Welcome to the United Nations
1. Accelerated action to achieve the 2030 Agenda for people of all ages requires public policies based on a life-course approach and on the human rights framework. The Global Sustainable Development Report 2019 (GSDR) highlights wellbeing as a key driver of sustainable development, and stresses the need to tackle inequalities and deprivations for all ages.
2. Demographic trends have significant implications for legislation, policies, programmes and services. In 2019, people aged 65 years and over accounted for 9% of the global population, with a projected rise to 12% by 2030 and 16% by 2050 (UNDESA 2019). Member States must plan for a world that is ageing.
3. The pandemic of COVID-19, which disproportionally affects older persons and those with underlying health conditions, highlights the importance of multifaceted cooperation and a whole-of-society approach to deliver well-resourced health systems that respond to all ages. The launching of the WHO “Decade of Healthy Ageing” will be an opportunity to fully recognize that the world is ageing and to ensure that everyone can live a longer and healthier life. A healthy economy requires healthy people of every age.
4. Ageism and age discrimination present in legislation and public policies - such as mandatory retirement age or policies stipulating age caps for financial, legal and other services – and scarcity of specific data on older persons exacerbate existing deprivations, result in policies that entrap older people in chronic poverty and deny them voice and participation.
5. In 2050, women will comprise 54 percent of the global population aged 65 and over and 59 per cent of the total population aged 80 years and over. Women experience greater economic hardship as they age due to a lifetime of gender-based discrimination, particularly in terms of education and employment, ending up with few savings and assets. They are also denied rights due to the intersection of ageism, widowhood, disability, invisibility and negative attitudes about their value and capabilities.
6. The SGA supports the GSDR recommendation that “social protection, including pensions and support for older persons and persons with disabilities, should not be limited to those who spent their working years in formal, full-time jobs” but should also include those working in the informal sector. We strongly support non-contributory, tax-financed social pensions and the urgent rollout of Target 1.3 on social protection floors.
7. Member States must adopt measures to prepare for an ageing population that will increasingly live in urban environments. Accessibility for all, regardless of age or ability, adhering to the principle of universal design, should be a priority in all infrastructure planning.
8. Rights, capacities and needs of older persons remain overlooked in humanitarian relief situations. Gaps in data collection about older persons during crises mask impacts and needs by age, gender and disability. Older persons must be included in humanitarian assessments and planning, disaster preparedness, and response.
9. The SGA strongly supports the GSDR recommendation to base policies on ‘detailed and disaggregated longitudinal data that track individuals through the life cycle and across generations.’ Data must be disaggregated at a minimum of five-year age bands. We urge Member States to engage in the work of the Titchfield City Group on Ageing and make use of its recommendations.
10. Chronic poverty, inequality, income insecurity and humanitarian crises will affect all generations across the globe beyond 2030 unless life-course policies are adopted immediately. Age inclusive policies based on the international framework of human rights and intergenerational cohesion, based on intersections of age, gender and disability, among other aspects, will deliver income security, the best possible health, decent housing, food security, safety and enjoyment of rights throughout people’s lives.
