Ken Bluestone

Head of Policy and Influencing, Age International

About Ken Bluestone

Ken leads Age International’s policy and influencing work in the UK and internationally on issues affecting older people in lower and middle-income countries.

Ken's team focuses on government relations, parliamentary work, research, and building relationships with stakeholders who have a policy interest in ageing and international development. Ken has worked in policy and influencing for over 30 years with a wide range of NGOs, including: ACORD, CIIR, VSO and The Water Dialogues. He is on the Board of Directors of CommonAge and was previously Chair of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Older People (GAROP).

Stakeholder Group

NGO/Civil Society

Intro Content

Health Intergenerational Solidarity Sustainable Development Goals

For All at All Ages: Universal Health Coverage is only “universal” if older people are included

Health is an investment and necessary for fully realising our human potential—it is also a fundamental human right. But Universal Health Coverage that does not respond to the health needs of older people is not universal. Banner: HelpAge International

Influencer Of

Recent Comments

Feb 16, 2018

In order to achieve co-creation, re-imagine international
cooperation and shape citizen/multi-stakeholder engagement, we need to move
beyond destructive notions of intergenerational conflict that foster and fuel
divisions within society.

Co-creation requires recognising all parties as having something
equally valid and useful to contribute. Curiously, both youth and older people
face similar challenges that undermine their ability to participate
fully in this process – a person is judged unfairly and discriminated against
on the basis of their age at both of these points in their life.

Where older people are concerned, ageism and age discrimination
is common across almost all societies. When we reach ‘a certain age’, we are no
longer perceived as having something valid to offer. This is
embedded in our economic categories: in later life, a person arbitrarily moves
from being an ‘active’ contributor to society, a producer and net contributor,
to being perceived as ‘dependent’, a recipient or just a consumer.

This is not about pitting older people against youth, but of
ensuring that any individual is treated with dignity and respect across their
life, at any age. The Forum must actively seek to create spaces in which
a lifecourse perspective is brought to bear on the challenges ahead.