A/HRC/44/36 women. Ms. Bethel stated that substantive equality, non-discrimination and State obligations were the pillars of older women’s economic and social rights. She urged States to repeal discriminatory laws, enact laws that protected the rights of older women and ensure that other laws did not result in indirect discrimination, thus looking at the actual and lived experiences of equality of older women. For example, she insisted on an obligation for States to provide a support system, including free microcredit and affordable transportation to enable older women to participate in economic and social life. She concluded that economic independence empowered women at all stages of their lives to make decisions concerning maternity, marriage and participation in public life. C. Statements by representatives of States and observers 39. During the dialogue, speakers reiterated that population ageing was one of the most significant global phenomena of the twenty-first century and a challenge that societies must urgently face. While older women constituted an invaluable asset to society at all levels and played a vital role in all aspects of the social and economic development of States, they faced multiple challenges, discrimination and abuse on a daily basis and were often overlooked in national and international legislation, leading to a limited and fragmented response to the enjoyment of their human rights. In that context, speakers asked what could be done to increase the visibility of the issues that older women faced and what specific role technical cooperation and capacity-building could play in enhancing and sustaining the substantial economic activity of older persons in many sectors, including through the provision of lifelong skills. 40. Speakers acknowledged that to eradicate discrimination and abuse against older women, all discrimination against women and girls, beginning early and continuing throughout the life cycle, should be addressed. They agreed that when discrimination based on age and gender intersected, they produced forms of discrimination that uniquely disadvantaged older women. Age discrimination was still legal in many countries; age limits on education and training reduced the employability of older women; mandatory retirement ages excluded them from the workforce; and age limits on financial services limited their financial independence. Speakers underscored the importance of social protection systems, including pensions, to support the realization of the rights of older people and pointed out that contributory pension systems tended to exacerbate gender inequality, homelessness and poverty for women. They asked the panel how the pay gap in pensions could be reduced in the coming years and decades, and to share best practices in terms of adequate non-contributory pensions for women in order to ensure income security. 41. Speakers noted that the debate was ongoing as to whether to adopt a new international instrument or to make better use of the existing instruments. Many urged the former option so as to clearly define the normative elements of the rights of older persons and outline the duties of States to ensure older women’s equal access to education and employment opportunities; reduce the unfair burden of unpaid caregiving and domestic work borne by older women; and enable healthy ageing for older women through supportive and gender-sensitive institutions. Some speakers insisted on the need for a comprehensive transformation and fundamental redistribution of work to address generation and gender gaps, including by providing public services, social protection and a basic infrastructure, and by promoting the sharing of domestic and care work between men and women. Speakers called for developing intergenerational solidarity and community life as a means for the economic and social empowerment of older women. D. Responses by panellists and concluding remarks 42. In her concluding remarks, Ms. Nambeya emphasized that the first thing that needed to be done was to acknowledge the existence of grandmothers and older persons in general. She explained that during the AIDS epidemic, nobody knew they were there, they were not accounted for and were stigmatized instead. On capacity-building, she stressed that all education and skills development that was considered relevant for young people should also be considered relevant for older people: the grandmothers wanted to go to school, to learn new skills, for example on how to communicate effectively or how to raise funds. She 9