Role of older people, fighting poverty and support for families among themes stressed at Ageing Assembly, Madrid...

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Ageing in the context of development is one of the issues that need to be addressed in the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). Older persons, through their wealth of knowledge and in their position as custodians of values, can make an invaluable contribution to NEPAD. In August, South Africa will host the World Summit on Sustainable Development. The summit's theme -- People, Prosperity and the Planet, speaks directly to the global challenge of the rapid growth in the number of older persons in developed and developing countries and the need to eradicate poverty in developing countries. Older persons are the custodians of our traditions, our heritage and our cultures. They reflect our past and are the mirrors of our future. They have the right to a healthy, productive life, to live in a caring environment and to be treated with respect.

ABASS EL FASSI, Minister of Employment, of Professional Training, Social Development and Solidarity of Morocco: We attach a great deal of importance to social development. Our national efforts to that end have yielded important results, among which were initiatives to ensure basic services and education. We have also focused on the situation of our elderly population, namely setting up clubs, providing health care and sensitizing the population to the concerns of older people. We have also created programmes to eradicate the notion of exclusion and marginalization of the elderly. All this has been accompanied by social health care reforms, with the specific concerns of the elderly in mind. A fund was set up which consolidated such programmes with the country's overall efforts to achieve sustainable development.

On the occasion of this Assembly, we undertook a national study of the country's elderly. That study illustrated the important role of social security networks and family caretakers, and revealed which categories of elderly were most vulnerable. It also highlighted the importance of the elderly in Moroccan culture, as well as the important role that can be played by NGOs in raising the level of awareness among the general population of the situation of the elderly. There is a growing realization that there is no need to promote programmes and initiatives for other segments of the population at the expense of our elderly, who continue to play a vital role at all levels. We also noticed our elderly population will ultimately reach 21 per cent by 2060.

Our overall efforts to ensure the health and welfare of our elderly populations are based as much on the Vienna Action Plan on Ageing and the Arab Plan on Ageing as on our own cultural heritage. Those efforts include such actions as revising the laws guaranteeing the rights of elderly people and ensuring their social integration. Remaining faithful to international ageing strategies, we will pursue all efforts towards implementation of the decisions reached here. This will be done according to our religious values and cultural heritage. It is necessary that all global actors deploy international mechanisms to allow for the apportionment of resources to help the elderly, particularly in underdeveloped countries. Other actions should be oriented to allow all populations to live in peaceful co-existence. This is particularly true of the situation of the Palestinian people, who continue to be the target of infringement on their rights.

JAVIER LOZANO BARRAGAN, observer for the Holy See, reading a letter from Pope John Paul II: In the divine plan, longevity becomes the gift of the fulfilment of life that receives meaning from the wisdom of the heart. Older persons are the guardians of the collective memory. They have the perspective of both the past and the future, living in a present that already takes on the sense of eternity and serenity. Their life must converge in inter-generational relationships transmitting to all people the treasures of their time, their capacity and experiences. In the present culture of global productivity, they face the danger of considering themselves as not being useful. However, their mere presence must prove that the economic aspect is neither the sole nor the most important value.

Although it is better to grow old in one's own family, we find an increasing number of abandoned older persons. The Catholic Church tries to help them, even in the economic aspects. Facing the marginalization of older persons in the present society and taking a perspective of the future, one sees the necessity for creating an inclusive society for all ages in which the older persons will have their place, especially women and the underprivileged. The Holy See would suggest basic actions within the family, the community and all of society, including: promotion of inter-generational solidarity, access of older persons to all basic social services, including health care, provision of special care to older persons who suffer from mental diseases such as Alzheimers, introduction of older persons to communication and information technology, and promotion of inter-generational education.

Poverty can increase in old age, especially in emergency situations or situations of armed conflict. Social security systems and safety nets must be in place to protect the lives and well-being of all people. The unpayable debt burden of developing countries must be eased for the eradication of poverty so that social services might be provided to vulnerable populations, especially older persons. The movement of people -- migration and displacements -- have contributed to the disintegration of the family. As a result, too many older persons are left alone or are forced to care of children who are abandoned or separated from parents and home. The international community must do all it can in order to ease the burdens faced by older persons in all countries and all levels of society. Older persons must be seen as one of society's treasures.

VIRGILIA MATABELA, Minister for Women's Affairs and Social Action of Mozambique: The current ageing situation is not a problem of northern countries alone. The ageing population will increase mainly in the developing countries, where it represents a great challenge. In Mozambique, the aged population is estimated at 4.5 per cent. While the increase of the older population may lead to an improvement of living conditions, it would require a doubling of efforts by the country to meet the challenges of this new reality.

It would be good if everybody could see older people as the bridge to our past and our future. They have built the nations we are so proud of today. We recognize that our future can only shine if we reconcile our dreams with the dreams of our parents and grandparents. We must capitalize on the experiences gathered along the way of many years of hardship. Older people are living libraries. In Africa, older people are the oral sources of history. For us, they are the link between the new generations and our forefathers. Therefore, we have a moral obligation to honour all those who contributed to the building of a new and harmonious world.

In developing countries, the challenges for survival are enormous and older people are sometimes neglected and abandoned. Every citizen must value older people and guard against neglect and abandonment. We know we have to give better health care to older people, and improve direct assistance in subsidies of foodstuffs for families in poverty. Mozambique is creating a national policy to provide assistance to this group. Improving the role of the elderly is important because they are the rich roots of our culture. With the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the role of the older people doubles, as they are required to care for orphans and teach the younger generation about infections.

