UN Secretary- General, 
Opening Second World Assembly on Ageing in Madrid, Urges Plan of Action to build a Society for all ages...

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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 underscores the important role older people continue to play in the professions, politics, social life or 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. A country that fails to offer opportunities for its older people to actively participate is a country missing opportunities. But it is above all a country preventing many useful and capable people from continuing to contribute to the well-being of others as well as a sense of satisfaction to their own lives.

Our society needs to recognize the role older people have played throughout their lives and can still play. That is why the family is such an important institution. In families, and through inter-generational relations found in families -- based on affection, freely offered -- we learn to appreciate people, whether old or young, healthy or ill, for what they themselves are. That is why it is so important that governments acknowledge, facilitate and reward the work families are doing, providing them with the help they need to care for older people, and ensure that they will have access to services of all kinds to them in their task.

Action

The Second World Assembly adopted its rules of procedure (document A/CONF.197/2). It also adopted its agenda and other organizational matters (document A/CONF.197/1).

The Assembly then elected 23 of it mandated 27 Vice-Presidents, with representation aimed at ensuring the representative character of its Main Committee, one ex-officio Vice-President from the host country, and a Chairman of its Main Committee.

The Vice-Presidents included seven representatives from African States, three from Asian States, two from Eastern European States, five from Latin American and Caribbean States, and six from Western European and Other States.

The Assembly postponed its decision to elect a Rapporteur General, pending further consultations.

Mr. D. Luan Jose Lucas Gimenez, Minister of the Presidency of Spain, was elected as the Vice-President ex-officio of the Assembly.

Mr. Felipe Paolillo of Uruguay was elected as Chairman of the Main Committee.

The President of the Assembly the announced that the Main Committee would meet from today through 11 April, and, in according with its rules of procedure, would elect its own officers. The Main Committee would be seized with finalizing the Second World Assembly's Political Declaration and draft International Plan of Action on Ageing 2002.

The Assembly then appointed the members of its Credentials Committee, including China, Denmark, Jamaica, Lesotho, Russian Federation, Senegal, Singapore, United States and Uruguay.

Statement by President of General Assembly

HAN SEUNG-SOO (Republic of Korea), President of the General Assembly: The rapid pace of ageing will bring new and increased demands to all countries in health care, employment, social protection measures and economic growth. As, barring fatal illness or accident, everybody will one day become an older person, ageing cannot be an issue of concern only to particular individuals, societies or countries. It is a common issue that affects all individuals, societies and countries. In the coming years, the ageing of the human population will be a universal force that has the power to shape the future as much as globalization.

At the First Assembly on Ageing, 20 years ago, the International Plan of Action on Ageing was adopted, on which many countries had taken various policy measures. Yet, unlike other global issues such as the environment or poverty eradication, ageing has not received the deserved attention from the international community. The task here is to revise and elaborate the International Plan of Action in order to reflect global trends affecting ageing. I stress that the international development targets of the Millennium Declaration will not be achievable without the mainstreaming of ageing and concerns of older persons into development frameworks and poverty eradication strategies.

Older persons should be regarded as an asset, not a burden. As the old proverb says: "there is many a good tune played on an old fiddle". The skills, experience, knowledge and wisdom of older people should be put to use for promoting human capacity-building and sustained economic growth, which will benefit both older persons and society, particularly in the knowledge-based economy of the twenty-first century.

All governments must emphasize the mainstreaming of ageing into national policy planning and implementation based on the International Plan of Action. I urge all Member States to render their best efforts for the early and effective implementation of the International Plan of Action on Ageing and to strive for empowerment of older persons and their full participation in all aspects of society.

General Exchange of Views

MARC FORNE-MOLNE, Head of Government of Andorra: Due to its specific social and demographic characteristics, my country does not have as high a level of ageing population as other countries around us. Even so, we are aware of the growing complexity of their needs, especially in the case of those persons who can no longer fend for themselves. This is why Andorra has followed the international trends and strategic lines in the question of ageing and attempted to increase its overall knowledge of the phenomenon so as to design new social policies in that respect.

Andorra has included in its social policies the United Nations principles in favour of the elderly, approved by the General Assembly in 1991. During the International Year of Older Persons in 1999, the Andorran Government carried out a survey of the elderly to get to know and understand their situation and build "Andorra for all ages". It has been working to draw up a national plan for and with the elderly, which is based on the internationally recognized concept of active ageing.

The plan aims at guaranteeing overall attention to the needs of the elderly, focusing on the social and health issues. Its main principles include equal responsibility of the individual, the family and the State for the well-being of the elderly; social solidarity; preventive actions; shared financing of services; and follow-up and evaluation of the programmes. Among the priorities defined by the programme is attention to the elderly; protection of their rights; maintaining them in their environment; training of professionals and research.

OMAR BONGO, President of Gabon: the first Assembly on Ageing made the world aware of the need of States to adopt a Plan of Action and a long term strategy on ageing. After 20 years, it is now time for evaluation. From time immemorial older persons have held an important place in African society. Old age has always been seen as a sign of wisdom. The traditional family played a role of providing an environment for older persons.

