Data revolution In his July 2013 report to Member States on the Millennium Development Goals and new development framework the UN Secretary General recommends that policy responses are needed in countries with ageing populations to support older people “so as to remove barriers to their full participation in society while protecting their rights and dignity”, and that age be taken into account as a cross-cutting issue in all goals and targets.15 Age-specific data (data on specific age groups) is needed to ensure that policy making is robust and responsive to ageing. Clearly, data alone does not move any agenda forward. But if it is collected regularly and used to identify policy and programme gaps it can achieve good results. While data may be held nationally, the construction of international data sets is such that internationally comparable data on the situation of older people is still limited. This is true even in sectors such as health,
employment and the economy. International data sets that are routinely used to set indicators and monitoring mechanisms, such as those reporting on HIV and violence, still have a cut-off at around age 49. There is insufficient comparable data disaggregated by sex for a detailed analysis of the differing experiences of older women and men in the Global AgeWatch Index. The shortage of data on older people may be systematically excluding them from development plans and public policy provision. This Index aims to stimulate debate by making relevant data and information available to policy makers and other opinion formers within a systematic analytical framework. The aim is that successive reports will show changes, enabling an increasingly well-informed debate on how countries are responding to population ageing as well as prompting further research and improved data sets for national and international policy making.
Erna Mentesnot Hintz/HelpAge International
“I appreciate my old age because I am still active in society. Age has given me experience and a better understanding of society; I can teach the young generation.” Tilahun Abebe, 76, Vice President, Ethiopian Elderly and Pensioners National Association
Introduction
Global AgeWatch Index 2013: Insight report 11