MARGO VLIEGENTHART, State Secretary of Health, Welfare and Sport of the Netherlands: Ageing concerns all of us. The progressively larger number of elderly impacts all facets of society -- health, economy, labour, care, welfare and the family. The task facing the international community is to find answers to all the challenges that ageing poses. While at this moment, the wealthier countries are particularly challenged by the problem, the developing world is also experiencing rapid population changes. Indeed, without exception, a shift between the numbers of younger and older people will occur in all countries. This circumstance imposes requirements that must be addressed by everyone, regardless of age.

In large parts of the industrialized world, a declining youth population will soon have to bear the costs of a population growing ever older. That will be felt most particularly in social welfare systems. Equally, young people in other parts of the world will have to take care of their senior citizens, whether financially or through direct care in family settings. Now is the time to prepare for these eventualities. We must think ahead to avoid falling behind. Our economic systems must continue to be productive, with men and women contributing to a robust labour market.

We need to look at work and care more from the perspective of full life-cycles. Older people will continue to derive pleasure from performing paid or voluntary work. Employers must make allowances for a workforce that will increasingly include a growing number of older persons, and young employees will have to get used to the idea of working alongside their older colleagues. Enhancing and promoting solidarity between generations will therefore become more and more important in the years to come. Indeed, the rights of older people will have to be recognized. Wherever they live, older people will need basic facilities such as health care and access to pensions. The ability to provide such facilities depends upon each country's economic situation, however.

Solidarity between generations translates into solidarity between rich and poor. Working to provide economic opportunities for less developed nations can provide the most important stepping stones for identifying initiatives that can help their older citizens. Older people need to have a voice of their own -- they need to have a say in society. Governments can ensure that the voices of the elderly can be heard by creating policies that addressed the needs of the elderly, and allowing senior citizens representatives to make contributions at all levels in their communities.

KARELOVA, G.N., First Deputy Minister for Labour and Social Development of the Russian Federation: The Government and civil society agree that respect for the elderly has been an unchanging sign of human civilization. The older generation serves as a link between the past, the present and the future. The twenty-first century has seen a period of great change for the Russian Federation, as it became democratic and market oriented. The Government is trying to reduce the number of low-income citizens.

Today, the country has more than 30 million elderly people, which constitutes 18 per cent of the total population. The long-range forecast is in line with world trends. That is why enhancing the quality of life for the elderly and their role in society is a priority for the Government. At the transitional stage of the economy, many elderly people need assistance from society. The Government has raised the level of legal safeguards, and pension reform has taken place. Programmes for social protection of the elderly have been implemented. A Government programme must ensure appropriate market conditions to solve the problems they face. We are considering the organization of social services for the elderly. The infrastructure of the system of social services for the elderly covers the whole of the Russian Federation. Social services are located close to the places where elderly people live. Each year, more than 40 million elderly people, while staying in their homes, enjoy the services of social service centres and emergency assistance centres. Reform is aimed at ensuring high quality social and health assistance, particularly to people over 85.

Improvements in welfare for the elderly are lagging behind expectations. There is poverty and loneliness among the elderly. Success in the strategy to improve the quality of life is linked to improvement of development of the Russian Federation.

MARIA MENOUDAKOU-BELDEKOU, Secretary-General for Welfare of Greece: The improvement in my country's health and living conditions has contributed to the overall ageing process. In our tradition, living to a healthy old age is a positive given. Older people can generally expect to live a full life after their working life, under conditions that have been restructured and rethought. Ageing itself has become an important process in the life cycle of the whole country. We have learned that maintaining health, active family involvement and adequate quality of life throughout the life cycle can do much to help build better lives and to maintain a harmonious and inter-generational community.

With all this in mind, a coordinated and comprehensive approach is needed to meet the challenges of the coming decades. The phenomenon of ageing has to be addressed and integrated into development planning schemes. Policies and services should take into account the specific needs of an older population. We must also establish strategies that anticipate the ageing phenomenon so that we may prepare for it, while we work actively to enhance and strengthen inter-generational relationships.

The Greek Government's vision is of a society for all ages, where older people lead safe, healthy and independent lives. Our goal is to ensure positive ageing, where people continued to contribute to society regardless of age. Our tasks include, among other things, securing conditions for a longer active homelife, reducing reliance on institutional care for the elderly and developing community level participation. An example of our successful policies is the establishment of open care centres for the elderly, which provide preventive health services, social support and pension allowance to all uninsured elderly persons.

GENEVA RUTHERFORD, Vice-President of the Senate of the Bahamas: The Bahamas is a young nation where 29.4 per cent of the population is under fifteen, while those 60 and over make up about 8 per cent. It is projected, however, that by the year 2025, those sixty and older will increase to over 17.6 per cent of the population. Adequate health care is accessible and affordable for all. Today, we are a healthy Bahamas and life expectancy rates are currently 70.7 years for men and 77.3 years for women. We recognize the need to focus attention on both ends of the spectrum -- the young and the old -- and we are now in a unique position to develop policies and programmes for addressing issues of concern to older persons while that segment of the population is still relatively small.

The most significant outcome of our recent celebration of the International Year of Older Persons was the preparation of a National Policy for Older Persons in 2002 -- a first for the Bahamas. Implementation of this plan calls for specific action over a sustained period, and while much remains to be done, we are nonetheless pleased with the progress that has been made within our limited resources. Our initiatives have resulted in universal health care for all persons 60 and over, and all Government clinics provide medications free of charge to persons over the age of 65. Several private pharmacies provide senior discounts on medicines. In 2000, the Ministry of Health implemented a five-year plan to address the health of the nation, which includes an initiative designed to achieve a healthy ageing population. An integral part of the plan includes a national education and awareness programme on healthy ageing, targeting individuals 40 years and older. By 2003, it will include a weekly geriatric community clinic in all polyclinics in New Providence and Grand Bahama, the two islands with the bulk of our ageing population.

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