Today, our societies are undergoing great changes because of industrialization in urban areas. The rural areas are being deserted and the framework of values is being challenged. Furthermore, the extension of life has led to an increase of the number of older people. This is an improvement, but age poses problems at the same time. In 1983 my country undertook a major programme of social protection for economically weak persons, of which older persons constitute a major category. To that end, a fund has been established, financed mostly by the State.

What can we do in the face of new challenges and the distress brought about by globalization? The State has a duty to activate mechanisms to ensure cohesion within society and to ensure basic human rights. Sustainable development can only be achieved if we avoid the marginalization of one category of people. The challenges faced call for fighting poverty and the reintegration of marginalized groups. My country remains determined to combat poverty. Together with the international community, Gabon will participate in all initiatives to improve the conditions of older persons.

REXHEP MEIDANI, President of Albania: The United States Supreme Court recently considered a case filed by a group of workers alleging discrimination on the basis of age. That case highlights, among other things, that such cases are becoming more prevalent. It also highlights the differences between discrimination based on age and other forms of discrimination, such as race or sex. More problematic was that new developments, inspired by the rapid pace of growth in science and technology, as well as the information revolution, had exacerbated age discrimination in the workplace.

There now appears to be a direct or indirect attempt to develop the idea that older workers must be moved out to make space for the young. Unfortunately, without evaluating the relationship between generations, and balancing the notion of knowledge and experience, new problems were bound to arise. The concerns of industrialized countries, particularly regarding the ways immigration policies affected elderly workers, are becoming more pronounced. Moving away from the notion of the simple demand for manpower, it appears that immigration, particularly that of qualified workers, will continue to grow. That will most certainly continue if differences in economic development of regions around the world continue to widen. That will in turn spark more discrimination against the elderly.

The question is whether using the notion of economic growth and technological advancement as an excuse to discriminate against the elderly -- through forced or early retirement -- is contrary to efforts to promote overall growth and sustainability. For many countries, serious difficulties are also emerging as they try to cover or enhance their pension schemes. The phenomena of ageing is also affecting various State structures as well as many aspects of the business community.

The Second World Assembly provides the proper forum to deal with such issues and to make sure national structures are aware of tendencies to ignore discrimination against the elderly, particularly in the work place. Forced or early retirement often cause businesses or institutions to lose the most knowledgeable and experienced workers in the field. At the same time, small signs of change are showing and many businesses as reacting to the problem by balancing manpower needs with efforts to promote teamwork, education or even reducing work hours.

OBIANG NGUEMA MBASOGO, President of Equatorial Guinea: It has been 20 years since the international community placed the issue of ageing on its agenda. We wish to see a better world for all ages. Older persons, whatever their status, are part of the heritage of future generations, and strategies should be adopted to protect them. The problems of ageing should not be seen in isolation -- they should be part of the global plan for social development. It is important to identify the problems facing each individual country or a group of countries, for developing countries do face the same problems as developed ones. It is not just a matter of providing the best possible care for older persons, but an issue of involving them in social life, taking into account the achievements of modern science and technology.

Among the problems encountered in many countries are the lack of cohesion within the family and marginalization of older people. In many instances, older persons are considered useless, and abandoned. They are also subject to abuse and violence. This marks regression of mankind -- a loss of values. In African countries, older persons have their families' attention. Older persons are still seen as wise people, able to pass their wisdom to other generations. However, they suffer from the problems of poverty, as well as environmental and economic problems. Thus, their situation should be taken into account in devising social policies and development of health and education infrastructure.

In my country, 80 per cent of the population live in rural areas and have few possibilities of increasing their income and improving their circumstances. Given the limited resources and poor infrastructure, there are few programmes for older people in Equatorial Guinea. The development of social infrastructure would help the country to resolve its problems, and it has started putting in place social protection and retirement programmes. The country's difficulties are aggravated by the debt burden.

Now that the international community has come together to address the problems of older persons, the situation of women, children and older persons in the Middle East requires attention. It is important to draw attention to the need to build peace there and call upon the parties to implement United Nations resolutions calling for the immediate cessation of hostilities. We would also like to propose a code of rights of older persons and the establishment an international organization to address their problems.

JUAN CARLOS APARICIO PEREZ, Minister for Labour and Social Affairs of Spain, speaking on behalf of the European Union (EU) and associated States: We are currently witnessing an unprecedented demographic transformation, as a result of which the number of persons over 60 years old will increase from the current 600 million to almost 2,000 million by 2050. The twenty-first century will be one of comparatively slower population growth than the previous century, and be characterized by declining birth rates leading to a population decline. This "silent revolution" occurs in the midst of significant political and economic transformations, characterized by globalization. Our challenge is to adapt our societies to this new reality. We take advantage of this occasion to reaffirm the important commitment agreed in the Millennium Assembly to promote national and international environments that encourage a society for all ages.

We underline the need to include ageing as a core item in the agendas for development, particularly in strategies to fight against poverty, paying special attention to the priority needs and prospects of the developing countries. This inclusion must take into account the need to follow up the world summits and conferences held during the 1990s. The implementation of the United Nations International Year for Older Persons contributed to approaching ageing and the situation of older persons issues from a broader perspective. The EU's answer to ageing is included in the framework of a global strategy aimed at pursuing policies and practices in favour of active ageing. Against this background, the EU underlines the important role regional commissions will play in the implementation of the revised International Plan of Action.

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