such as women’s rights organisations, disabled persons organisations and OPAs.
  
  
• Protect the rights of older persons: Support the creation of a new United Nations Convention on the Rights of Older Persons that would strengthen and reinforce the rights of older women.
  
  
• Digital inclusion: Strengthen older women’s digital inclusion through access to digital learning, age-friendly design of digital services, and ageism-free, ethical and safe digital environments that embrace the diversity of older women. Equally, guarantee the right of all older people to access public services non-digitally without penalty or negative impact.
  
  
• Older women in emergencies: Ensure the specific risks facing older women are considered in humanitarian responses, through strengthening disaggregated data in needs assessments, consulting older women, and adhering to the Humanitarian Inclusion Standards for Older People and People with Disabilities.
  
  
• Older women’s leadership in climate action: Support locally led and multigenerational approaches to climate action and adaptation, ensuring older women’s voices are heard in the decisions that affect their lives.