Reference work by the Subcommittee on Older Women 2000 to 2014 (SCOW)

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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, and in collaboration with the NGO Committee on Ageing, 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). In 2012, the NGO Committee on Ageing integrated the work of the Subcommittee on Older Women (SCOW) into its mission to raise world awareness of the opportunities and challenges of global ageing.  SCOW worked to raise the visibility of older women as a subcommittee of the NGO Committee on Ageing.

Purposes of SCOW, Activities and Projects:
Awareness raising and education within 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 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).


NGO Committee on Ageing • PO Box 1854 • New York, NY • 10163-1854