Gender Mainstreaming the Active Ageing Policy in Hong Kong

Gender mainstreaming is a policy making framework and global strategy that aims to achieve gender equality. The strategy has been endorsed and adopted by international organizations and governments that participated in the 4th Beijing Women’s Conference in 1995. The Hong Kong SAR government has a responsibility to make sure that the gender perspective is integrated at all levels of policy formation and implementation to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of governance. The concept of gender mainstreaming has been widely adopted in many countries, however, since the 1990s, translating this concept in different social and cultural contexts has become a policy priority for the international agenda.This study will explore how the international concept of gender mainstreaming has been translated into local policy formation and practice, and will take the “active ageing” policy in Hong Kong as a case study. “Active ageing” is a policy strategy that aims at facilitating the rights of older people, enabling them to remain healthy, stay in employment longer, and participate in community life. However, ageing is not a genderneutral issue. As well as differences in life expectancy between males and females, women and men also have different ageing trajectories that affect them differently. Studies into “active ageing” are not new, however, the gender perspective is largely missing from both Western and local studies. A broad-brush approach to policy making, disregarding gender differences, could result in widening the gap between women and men. How far has the ageing policy in Hong Kong addressed the gendered nature of ageing and the diverse life course of the different sexes? Do the existing policy and measures reflect the special needs of women and men, allowing older people who have different experiences and resources in their life course to live well? These questions remain unanswered.The proposed study aims to undertake a gender audit of the existing active ageing policy in Hong Kong and to identify possibilities for gender mainstreaming the policy to address the special needs of older women and men in employment, family, and community. The proposed study will have a long-term impact on developing a proactive and gender-sensitive active ageing policy that addresses the diverse needs of older women and men in Hong Kong and on developing policy alternatives for the local context.