Speech by Caroline Themm 
of the 
Sub Committee on Older Women 
of the
 NGO Committee on the Status of Women

January 13, 2003

Thank you very much for this important opportunity to speak to you today.  I will be talking to you about the impact of the articles of CEDAW on older women.  

I am Caroline Themm, representing Soroptimist International,  and I am Co-Chair of the Sub Committee on Older Women of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women in New York.  This is a group of representatives of many non governmental organizations in consultative status with the United Nations, who work on behalf of older women. 

The Sub Committee was created during preparations for the 1999 International Year of Older Persons, to raise the awareness of governments and non-governmental organizations about the unique needs and unique contributions of older women – the fastest-growing population group in the world, and the most invisible. 

Raising awareness is a gradual process, as you know, and we want to express our deep appreciation for the progress we have seen since 1999 when we first requested CEDAW’s attention to the situation of older women. The Sub Committee developed Briefing Papers designed specifically to assist the CEDAW Experts in noting issues critical for older women.  These Briefing Papers also respond to the Twelve Critical Areas of Concern identified in the Beijing Platform for Action, as they pertain to the CEDAW articles. 

In addition we have written and circulated position statements relevant to each of the critical areas designated for discussion each year by the Commission on the Status of Women.  

 Our key concerns are that all societies discriminate on grounds of old age. Therefore older women everywhere are likely to have had a lifetime of disadvantage.  They may have suffered poor nutrition while being the main providers for the nutritional needs of their multi-generational families.  They have suffered poor access to all health services, but especially to those designed for women past the child bearing years if they have been available at all..  Older women are more likely to have experienced violence and abuse within the family and are more vulnerable in wartime, in disasters and in humanitarian crises.   

There is a high probability that older women will be widowed and when this occurs, they may suffer loss of access to property.    As younger women, their access to education has been much more difficult and much less common than for their male counterparts.  And we all know that inadequate early education means less if any access to the formal labor market throughout the life span, leaving older women with both poor health and few resources in old age.  Additionally, because most women are the primary caregivers for children, grandchildren, and other family members, they have less years or possibly no years at all in the workforce.  This leaves them with no financial compensation for their unwaged work and no economic security accrued for old age.  

          It is often the case that older women are excluded from social & development policies, locally, nationally and internationally, so that, their contributions go unrecognized and their needs unmet.  They suffer from the impact of gender and age discrimination throughout the life course. 

Charlotte Abaka, as Chairperson of CEDAW addressing the 2002 Commission on the Status of Women last year, urged that special attention “be focused on the special needs of older women”.  She stated that discrimination against women in all areas of their lives throughout their lifespans has a severe and compounded impact on women in old age.  Chairperson Abaka further spoke for the CEDAW Committee when she called on “States to include and integrate women's perspectives into all aspects of proposed international strategies for action on ageing; to collect and analyze statistical data disaggregated by sex and age as a way to better assess living conditions, including the incidence of poverty and violence against women of all ages”.  

It is widely recognized that research pertaining to women over 50 years of age is practically non-existent in many areas of the world and that therefore information on this group is absent in most official documents and policy directives..  This lack of research and disaggregated data only reinforce the invisibility of the socially excluded population of older women.  

Ms Abaka continued, stating: “Special attention to improving the further education of older women is urged, as are measures to increase the literacy levels of older women and reduce the literacy gap between older women in urban and rural areas.  As older women are often insufficiently covered by health insurance and pension schemes, Ms Abaka’s statement recommends that the issue of care required for older women be addressed through public policy measures that establish societal responsibility for their well-being.  It also urges special recognition for the contribution of women to their families, national economy and civil society throughout their lifespan, and the elimination of stereotypes and taboos that restrict or limit older women from continuing to contribute.”  

In this new millennium, with worldwide populations getting older, it’s important to give proper recognition to older women and to their human rights.    

Your heightened interest in older women has been encouraging.  We are asking that the momentum the CEDAW Committee has begun be continued.  We would like to urge the drafting of a General Recommendation on Older Women so that each States Party would be required to include specific content on older women’s issues.  This would allow, as Kofi Annan recently indicated in “Modern Maturity” magazine of January/February of 2003, “…to monitor if governments are moving in the right direction, introducing the right policies in relation to aging”. And I will add, in relation to older women.  

Thank you very much.