Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, as part of their overseas development assistance (ODA) disbursement, (1) what assessment they have made of the economic contributions of older women in lower- and middle-income countries, and (2) what steps they have taken to ensure that ODA supports these women to access decent work and live fulfilling lives.

Older women remain economically active, often in difficult, informal roles and driven by necessity. The unpaid contributions women make over their lifetime to the economy as carers are unrecognised, and their informal work is often invisible. As a result, many older women lack access to savings, pensions or other social protection. FCDO is investing in improving collection and use of disaggregated data (by sex, age and disability) to enable us to empower and include those who are too often invisible or face additional barriers to escaping poverty. We have led the way on the Inclusive Data Charter Action Plan and encouraging multilaterals such as the World bank and UN to collect disaggregated and inclusive data.

FCDO aims to improve outcomes for women and girls, including older women, through the new £19 million Gender-Responsive Social Protection programme, which is building the evidence base on what works and offering technical assistance to strengthen government and partners social protection investments. We are also supporting governments to provide social protection for older women, including in Uganda, where over 210,000 women are currently benefitting from a senior citizen grant through a programme delivered and funded in partnership with the Governments of Ireland and Uganda.