Events in the international community

 Second World Assembly on Ageing

     Madrid, Spain, 8-12 April 2002

The Second World Assembly on Ageing was held on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the First World Assembly on Ageing (Vienna, 1982).

The Assembly was convened to respond to the opportunities and challenges of a rapidly ageing population – a demographic revolution without precedent in history – and promote the development of a “society for all ages”, the theme of the 1999 International Year of Older Persons. The Assembly had before it the Report of the Secretary-General: Abuse of older persons: recognizing and responding to abuse of older persons in a global context

The Assembly adopted two outcome documents: the International Plan of Action on Ageing 2002 and a Political Declaration.

The first priority direction of the Plan, entitled “Older persons and development”, focuses on eight issues that call for urgent action to ensure the continuing integration and empowerment of older persons, including (i) work and the ageing labour force; (ii) access to knowledge, education and training and (iii) income security and social protection, social security and poverty alleviation.

• Longevity is not an intractable problem, but presents a great opportunity.
• Old age must be approached through integrated policies that help people throughout their lives and contribute to strengthening the family.
• Full employment in decent working conditions is a viable and productive way to meet the challenges of ageing.
• The chance to prolong one's working life is a promising alternative for society and deserves to be an option for older persons who wish to do so.
• It is important to banish the stigma of the word "retired", which in a very unfair manner associates a deserved rest at the end of working life with definitive marginalization from social life.

The video (RealPlayer) of Mr. Somavia's statement (in Spanish) is available at: http://www.un.org/ageing/coverage/020409ilo2S.ram

The UN press release summarizing his statement is available at: http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2002/SOC4609.doc.htm.

In his statement to the Assembly, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged world leaders to engage all relevant actors in effective coalitions to face the challenges of the world's rapidly ageing populations. He stressed that ageing was definitely no longer just a “first world issue” and mentioned the following challenges the world must face (i) as more and more people move to cities, older persons are losing traditional family support and social networks, and are increasingly at risk of marginalization; (ii) HIV/AIDS is forcing many older people in developing countries to care for children orphaned by the disease; (iii) in developed countries, the concept of cradle-to-grave security is disappearing. The shrinking size of the working population means that older people are more at risk of inadequate pensions and medical attention.

The President of the Second World Assembly on Ageing, Mr. José María Aznar, President of the Government of Spain, said that countries must increasingly promote “active” ageing through policies of preventive medicine, continued learning and a flexible work schedule. He also stressed that a country that fails to offer opportunities for its older people to actively participate is a country missing opportunities.

Round table discussions

The Director-General participated in a round table discussion entitled “Development in an ageing world: Implications of ageing in poverty eradication and development strategies”. Ambassador Pérez de Cuellar chaired the round table and Mary Ann Tsao (board member of HelpAge International) was the keynote speaker. Other participants included Ms. Thoraya Obaid (Director-General of UNFPA), Mr. Enrique Iglesias (Director-General of the IDB) and Mr. Cortés (Secretary of State for Technical Cooperation, Spain).

Ms. Obaid and Ms. Tsao stressed that older people are the poorest of the poor. Mr. Somavia thought it crucial to tackle ageing issues in the context of the family, and stressed that the key to dealing with problems related to ageing was full employment, which is both an economic and a social goal. He also stressed that social security solutions should not be based on static thinking: they should be sought in a dynamic context. The goal should not be to distribute current jobs but to create more and better jobs.

ILO panel discussion

On Wednesday, 10 April the ILO organized a panel discussion entitled: “Older workers and population ageing: employment and social protection issues”. ILO Executive Directors responsible for ILO activities concerning employment and social protection presented a set of employment and social protection issues that need to be addressed if a “a society for all ages” is to become a reality. The Panel was chaired by Mr. Díaz Guerra, Deputy Secretary of Labour and Social Affairs, Spain, and involved as panellists Mr. Jaime Montalvo, President of the Economic and Social Council of Spain and Mr. Díaz de Rivera, Deputy Secretary of Social and Human Development, Mexico.

Based on the report prepared by the ILO, the panel discussion addressed –

• the role of employment and social protection systems to eradicate poverty and social exclusion;
• the importance of “employability” and “workability” policies to enable older people to remain integrated in the economy and the society;
• the crucial role of social protection systems to ensure a decent old age and the importance to devise systems which can reach all women and men.

Other events

The ILO also participated in several side events organized by other international organizations and NGOs, including a panel discussion on age discrimination organized by the American Association of Retired People, a workshop organized by the Inter-American Development Bank entitled “Economic Security for older people in Latin America and the Caribbean: From the Assembly to Action”, and a panel discussion organized by the International Social Security Association (ISSA).

Press

Various articles were issued in the Spanish press:

• An interview with the Director-General with El Mundo, “There are no global solutions to ageing” can be accessed at: www.elmundo.es/2002/04/07/sociedad/1127449.html

• El País, “The ILO believes that flexible retirement can work if employment grows”

• El Mundo, “ILO: Without full employment, a “pool” of old unemployment will create problems”

• La Vanguardia, “80 per cent of the population lacks basic social protection”

• ABC, "La OIT aboga por el pleno empleo para afrontar el envejecimiento"

For the press –

• ILO press kit: “Facing the ageing gap: New-age solutions to old age problems”
• UN press kit
• ILO press release
• UN press release