THE NGO COMMITTEE ON AGEING

The 13th and final session of the General Assembly's Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals concluded 19July2014 with a outcome document containing 17 Goals plus over 160 targets.

Importantly, age is now included in a core document that embraces not only social issues but also economic and environmental ones, and the commitment to ‘all’ and to ‘’leave no one behind’ is explicitly inclusive of all ages. From a position where age struggled to get a mention, there are now age ​​signposts and targets in 9 of the 17 goals, plus a commitment in the Introduction [paragraph 17] and target 17.18 to age disaggregation and to leave no one behind. There are a range of mentions of ‘for all, and of ‘age’ and a narrative which, if not exactly the recommendations given to the co chairs and advocated for through governments and other stakeholders, picks up the majority of the aims they contained.

This is an important milestone in a multi-year process scheduled to conclude with a UN Summit in September 2015 to adopt a post-2015 development agenda to supersede the Millennium Development Goals.