Interview with Rosemary Lane

June 2002

                               Rosemary Lane is the Social Affairs Officer 
                              in the Ageing Programme
                              in the Department of Economic and
                              Social Affairs 
                              at the United Nations.

1. Do you think that the Second World Assembly on Ageing made progress to avert the possibility of ageing becoming a burden to societies?

It’s too soon to make any conclusion. The Plan aims to promote policies and ideas that will ensure that population ageing won’t become a burden. Some Member States have already started to implement policies to offset any possible negative macro economic consequences. For example, the European Union is focusing on increasing the pool of workers as the retired population increases. This means increasing the number of women, disabled persons, the unemployed and even older persons themselves in the workforce. But the most important thing is to make people understand that older people can and should be able to remain productive.

2. What are the new issues recognized by the International Plan of Action on Ageing 2002 ? What was new that got added in Madrid ? Why did it happen?

The major new idea emerging from the Second World Assembly on Ageing is thinking of ageing as a development issue that has implications for all areas of society. Mainstreaming of ageing into other relevant arenas is also a new goal of the International Plan of Action on Ageing 2002. It was important to move older persons out of the “vulnerable” category that they have tended to be boxed into.

Among the “new” issues recognized by the text are:

     Poverty eradication

     AIDS

     Older persons in emergency situations

     Lifelong healthy ageing

     Migration

These new topics were added to the document because of their impact on older persons all over the world.

Up until Madrid, older persons tended to be excluded from consideration in international discussions on these topics.

The first plan (adopted in Vienna in 1982) took a more welfare-based approach to ageing. This plan is more proactive.

3. How could NGO’s improve their action and collaboration with the governments and the UN?

There are 2 ways :

First, collaboration at the local level involving citizens, encouraging and collaborating with governments to implement the Plan.

Second, disseminate the International Plan of Action : be a source of public information, diffuse the document by translating it into different languages and dialects (for example in Africa.)

NGO’s are often perfectly placed to evaluate how the implementation of the Plan at the national level is proceeding.

4. Does mainstreaming water down the possibilities of having focused actions on ageing?

Mainstreaming of ageing was a controversial issue for some when it was first discussed during 1999, the International Year of Older Persons. Some disagreed with the slogan “A Society for All Ages” that was adopted by the United Nations because they thought that the ageing issue would be dispersed. But I think the majority now realize the value and logic of linking ageing to the wider issues that impact on older persons at the global level, and that unless older persons and population ageing are discussed in these arenas, action on ageing will remain limited.

Mainstreaming does not water down but rather improves the possibilities for action.

5. How can NGO’s and the Ageing Programme know if mainstreaming works?

By observing the policies of governments and the discourse and outcome of the United Nations processes on various issues.

6. Could you tell me more about the idea of a special rapporteur?

The idea of a rapporteur came up in Madrid from some NGOS. The United Nations has used special rapporteurs in specific situations like human rights or disability. However, not everyone, and ultimately, not Members States were convinced that the appointment of a rapporteur was the best way to aid in the implementation of the Plan of Action.

7. Which countries are going to be big international and regional advocates of ageing in the future ? in developing countries?

This is hard to say. There are some Members States that have traditionally been very active on this subject at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, but others prefer to act at the regional level, and still others, purely at the national level. To this end, we are already seeing quite a lot of action at the regional level.

For instance, ESCAP are having a regional meeting in September 2002 to discuss the regional implementation of the Plan of Action.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, ECLAC are developing a regional preparatory process and organizing a regional meeting in October 2003.

ESCWA had already adopted an Arab Plan of Action just before the Second World Assembly on Ageing.

The OAU is going to consider adopting a regional strategy on Ageing within a few months.