Transforming elder care through collective policy action in Southern Africa

 

Southern Africa has one of the largest and fastest-growing elderly populations in Africa. In some areas, men and women who reach the age of 60 can expect to live an additional 17 and 20 years, respectively. However, older adults often face multiple health issues, and their care is primarily managed by families, and by women and girls in particular. While essential, this care is unpaid and largely unrecognized. There is a need for more financial, practical and professional support for caregivers, yet it remains unclear what support is available and feasible in financially constrained environments.

Building on a successful pilot in South Africa, this project combines empirical investigation alongside a series of national elder care policy dialogues to consider how countries with diverse economic resources in Southern Africa are managing elder care and pinpoint feasible policy options that work in the local contexts. The work will include four countries: Botswana, Malawi, Namibia and South Africa. By working with a coalition of partners in each country, the project aims to drive policy action through the formulation of elder care plans via national-level dialogues where locally relevant priorities and possibilities for elder care services and support for unpaid carers are shared.

The project is supported under the Scaling Care Innovations in Africa partnership co-funded by Global Affairs Canada and IDRC, a five-year initiative aimed at scaling tested and locally grounded policy and program innovations to redress gender inequalities in unpaid care work in sub-Saharan Africa.