AARP and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) Programme on Ageing hosted the 18th annual Briefing Series on Global Aging entitled Population Aging, Older Women and Development Financing on May 28, 2025. It explored how development finance architecture should support the specific contributions and recognize the risks faced by older people, particularly older women, in the context of global population ageing. The moment of the briefing was also a moment of deep negotiations at the UN on the future of social development, and global development finance. The briefing outlined solutions to improve global financial systems for development in response to the global megatrend of population aging.
By 2050, a stunning 80 percent of the world’s older persons will reside in low- and middle-income countries. Throughout the event, thought leaders shared how the world’s development finance architecture can future-proof social and economic development. Resoundingly, they underscored that population aging is not a burden. It provides an opportunity to build fairer, more inclusive economies that value every facet of life, including in digitalization, and workplaces.
In her welcome, Debra Whitman, AARP Chief Public Policy Officer, urged attendees to support older people’s participation in social development. “Older people are not burdens to economies; they are key drivers of growth in economies around the world, she said. Highlighting AARP’s publication ARC 5.0, she noted that “Social pensions benefit older adults and have a measurable impact on improving GDP…in South Africa, every Rand spent in pensions yields nearly 1.4 Rand back to the South African economy.”
In her address, Bjørg Sandkjær, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination in the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, shared a sense of urgency about how as proportions of older persons increase, the need to rethink how we finance and deliver development becomes more pressing: “investing in gender sensitive, age inclusive policies now helps to shape our shared future.”
Then AARP CEO Dr. Myechia Minter-Jordan noted the moment of the event: “This year, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity for member states of the UN to advance the global development architecture to respond to global population aging,” she said. Opportunities like those presented by the Fourth Conference on Financing for Development’s outcome document to advance social protection through the global financial architecture are rare. If the world ignores the opportunity to reflect older persons’ and older women’s rights and their needs there, or in the agreed outcome document for the Second World Summit for Social Development, it will not get another chance to course-correct for decades.
Irene Arias Hofman, CEO of IDB Lab at the Inter American Development Bank, offered a lens of technology and entrepreneurship to anticipate future needs, and act accordingly. Her keynote highlighted how supporting older persons’ entrepreneurship, right skilling and upskilling employment for older persons are some of the key elements of IDB Lab’s work. She shared the example of Alan Patrikof, a 90-year-old venture capitalist, still working on projects to advance entrepreneurship. And she lifted up examples of how IDB Lab is advancing its work in care economies and support to entrepreneurs across Latin America and the Caribbean.
A dynamic conversation moderated by AARP Director of Global Advocacy Bethany Brown featured insights from with Cynthia Samuel-Olonjuwon, ILO Special Representative to the UN and Director, Office for the United Nations, Ambassador Suela Janina, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Albania to the UN, and Pat Tomlinson, President and CEO of Mercer. Their dialogue highlighted evidence that social protection and labor force participation are drivers of social and sustainable development, and discussed the implications of technology, data and innovative financing for advancing older people’s social development.
Samuel-Olonjuwon highlighted universal and rights-based social protection and non-contributory pension schemes as effective mechanisms for reducing old-age poverty, increasing decent work and creating lifelong learning opportunities, and modernizing institutions and social dialogue that are not sensitive to age dynamics. “Population aging supports innovation and productivity, and ensures that there is effective intergenerational orientation towards promoting sustainable development,” she said.
Ambassador Janina, as a member of UN Women’s Executive Board, highlighted that UN Women says it works for all women and girls, and that includes women in old age. She noted that UN discussions on its draft strategy for 2026-2030 are ongoing, and population aging is on the agenda. She also highlighted the work of UN Member States to address older persons’ rights in the context of sustainable development, and applauded that leadership. She noted that the initial draft Outcome Document for the Second World Summit for Social Development reflects some of the priorities of this leadership for coordination in the right moment.
Tomlinson offered an employer- and private-sector- perspective from Mercer on solutions for longer working lives, and pensions. He highlighted examples of mandatory savings plans for formal workers, as well as government incentives for private enterprises that support older workers. Mercer’s work supports employers driving businesses forward by reskilling older employees to maintain otherwise shrinking workforces. He highlighted that artificial intelligence may help some knowledge workers to be able to stay in the workforce for longer. And, he underscored that these workforces create productivity, creating GDP growth.
As AARP continues its partnerships through the mechanisms at the UN, and beyond, it will continue to convene thought leaders in dialogues like this briefing. In addition to its aims of highlighting older persons and older women in concurrent negotiations at the UN, the briefing was an opportunity to recognize the work that so many are doing to deepen a collective impact for older persons around the world. As noted in her closing remarks Lina Walker, Senior Vice President, AARP Global Thought Leadership encouraged participants to "consider older people and the aging populations as you continue your negotiations on development, financing, on the allocation of resources for social, economic, and sustainable development."