Sub-Committee on Older Women

The task force on Older Women was formed during the 1999 UN International Year of Older Persons, by invitation of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women, to bring awareness about older women to the negotiations and caucus discussions during the Commission on the Status of Women.

In 2000, the task force was designated as the NGO/CSW Subcommittee on Older Women (SCOW). SCOW continues its work to raise the visibility of older women in all issues where discussions about gender equality take place. One of its major efforts to include older women in CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination Against all forms of Discrimination Against Women) concluded successfully in 2010 with CEDAW’s adoption of a General Recommendation on Older Women.

Purposes of SCOW, Activities and Projects:

• Awareness raising and education within the NGO/CSW membership and the community of NGOs at the United Nations;
• Research, information gathering, resource development;
• Advocacy within the United Nations, its specialized agencies and departments, to integrate older women issues into a life-cycle gender approach that includes women and girls of all ages;
• Increase awareness about how older women’s needs, issues, and contributions impact all aspects of life, through interventions at ECOSOC Commission Sessions, international conferences, treaties, and with member states;
• Ongoing monitoring of the Commission on the Status of Women and CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women).