Statement by President of Government of Spain as President of Second World Assembly on Ageing

By: United Nations
April 8, 2002

Following is the text of the statement made today by José María Aznar, President of the Government of Spain, as President of the Second World Assembly on Ageing being held in Madrid:

Welcome to Spain. We Spaniards feel especially honoured by your presence and by the fact that you have chosen our nation to discuss and adopt a plan of action that I hope will mark a historic landmark and serve as a reference for future decision-making on the issues that we are about to address.

There were many reasons for the Spanish Government to offer Spain as a venue for this global event

-- in the first place, it is a sign of the active role that our country wishes to play in international fora where discussion and work take place aimed at solving social problems of general interest;

-- through our offer, Spain also wishes to contribute directly to enriching the debate aroused by the process of ageing that many countries are experiencing, and to the consequences that it provokes in the most diverse ambits of our societies;

-- finally, because we are convinced that by hosting this event we shall learn from the experience of countries that have lived through our present situation, and at the same time, we shall enable other countries with younger populations to anticipate the times that they will possibly face. Since the last Assembly on ageing held in Vienna in 1982, the demographic structure of most of our countries has changed considerably, and the ageing of the population has made even more rapid advances than had been expected.

In the least developed countries, although it is not strictly possible to talk about "ageing", some symptoms are beginning to be observed that enable us to predict a major transformation in their populations.

In the developed countries, we have already for a number of years been witnessing an increase in the proportion of older people relative to the population as a whole, while at the same time it is seen that our older people, fortunately, live increasingly longer. In the European countries -- the so- called "old continent", we have long experience in this connection.

It is natural, therefore, that we (and especially the countries that still have young populations) should ask ourselves, whether ageing is a negative thing that should be avoided or whether, on the contrary, it holds positive and hopeful messages.

The first thing I have to say is that I do not have an unequivocal or simple reply. In life, age is not in itself either good or bad, just as childhood is not in itself either good or bad. Teenagers would like to have the wisdom and experience of adults, and this constitutes the freshness and excitement of youth.

In the population of a country, ageing also has positive aspects and others that are perhaps not so positive.

The ageing of a population with an adequate birth rate that is moving towards a balanced population is not the same thing as the ageing of a society that endangers the passing on of the baton to the next generation as well as its own subsistence.

The ageing of a population motivated by the free and responsible adjustment of families to new living conditions is not the same thing as ageing that taxes place as the result of population loss caused by war, forced exile, or a terrible epidemic such as AIDS.

There can be no doubt that population-ageing is a complex process which has many causes, and many different consequences.

Independent of how it may be considered, ageing is already "a fact" for many of us -- a new and undeniable phenomenon that requires profound changes and resolute responses on the part of all of society's structures and institutions.

I am of the opinion that institutions in general, and governments in particular, must be realistic and adapt our action to what people decide freely and responsibly, rather than try to influence their decisions in order to make them fit in to a mode that we -- perhaps in a logical and orderly manner -- have planned beforehand. However, we still are responsible for acting -- above all through education and social policies, to ensure that individual conduct will, in a natural way, incorporate civic behaviour imbued with a spirit of solidarity. This is not only on account of the need for a social pact that makes harmonious living possible, but above all because through civic behaviour people fully develop their humanity and find true quality of life.

When we see that in our societies, life is not respected, that the family is not valued, that children are not wanted and old people are not cared for ... then we know that something is not right. It is then that we have to act decisively because the problem is not that our society has grown old, but rather than it is weak or infirm.

The challenge facing many countries is that of adapting our society to this new reality, while anticipating the possible negative effects deriving from ageing, and at the same time removing the obstacles that can impede its balanced and harmonious development.

As proposed to us by the motto of this Assembly, we need to collectively generate a cultural change that allows for the creation of "societies for all ages", in which neither older people, nor any other person, on account of sex, health, race or religion, feels excluded.

At the present time the mental faculties of a 60 year old are the same as those of a middle-aged person some years ago. This new circumstance is evidence of the important role that older people can continue to play in the professions, in politics, in social life, or in intellectual and cultural training.

Countries with older populations must increasingly promote "active ageing" through policies of preventive medicine, continued learning and a flexible work schedule. All that, apart from making good use of the human potential of older people, will help to meet the possible costs deriving from the new population structure.

A country that fails to offer opportunities for active participation to its older people is a country that is missing opportunities. But it is above all a country that is preventing many useful and capable people from continuing to contribute well-being to others as well as a sense of satisfaction to their own lives. It is not so much a matter of "making them feel useful" as of convincing ourselves that they really are useful, and of allowing them to prove it.

Our society needs to recognize the role that older people have played throughout their lives, and can still play. They must be recognized for what they can still do, but above all, for what they themselves are. That is because older people, like any other healthy or sick people, rather than being useful; are; worth; something. That is why the family is such an important institution. It is because it is in families, and through the inter-generational relations that are found in families -- based on affection, freely offered -- that we mainly learn to appreciate people, whether old or young, healthy, ill, for what they themselves are.

That's why it is so important that governments acknowledge, facilitate and reward this work that families are doing in a way that is disinterested but clearly to the benefit of society as a whole. That is why it is so important for governments to collaborate, by providing them with the necessary help for the care and attention of older people, and ensuring that they will have access to the services of all kinds that will help them in their task.

Apart from ensuring the perfect integration of the rapidly growing older population into society, the countries which are addressing such processes have to anticipate the effects that ageing has on the economic, social and health policies of each of them.

As many of those present know, Spain currently holds the presidency of the European Union Council. In my capacity as President of this Council, I can assure you that the ageing of the European population and all the economic and social changes that this process involves, are reflected directly or indirectly in many of the priority courses of action that we are promoting.

It would be desirable if not only the European countries, but also all the countries that are gathered here, were to recognize the depth of the changes that are taking pace, and were to react in a responsible way, cooperating under United Nations auspices in order to transform these new challenges into opportunities for assuring the integral development of our societies.

I wish to thank the United Nations, and all those who have collaborated in making this Assembly possible, for the opportunity that you have given us on bringing us together to discuss an issue of such importance. I am sure that approval, with a wide margin of consensus, of the International Plan of Action will serve as a guide for our policies in the coming decades. In the population of a country, ageing also has positive aspects and others that are perhaps not so positive.