CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The ongoing transformation of the Arctic is an ever-increasing threat to the everyday life of older men and women in the region. One salient consideration in assessing the resulting vulnerabilities to be addressed is inequality. In the Nordic Arctic, there are gaps in our knowledge of the particular social circumstances that contribute to inequal-ity for the older population at large, between older men and women and among the indigenous older Sámi. Accordingly, it is difficult to identify the inequalities leading to social injustice in a very concrete sense. One of my main claims in this study is that inequalities and injustices shape the vulnerabilities that older people face in the Nordic Arctic; other such factors include age, gender, ability, ethnicity and place. Equality and social justice can thus be viewed as tools to reduce the vulnerabilities of older people as a population and gender-based vulnerabilities within that population.

There are no international or regional human rights instruments for the protection of the rights of the older population at large. While most international human rights instruments can be applied to protect the rights of the older people, their needs should be more specifically recognized and given due attention. Existing human rights mech-anisms do not properly protect the rights of older people (HelpAge International, 2015). Although there are soft-law texts with a highly relevant human rights focus (HelpAge, 2015), for example in 1982, the World Assembly on Ageing adopted the Vi-enna International Plan of Action on Ageing, which has been endorsed by UN General Assembly (UNGA) in resolution 37/51. In 1991, in pursuance of the Plan of Action, the UNGA adopted resolution 46/91, which presents a set of principles entitled “The United Nations Principles for Older Persons”.

Nevertheless, even in the absence of concrete realization of older people’s rights in the contexts studied, it should be pointed out that the general welfare rules and regulations applicable to the Nordic Arctic offer somewhat better protection than elsewhere in the Arctic. Also promoting the wellbeing, health, functional capacity and independent living of the ageing population in the Nordic Arctic are specific pieces of national legislation: in Finland The Act on Supporting the Functional Capacity of the Older Population and on Social and Health Care Services for Older Persons (MSAH); in Sweden The Social Services Act and The Health and Medical Services Act (HSL); and in Norway, where primary care is organized at municipal level, the Municipal Health and Care Act of 2011, (NOMESCO Nordic, 2017).

Quite often, efforts to ensure equality and social justice are promoted with reference to and an emphasis on the human rights framework. Generally cited human rights documents, such as the ICCPR, ICESCR, CRPD and CEDAW, set out provisions applicable to persons belonging to the older population. However, the specific

geo-graphical context, such as the changing Arctic presented in this study, entails particular circumstances requiring actions at local, national and regional levels. Only then can the spirit of equality and social justice embodied in the human rights framework be realized. Thus, the spirit of human rights, which aims at ensuring equality and social justice, requires attention based on the particularities of each region.

Accordingly, the present study urges that attention be drawn to addressing the spe-cial needs of older people in the Nordic Arctic stemming from regional particularities.

To these ends, the research suggests a number of improvements, one being to better society’s structural conditions and enhance the natural and human-built environments to a standard that is age friendly. On the one hand, such improvements will facilitate promotion of fairness and, on the other, will further the enjoyment of human rights, leading to equality and social justice for the older people of the region. Mere enactment of regulations at national, regional and international levels will not solve the problems unless specific societal conditions, framed with due consideration for the regional con-text, are addressed within the relevant legal and policy frameworks.

It is also important to note that the status of older people, and the relative position of the genders within the group, depends on the role of individuals and on their social, economic and environmental standing. Promotion of the status of individuals in any given context, as well as promotion of socio-cultural, environmental and economic conditions in which individuals thrive, provides an opportunity to create a society that is age-friendly.

This study is thus an endeavour to bring out hidden aspects of structural inequality based on experiences of socially situated circumstances. I believe that the research will help to understand the inequalities and social injustices to be confronted in the course of Arctic changes, its particular contribution being the knowledge produced based on the experiences of the older interviewees. This knowledge provides an understanding of the specific challenges that the older population faces and of their needs and expec-tations in light of the changing circumstances in the region. By addressing the needs and expectations identified in the findings (Chapter 3), it will be possible to promote older people’s wellbeing, contributing to a more equal and socially just society in the region.

