Together with our members, AGE is increasingly engaging in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by the United Nations in 2015. Our objective is to look for synergies between this global agenda, covering a series of issues relevant for older persons, and other policy frameworks which deal with ageing population, such as the EU Pillar of Social Rights, or the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA).
To build further our capacity to engage in the Agenda 2030 and influence it from the perspective of ageing, AGE took active part in the UNECE Regional Forum on Sustainable Development on 21-22 March 2019 in Geneva.
Every year the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) invites member states and key stakeholders including civil society to gather for the Regional Forum on Sustainable Development and discuss work-in-progress in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. Prior to attending this year’s Forum, AGE took part in a preparatory NGO meeting of the UNECE Regional Civil Society Engagement Mechanism on 20 March. Our contribution informed the civil society’s joint policy statement which was presented at the Forum.
At the SDG Regional Forum itself, AGE had an opportunity to speak at the round table where national governments reviewed the Goal 8 on decent work and inclusive growth. In our intervention we focused on the key challenges older workers and older populations face in relation to labour market and working conditions: the persisting discrimination in employment, lack of adequate work-life balance arrangement and gender inequality. Insisting on the intergenerational perspective in access to employment-related social protection we also pledged in favour of mandatory social safety nets across all different forms of employment, including the atypical jobs and non-standard work contract.
The Forum covered other country thematic reviews, plenary discussions and side events. Stakeholders from UNECE governments, civil society, academia and the private sector shared experiences and discussed concrete solutions on how to meet the SDGs, in paticular Goals 4 (quality education), 8 (decent work and economic growth), 10 (reduced inequalities), 13 (climate action) and 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions).
The discussions and outcomes of the UNECE Forum will inform next July the session of the UN High-level Political Forum (HLPF) on SDG ‘Empowering people and ensuring inclusiveness and equality’.
Visit the event web page for more information. check out the agenda here.
In December 2018 AGE already pointed out some of the challenges in the implementation and monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goals from an old age perspective at the 11th annual meeting of the UN-Economic Commission for Europe’s Working Group on Ageing. Read our article here.
In November 2018, we responded to the Fundamental Rights’ consultation on SDGs and human rights. You can read our response here
In the coming months, we will be further building our members’ capacity to engage in the 2030 Agenda. Our AGE Barometer 2019 will make a review of the socio-economic realities of older people taking our national governments’ engagement in the framework of the EU Pillar fo Social Rights, the MIPAA and the Sustainable Development Goals. For more information, please contact Maciej.kucharczy@age-paltform.eu or philippe.seidel@age-platform.eu
