INPEA International Rosalie Wolf Memorial Award

The International Rosalie Wolf Memorial Award is presented at the Global level, annually by INPEA to "an individual who has demonstrated dedication and commitment to the ideals of Rosalie Wolf to prevent and reduce elder abuse and promote awareness through one or more of the following: research, education, policy, practice."

Nominations for the 2013 Annual Award are NOW CLOSED
Professor Ariela Lowenstein and Professor Monica Ferreira are the 2013 Co-Chairs of the Committee to Select.
Dr. Pat Brownell, and Lia Daichman, MD, INPEA Past President, are members of the Committee to Select.
click here for the R S Wolf Nomination Form.doc
Further information may be obtained by sending e-mail to


Please visit

The Rosalie Wolf Interdisciplinary Geriatric Healthcare Research Center at UMASS (click)

We are one of just seven Centers nationwide selected by RAND/The Hartford Foundation initiative to be awarded funding to establish a center focused on improving the health of older adults through innovative, interdisciplinary research. 

2014 -  Dr. V. Mohini Giri

Former Chairperson, National Commission for Women, India

Founder/Chairperson-Guild of Service, New Delhi, India

is serving a Chairperson of Guild of Service since 1979. Guild of Service is a National Voluntary developmental organization working with the mandate of empowering women, children, widows and elderly. Dr. Giri also serves as a Founder /President of the War Widow Association since 1971 and as Founder Trustee of the Women’s Initiative for Peace in South Asia since 2000. A social activist and leader in the women's movement, specializing in human rights and gender justice, Dr. Giri is renowned both nationally and internationally for her committed work in empowering womenof all ages politically, socially, legally and economically. 

She represents and takes initiative for India’s widows, a unique constituency.  She is a heroic leader and a courageous advocate for what she believes in.  She is visionary and an advocate for the vulnerable in the society.

She has held many public positions such as Chair of the National Commission for Women (1994-1998) and Chair of the Delhi State Social Welfare Advisory Board (1987-1990).

As Chair of the National Commission for Women, Dr. Giri gave a new direction to the National Commission for Women and successfully implemented several schemes for empowering women.

She participated in the first workshop on the Human Rights of Older Persons in Asia, convened by Dr PKB Nayar, Centre for Gerontological Studies, Kochulloor, Thiruvananthapuram.Dr Giri continues her advocacythrough events during the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, and gave the Keynote at an Older Women’s Rights Forum of the NGO Committee on Ageing, Sub Committee on Older Women at Fordham University in 2013. 

Belonging to an illustrious family of scholars, civil servants and musicians, Mohini Giri is the daughter-in-law of Late Shri V.V. Giri, former President of India. Proficient in nine languages, Dr. Giri holds the doctorate from G.B. Pant University and a post graduate degree in Ancient Indian History, University of Delhi. Her publications include Kanya: Exploitation of Little Angles (1998) and Emancipation and Empowerment of Women (1996).

Publications include Kanya- Exploitation of Little Angels, Emancipation and Empowerment, Living Death, Deprived Devis – Women’s Unequal Status in Society and Several Articles in News Papers/ Magazines on gender based issues.

AWARDS: Lifetime Achievement Award for building a society for all ages by NGO Committee on Ageing, United Nations, 2011, Padma Bhushan Award 2007, the 2nd highest civilian award in India,  Rajiv Gandhi Shiromani Award, Nominated for Alternate Nobel Peace Prize among 1000 peace women Across the Globe,  International Peace Award, Sat Paul Mittal Award of Appreciation for Outstanding Service to humanity  etc.

2013 - Dr. Elizabeth Podnieks

Past Vice President International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse

Founder: World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD)

