New Government Framework ‘missed opportunity’ for older women

The Government published its new ‘UK International Strategic Framework on Women and Girls’ on 20 May. Age International welcomes the commitment to championing the rights of women and girls, but is ‘disappointed’ that the Framework fails to consider how these rights apply to women throughout their lives, including later life.

The new strategic Framework sets out the UK Government's vision for gender equality and how it will deliver this through policy, funding and partnerships across four pillars: violence and abuse, economic participation, political engagement, and health and education. It describes why women’s and girls’ rights matter and recognises the current global threat to progress on rights.

Age International has responded outlining how the issues described in the framework affect older women, noting that older women are not explicitly included.

Age International has set out how the UK Government can ensure that older women are meaningfully included in its delivery across all four pillars. Recommendations include taking action on poverty faced by women in later life and the gender pensions gap, recognising the economic contributions of older women through paid and unpaid work, and ensuring health systems are accessible and meet women’s needs across the life course.

Alison Marshall, CEO of Age International, said:
“While we welcome the Government’s renewed commitment to advancing gender equality, particularly in the context of global rollbacks on women’s rights, the new UK ‘International Strategic Framework on Women and Girls’ represents a missed opportunity. It fails to recognise that gender inequality accumulates throughout life, leaving too many women facing poverty, violence, exclusion and poor health in later life. The UK Government must now take steps to ensure that older women are properly included in its delivery of the Framework.”