This study can be seen has having had a twofold purpose: it set out not only to highlight the importance of older people’s concerns in the regional context but also to produce new knowledge, as has been presented in Chapters 3, 4, 5 and 6. This will contribute to filling the gaps which the component articles and synthesis have identi-fied. Moreover, it will facilitate adoption of appropriate policy measures, that is, ones responding to the challenges facing older persons – men and women alike – in the region, including older Sámi, and enabling the older population at large to gain control over their lives. Based on the findings presented in Chapter 3, I have drawn up several recommendations for researchers, policy makers and stakeholders, the aim being to promote equality and social justice for the older population in the Nordic Arctic. The recommendations, presented below, might be applicable to the other Arctic regions as well.

Recommendations:

• For the promotion of equality and social justice, it is necessary to create aware-ness of the effects of the Arctic transformation and its possible impacts on older men and women. The concrete knowledge developed in this study can be inte-grated in future policy developments, with policy measures as well as strategies drawing on the findings presented. This in turn will serve to improve national and regional institutional mechanisms and increase the efficiency of existing in-stitutional bodies, making it easier to implement policy measures and promote further research to identify future needs and expectations.

• Establishing an age-friendly environment by allocating sufficient resources, as well as empowering older people by promoting their capacities and capabilities, will aid in mitigating many of the socio-economic, cultural and environmental challenges identified. Without promoting quality of life for older people, it will be challenging to reach the goal of establishing broader equality for them in the sense of social justice. A better quality of life would enable older people to tackle the threats they face more independently; at the same time, they would become more resilient. Therefore, the national and regional policy framework must include relevant strategies to this end, and to realize this goal policy mak-ers, researchmak-ers, relevant stakeholders and older people themselves should work together.

• Particular needs of the older persons belonging to intersectional groups, such as the indigenous Sámi people, have to be addressed within existing policy tools and institutions. When needed, it is also important to establish bodies for the promotion of the wellbeing of the older people belonging to this ethnic group. In particular, traditionally held culture and cultural rights give the Sámi a unique identity. Many older Sámi, who transmit their tradition-rooted values, norms and knowledge to the next generations, are depressed because the Arctic transformation threatens their ancestral identity. Therefore, particular measures have to be undertaken by integrating the norms of human rights as well as by using institutions, such as the Sámi Parliament, to protect and promote the identity of the Sámi and other traditional ethnic groups.

• As part of an age-friendly environment, health care facilities need to be made more readily available. Given the challenges posed by a lack of resources, which makes services poorly structured in the region studied, it is important to develop alternative mechanisms. Telemedicine services, already in place to some extent, have to be improved further so that they become more widespread and familiar.

In this regard, it is also important to promote training and education for older people themselves so that they can gain maximum benefit from such services.

• Older women in the region generally live longer than men and in old age suffer from frail health. In this respect, they can be regarded as marginalized due to age and gender. It is important that policy makers acknowledge this situation and help to promote resource allocation and services for older women.

• The participatory rights of older men and women need to be ensured so that they become actors in the policy-making process. Their opinions should be taken seriously in policy making and in implementation as well. Therefore, it is important to develop mechanisms for consultations with older people to learn about their everyday problems at the local level.

• A community-based monitoring strategy should be implemented so that any emerging threats and their potential effects on the older population can be identified and mitigated. Local authorities should be strengthened, both eco-nomically and strategically, to ensure facilities providing safer, healthier and environmentally sounder living conditions for older people.

• Additional research on the interconnection of ageing, gender and indigeneity could better clarify the understanding of inequality and injustice in regard to the Arctic transformation.

• In-depth research should be initiated to identify the special risks facing older people so that they may live healthy and full lives. In this regard, states should not only promote policies, but also undertake efforts to implement those poli-cies with adequate monitoring mechanisms.