Elizabeth Podnieks holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Toronto, a Master of Environmental Science from York University, Toronto and a Doctor of Education in Sociology from the University of Toronto. She has held nursing positions in Halifax; London, England; Boston; and Toronto. She is presently a professor emeritus at Ryerson University’s School of Nursing in Toronto. She conducted the “National Survey on Abuse of the Elderly in Canada” in 1991. This landmark survey was the first to be national in scope and marks an important step for understanding the extent of the problem of elder abuse in Canada. Her research includes “Raising Awareness of Elder Abuse in Faith Communities.” She was co-investigator on “A Study of Elder Abuse Prevention and Intervention Strategies in Five Countries: Argentina, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America”, with Dr. Toshio Tataia principle investigator. She was responsible for Canada being included in the study by WHO/ INPEA on “A Global Response to Elder Abuse: Missing Voices.” She is a pioneer in elder abuse work in faith communities, and raising awareness of elder abuse among children and adolescents. Dr. Podnieks has published extensively in the area of elder abuse and neglect, and has presented at numerous conferences, workshops, scientific and educational meetings at both the national and international level. She is on the Editorial Board for the Journal on Elder Abuse and Neglect (JEAN), and has been invited to be a guest editor in publishing three Canadian volumes of JEAN. She has also served on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Gerontological Nursing. Included in the many conferences she has chaired and organized around gerontological issues was the First and Second National Conference on Elder Abuse held in Toronto in 1991 and 1999. Dr. Podnieks is founder of the Ontario Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (ONPEA), and Honorary Chair of their Board of Directors. She was the Vice-Chair of the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (INPEA) and founder of the Canadian Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (CNPEA). She is a Board Member of the National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (USA). She was co-chair with Minister Cam Jackson on the Ontario Provincial Elder Abuse Round Table. She was co-investigator of the “National Study on Services for Abused Older Canadians.” She is Principle Investigator of “The Worldview on Elder Abuse: Environmental Scan” and a research partner of “A Way Forward: Promising Approaches to Abuse Prevention in Institutional Settings.” Dr. Podnieks founded the “World Elder Abuse Awareness Day” (WEAAD) in 2006. Dr. Podnieks was awarded the Order of Canada in recognition for her work in the field of elder abuse. INPEA International Rosalie Wolf Memorial Award (For past recipients and nomination form see www.inpea.net) The International Rosalie Wolf Memorial Award is presented, annually by INPEA to "an individual who has demonstrated dedication and commitment to the ideals of Rosalie Wolf to prevent and reduce elder abuse and promote awareness through one or more of the following: research, education, policy, practice."

2012 -  Monica Ferreira, DPhil, MA, retired as the founding director of the Institute of Ageing in Africa (IAA) at the University of Cape Town in 2006, and is currently the President of International Longevity Centre-South Africa, operated within the IAA, and the Co-President, with Baroness Sally Greengross, of the ILC Global Alliance. She trained in Sociology and has spent almost four decades working in African Gerontology.

Ferreira serves on the advisory boards of the International Institute of Ageing (United Nations-Malta) and the African Research on Ageing Network (AFRAN), and on the editorial board of Ageing International. She is a Fellow of the World Demographic and Ageing Forum, and was previously a member of the Advisory Board of the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (INPEA), and later INPEA’s Regional Representative for Africa.  She has been a consultant to the United Nations, the World Health Organization and the African Union.

Ferreira was a member of the UN Technical Committee to draft the Madrid Plan of Action on Ageing 2002, and a member of UN expert groups to draft the global UN/IAG Research Agenda on Ageing for the 21st Century and an Africa regional research agenda. She has participated in several advisory groups to review and develop South African government policy, legislation, etc.: in particular, the Older Persons' Bill and a South African Human Rights Commission Forum for Older Persons

Her research on elder abuse in South Africa dates from the late 1980s, and she has published numerous papers in scientific journals, including the Journal of Elder Abuse & Neglect (JEAN). In 2001 she was commissioned by the United Nations Programme on Ageing to undertake a review of elder abuse in a global context, the outcome of which informed the Madrid Plan. In the course of her work on elder abuse she developed a classificatory system for types of abuse manifested in sub-Saharan African countries – which she argues takes more violent forms than in other regions. She was one of the first scholars to draw global attention to the problem of allegations of witchcraft against older persons and the consequences as a form of abuse in sub-Saharan African countries. She has consistently approached  elder abuse in her work and publications  from a human rights perspective. Elder abuse is a core research and policy programme moreover at ILC South Africa, and currently focuses on the eradication of age discrimination (hence, systemic abuse), and the promotion of older persons’ human rights and  their empowerment.

Professor Monica Ferreira

Affiliation:  Professor and President, International Longevity Centre–South Africa, University of Cape Town

Address:International Longevity Centre-South Africa,  University of Cape Town

Return to Top