Professor Ann Stewart, with the assistance of Dr Jennifer Lander, has been asked by Help Age International (a leading non-governmental organisation campaigning for and with, older people worldwide) to produce a briefing document for them on gender and ageing. Happily, people across the globe are now able to enjoy fulfilling lives for longer but many older people are not well treated. The briefing document will be used to highlight how gender issues affect many aspects of ageing.

It will assist the organisation in developing their understanding of the interaction between gender issues and ageing and to integrate a gender perspective within the range of their activities across the world. Ann and Jenny will visit Help Age International's regional offices and some of their partners in India, Kenya, Tanzania, Thailand and Vietnam over the next few months to learn more.

Ann told us, “when I decided to take on this piece of work I knew who would be the perfect researcher to assist me. Jenny had worked with me on my Leverhulme project and had built up a good understanding of background issues and proved herself wonderfully capable of turning my jumbled thoughts into sensible notes and plans of action. She is a great researcher.”

Jenny told us, “working with Ann on the HelpAge International consultancy, and previously on her Leverhulme research project in Kenya, has been a brilliant experience for me. It has not only diversified my research expertise within socio-legal/law in development studies, but it has also given me opportunities to work beyond the academy with practitioners. I have had a long-standing research interest in the intersection between law, gender and development and it’s been wonderful to have the chance to gain insight into the NGO world and have an impact on practice.”

Despite her PhD being about law in development and legal pluralism in quite a different context (the mining sector in Mongolia), Jenny found that the work with Ann on questions of gender and ageing in East Africa had interesting overlaps with themes in her doctoral research (e.g. the shifting role of the state and NGOs in relation to development and the impact of global norms on national legal and policy frameworks). She said, “the PhD is a long process, and I really valued the opportunity to work on other projects and maintain a sense of breadth as a researcher.”

Jennifer graduated from her PhD at Warwick in January this year. We look forward to seeing what she gets up to next.

Ann, Jenny, David Ngira Otieno and Agnes Meroka (also Warwick Law Alumni) working on the Leverhulme Research Project in Nairobi.