Age UK: Development goals must apply to all ages

By 2050, a fifth of the global population will be aged 60 and over. Today, on the International Day of Older People, we are calling attention to the need for international development programmes and policy to take older people fully into account. Population ageing and the needs and aspirations of older people are notably absent from the current Millennium Development Goals guiding international efforts to eradicate poverty.

As the high-level panel co-chaired by David Cameron begins its work considering options on what will succeed the Millennium Development Goals post-2015, Ageing in the 21st Century, a new report by our partner, HelpAge, and the United Nations Population Fund, highlights the opportunities and challenges facing older people, their families and communities across the globe.

While older people provide a wealth of contributions to societies as carers, advisors, mediators, mentors and breadwinners, older people are often at particular risk from poverty, ill health and the effects of emergencies. Addressing the challenges of an ageing population is essential if eradicating poverty is to be achieved on a global scale.

Consultations on the post-2015 development framework have begun already and must include the voices and experience of older people and the organisations that represent them. The final framework should be rights-based and ensure that older people and their needs are visible in the targets that are set.

We are calling for:

• The Post-2015 framework to take a whole lifecourse approach, including broader development goals that are responsive to different stages of the lifecourse, with targets and indicators that are relevant for people of all ages.
• Data gathered for research and monitoring by national governments, the UN, and development agencies to include all age groups and be disaggregated by age and sex to create a clearer picture of where poverty and vulnerability lie.
• Action on better health for all age groups to be made a priority, including tackling non-communicable diseases such as heart and lung disease, diabetes, cancer and dementia across the lifecourse.
• Social protection, such as pensions and cash payments, to be recognised as a key strategy to reduce poverty, vulnerability and inequality for people of all ages.
• Humanitarian assistance to be provided without discrimination to all vulnerable groups, including older people.

The fact that people are living longer is a triumph, but requires a new approach to development that meets the needs of people of all ages.

Older people must be at the heart of any successor to the Millennium Development Goals, it is essential to not only tackling global poverty but to addressing the wider opportunities and challenges of our ageing society.