24 May 1984

Meeting 19

Question of elderly women

The Economic and Social Council,

Recalling the important conclusions and recommendations of the International Plan of Action on Aging adopted by the World Assembly on Aging, in particular paragraphs 11, 20 (b) and (c), 25 (m), 31 (g), 45, 66 (recommendations 25 and 26), 67 (recommendations 27, 28 and 29), 72 (recommendation 36 (c)) and 89, concerning elderly women,

Reaffirming General Assembly resolution 38/27 of 22 November 1983, in which the Assembly recognized that women had a longer life expectancy than men and that they would increasingly constitute a majority of the elderly population of the world,

Reaffirming resolution 4 of the World Conference of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace, in which the Conference emphasized that the increase in the life expectancy of women had not been dealt with comprehensively,

Appreciating that at the World Assembly on Aging special attention was given to the problems faced by some elderly women, namely, income security, education, employment, housing, health and community support services and absence of social contacts,

Believing that more data on the situation of the aging should be collected, specifically to determine the needs of elderly women and to formulate appropriate solutions,

Recalling the request made by the World Conference of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace in its resolution 4 that such data should be submitted to Member States participating in the Conference and to the Commission on the Status of Women,

1. Requests the Secretary-General to prepare, within existing budgetary resources and in accordance with the established priorities of the work of the Commission on the Status of Women, an information report on the status and situation of elderly women in their societies, their social, health and economic needs, and their entitlements as compared to those of men, comparing single, divorced and married women and widows on the basis of reports, discussions and recommendations, in particular those of the World Assembly on Aging;

2. Further requests the Secretary-General to submit that report to the Commission on the Status of Women at its thirty-first session with a view to recommending necessary action relating to the plight of elderly women throughout the world;

3. Decides to include the question of elderly women under the appropriate item of the agenda of the thirty-first session of the Commission on the Status of Women.