A/HRC/14/31 103. Ensuring sustainability also requires strengthening the recipient State’s capabilities to eventually implement the social pension programme unassisted. This includes a broad range of measures that can be supported by donor States, such as providing technical support to local and national authorities, building civil society’s capacity for monitoring the social pension system and holding the Government accountable, and assisting in the implementation of effective tax systems. VII. Conclusions and recommendations 104. The rapid ageing of the world population, particularly within developing countries, requires that there be an urgent assessment of the existing policies aimed at protecting older persons. Extreme poverty amongst older persons is a reality in every region of the world today: lack of access to work and income, increased need for health care and dependency within the household are some of the factors that expose older persons to poverty. Unless action is taken, the situation will deteriorate. 105. The traditional reliance of many States on contributory pension systems as the main source of social security in old age has left a significant portion of older persons unprotected. This problem is particularly serious for women as most are not covered by contributory pension schemes although they tend to live longer. Investing in noncontributory pensions can play an important role in empowering older people and contribute to the realization of their human rights, in particular their economic, social and cultural rights. 106. Non-contributory pensions are the only means by which universal pension coverage can be achieved and gender imbalances redressed. However, social pensions must not be regarded as the sole response to old-age poverty. To be effective in the promotion of an adequate standard of living, social pensions can only be one component of a comprehensive social protection strategy that addresses the impact of extreme poverty throughout one person’s life cycle and includes measures to ensure older persons access to adequate social services, in particular access to health care. 107. Keeping in mind important lessons learned in developing and developed countries that invest in non-contributory systems of social security, the recommendations below attempt to summarize the main human rights concerns that States must address when establishing or extending social pensions. (a) Recognize social security as a human right and establish appropriate legal frameworks 108. States must recognize the human right to social security in domestic law. Noncontributory and contributory pension schemes must be guided by international human rights standards for the right to social security. (b) Ensure universal access to social security 109. States must design social pension schemes progressively to ensure access to social security for all. At the very least, they must provide protection to all older persons who, when reaching the retirement age prescribed in national legislation, have not completed a qualifying period of contributions or are not otherwise entitled to an old-age insurance-based pension and have no other source of income. 20 GE.10-12583