|
|
Intervention by Fiona Clark, Policy Officer for HelpAge International to
UN General Assembly Informal Hearings with Civil Society for the Millennium Summit Review
By Fiona Clark, HelpAge International
June 23rd -24th 2005
First Session: Freedom to live in Dignity
Thank you Mr. Chair for this opportunity to address members of the General Assembly and civil society presented here.
I would like to draw the attention of all delegates to the rights of many millions of older women and men who live in poverty and undignified circumstances across the world. I have not noted any other speakers mention discrimination based on age, apart from Madame Charlotte Bunch who did refer to it in her presentation.
A woman who reaches old age in poverty and ill health; sees her children die of AIDS before her and is left to care for her orphaned grandchildren, often with little or no support,; who faces degrading discrimination and continued gender inequality; and is excluded from the services to which she is entitled; does not live free from want and cannot live in dignity.
One hundred million older people today live on less than a dollar a day.
Eighty per cent of older people in developing countries have no regular income.
The United Nations Declaration on Human Rights, articles 22-25, outlines the right of everyone to a basic standard of living and to social security. HelpAge International asks that these rights be acted upon and fully implemented by all countries of the world.
Evidence as presented in our documents available in this room, shows that basic social protection in the form of social pensions is an extremely effective use of development aid and a means for achieving poverty reduction and reaching the poorest. HelpAge International is asking that a social pension for older people be a core part of all national poverty reduction and development plans, such as the pensions currently in place in countries such as Namibia, South Africa and Botswana and written into the Republic of Tanzania's new Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper.
We would therefore ask that the draft outcome document for the Millennium review Summit recognise the role of social protection as a core strategy for targeting the poorest and a legitimate and effective use of aid. We also ask that the international community commit itself to poverty reduction efforts that ensure the rights of all people to live in dignity from cradle to grave.
Thank you very much.
|
|
