A/HRC/45/14 and relevant socioeconomic characteristics, is essential to effective public policymaking that is inclusive of older persons. 8 21. The framing of the ageing category, as circumscribed for statistical purposes, reproduces societal assumptions about later life and older persons, including ageist attitudes. Engaging older persons and their representative organisations in data-collection efforts will improve the breadth and depth of information on this population group, avoiding stereotypical and simplified portrayals of old age and older persons, which may perpetuate their exclusion and discrimination. It will ensure that data not only depicts the challenges that older persons face, but also the opportunities of ageing both at the societal and the individual level. 22. Another key function of data collection is its contribution to awareness-raising and empowerment. Shedding light on structural and systematic ways in which older persons are left behind, as well as on the roles in which they contribute to society, can help to gradually change perceptions of later life, especially for it to be more than an inevitable stage of deficit and decline. 23. To prevent old age inequalities, interventions are needed in early life. Data that can effectively inform action therefore needs to take a life course approach and identify the early- and mid-life factors that have the most impact on later lives. Furthermore, factors such as socioeconomic conditions, gender, disability, or being from an ethnic minority, and other characteristics and conditions that may lead to inequalities, tend to be amplified in old age. 24. Moreover, the prevalence of multiple, intersecting and aggravated forms of discrimination faced by older persons, and the high incidence of poverty and isolation, especially among older women, persons with disabilities, persons of African descent, individuals belonging to indigenous peoples, persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, rural persons, persons living on the streets, migrants and refugees, among other groups (see A/HRC/RES/33/5), need to be ascertained and supported by significant data to allow for informed policymaking to tackle the colossal task of addressing old age exclusion and inequality. B. The data gap conundrum 1. Availability 25. The availability of data is a prerequisite in determining the human rights protection gaps of older persons and addressing them effectively in law, policy and practice. The exclusion of older persons from surveys and national censuses affects the ability to understand the extent to which they are able to participate in society and enjoy their human rights on an equal basis with others. Due to the lack of significant data and statistics, inequalities faced by older persons often remain invisible.9 26. There is not yet a critical mass of dedicated studies on ageing or on older persons worldwide that would enable an analysis of the extent to which older persons enjoy their human rights. Where such studies are carried out, they are not necessarily comprehensive in scope and leave out important human rights aspects. 27. As for general surveys, they are not specifically designed to capture the situation of older persons in an all-encompassing manner. They either exclude older persons de facto or do not cover the whole range of their human rights challenges. Out of 133 countries included in a survey by WHO, for example, only 17 per cent gathered data on abuse of and violence against older persons.10 A human rights-based approach to data requires that older persons, particularly the most disadvantaged or marginalized, be included in national and large-scale data-collection efforts. 8 9 10 Secretary-General of the United Nations, Policy Brief on the Impact of COVID-19 on Older Persons. Ibid. Available from www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/status_report/2014/en/. 7