Older-Age Exclusion and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter explores how far the potential of the 2030 Agenda, a global framework for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is being utilised to address multidimensional older age exclusion. The available evidence shows that, without a major shift in the coming decade, the pledge that the 2030 Agenda should be met for “all nations, peoples … and segments of society” will not be achieved in the case of older people, and the risks of failure are highest for older people in low- and middle-income countries. Across dimensions of framing, implementation, monitoring and reporting, recognition of ageing and older people is limited in the SDGs. Where recognition is explicit, it relates to the framing of older people as a vulnerable group rather than as rights holders on an equal footing with people of other ages. The major shift required in this context is the recognition of older people as rights holders, of States as duty bearers and the extension of a rights-based approach to policy design and implementation to counteract multidimensional social exclusion. Failure is not inevitable. Political commitment from key stakeholders, coupled with support from bilateral and multilateral donors, could result in better outcomes from Agenda 2030 on older-age exclusion.