The OIC Member countries are experiencing an increase in the size, proportion, and the life expectancy of elderly people. An ageing population has remarkable and wide-ranging socio-economic impacts, from increasing the pressure on social security systems to reducing labour force and changing moral and cultural values. This necessitates the OIC Member countries to devise and implement policies and action plans that can mitigate the negative consequences on society, and develop and provide services for the well-being of the elderly.

In order to extenuate the challenges faced by the elderly people, the OIC-2025 Programme of Action specifically guides joint Islamic action on the subject under multiple priority areas as well as specific goals related to the establishment of effective and reliable policies targeting the elderly. To contribute to the prescriptive measures and commitments initiated by OIC Member States, SESRIC drafted the OIC Strategy on the Elderly and prepares regular reports to assess the demographic trends in ageing and the situation of the elderly in the OIC Member States.

These research outputs serve as technical background reports for the biennial sessions of the Ministerial Conference on Social Development. The research undertaken by SESRIC fills in important social and economic gaps to assist the OIC Member countries in formulating policies and programmes that will ease the burden on social and economic institutions as the ageing population increases in the coming decades. To this end, the reports on the elderly in OIC Member Countries examine the situation of the elderly in a comparative perspective and aims to reveal key challenges faced by them. In addition, these reports provide recommendations to policy-makers in addressing the problems of the elderly with a view to ensuring their full and equal participation into socio-economic life as well as to the development process of their respective countries.