Press Briefing by Juan Somavia, Director-General of the International Labour Organization

By : United Nations
April 9, 2002

In a press briefing at the Second World Assembly on Ageing this afternoon, the Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO) urged global actors to create employment opportunities for their ageing populations. The only way to tap the tremendous potential of older persons, Juan Somavia said, was to provide them with genuine opportunities to go on being useful to their communities.

The Second World Assembly -- being held in Madrid, Spain through Friday 12 April -- will provide a cooperative forum for governments and societies to develop a plan of action to address the social, cultural, economic and demographic realities of older persons in the new century. Mr. Somavia said that the rapid ageing of the population marked a radical change in modern human societies. The fact that the useful life of individuals has been extended was cause for celebration. "We must not respond to the phenomenon of ageing as if it has presented us with a set of intractable problems", he added. "We must celebrate it by removing the stigma from notions of old age and retirement."

He said the fact that a person had reached an age at which, in accordance with law, he or she was entitled to retirement, did not mean that person retired from life altogether. Neither did it mean that person should retire from the family or community.

He said that older people represented an accumulation of human wealth and vast potential who could obviously contribute creative solutions to many of the problems facing the world today. Still, in the current economy -- not one that could be praised for its humanity or sensitivity to social issues -- growing old was seen as an obstacle. "Senior citizens are seen as things to be thrown out", he said.

The core ageing issue should not be seen as merely an economic phenomenon, he continued. That view reflected the current globalization model, in which economic concerns appeared to outweigh social concerns. International actors must work to ensure that financial concerns did not dominate over production, creation of employment and expansion of work opportunities. "If we are unable to change our economic policies and address productive solutions to social problems, it will be very hard to make the most of the ageing phenomenon", he said.

Highlighting a recent European Union initiative to set a goal of creating full employment throughout the lifespan, Mr. Somavia said all international actors must find positive ways to respond to the demands that older people needed to have decent work opportunities. "Our response must be that we want our ageing populations to be a part of the future", he added. It was important to look at family, development and cultural issues when addressing population ageing. That was the call of the ILO, to ensure a more human approach to social policy schemes.

He went on to say that the decision to move towards full employment was a political one and policies must be prepared to ensure that occurred. The European Union had set a political goal that would add to stability within its member States -- creating employment was an answer to financial concerns because it ensured that there were future contributors to society. "When we know that older people will live far beyond their retirement age, we have to find ways for them to contribute to society."