In 1990, my wife, Elizabeth Sclater, was appointed principal equalities officer for older people at Lewisham council in London – a pioneering role she extended, beyond health and social care, to encompass education, housing, pensions and public services. The comprehensive equality and diversity policy she developed resulted in Lewisham becoming one of only three councils in the UK to achieve the highest equality standard. With colleagues, Elizabeth, who has died aged 78 of cancer, then developed the Equality Impact Assessment toolkit that was used by, among others, the Home Office, regional government offices, and the Commission for Equality and Human Rights transition team.
Her innovative approach – involving older women, championing their voices and sharing experiences – helped to inspire and empower many, especially those who felt marginalised. Elizabeth then made successful bids for three EU-funded projects that contributed to the gender and age policy agenda of the European Commission. She also founded the Older Women’s Network, Europe (OWN Europe), to foster collaboration and influence policy of member states, and participated at the fourth World Conference of Women (held in Beijing in 1995) as a member of the NGO Forum organising committee.
Elizabeth represented OWN Europe on AGE Platform Europe taskforces and its council, and on the Global Alliance for the Rights of Older People. A notable contribution involved working with OWN Europe members, non-governmental organisations, and the committee responsible for the UN convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women (CEDAW). Signatories to the convention are expected, every four years, to report progress made towards eliminating discrimination and promoting equality for older women.
She compiled a “shadow report” for the CEDAW committee in 2012 on behalf of OWN Europe and the National Alliance of Women’s Organizations to help it have what was described as “a constructive dialogue” with the UK government about gaps in performance ascertained from its report the previous year.
Elizabeth facilitated international workshops on gender and age at EU and UN conferences, as well as contributing to the NGO Committees on Ageing in Geneva and New York, and advocating for a legally binding UN convention on the rights of older persons.
Elizabeth was born in Edinburgh, the daughter of John Sclater, a rheumatologist, and Margaret Bennett (nee Glen), a nurse. After boarding at Kilgraston school in Perth, she graduated with a BSc in social science at Edinburgh University in 1967, then qualified as a child care officer in 1970 following further courses at the London School of Economics and Southampton University. I met Elizabeth in 1972 through a mutual friend and we married in 1976.
Her early career was dedicated to the welfare of children in social work roles across Durham and the north-east of England. Later her focus moved towards the needs of older people as her career progressed in the London boroughs of Croydon, Greenwich and Lewisham. In 2019 Elizabeth was appointed OBE for services to older women.
She is survived by me, and her elder sister, Marjory.
