INTERDEPENDENCE OF GENERATIONS FOCUS OF SECOND 'AGE QUAKE' DEBATE TO BE HELD AT HEADQUARTERS 10 JUNE

Press Release
PI/1144
SOC/4512

INTERDEPENDENCE OF GENERATIONS FOCUS OF SECOND 'AGE QUAKE' DEBATE TO BE HELD AT HEADQUARTERS 10 JUNE

Series Commemorates International Year of Older Persons 1999

The second in the series of four "Age Quake" Debates on the theme "Interdependence of Generations: Ability not Chronology" will be held from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Thursday, 10 June, in the Dag Hammarskjold Auditorium at United Nations Headquarters.

In an effort to spotlight some of the ageing issues, the New York NGO Committee on Aging, in cooperation with the United Nations and with the support of the United Nations Consultative Group for the International Year of Older Persons, has planned the "Age Quake" Debates as part of the observance of the International Year of Older Persons 1999. The first debate was held on 4 March.

The debate will feature four prominent participants: Carlos Dos Santos, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Mozambique to the United Nations, who will act as moderator; Sylvan M. Barnet, Junior Alternate Representative of Rotary International and Chair of the NGO Committee on Population and Development; Ingeborg Kaul, Director of the Office of Development Studies at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); and Mario Jose Sturla, a graduating senior, Class of 1999, at the Calhoun School in New York City.

The debates are dedicated to Julia T. Alvarez, Alternate Permanent Representative of the Dominican Republic to the United Nations, a leading spokesperson on ageing issues at the United Nations. They are based on her belief that population ageing is a worldwide phenomenon that is causing an "age quake".

Every month one million people turn 60 years of age. Behind these numbers is a stark concept that there are people in society who can both produce and consume goods and services, while others can only be consumers -- mostly the very young and the very old. When the number of producers declines and the number of those who can only consume increases, there usually is a scramble for scarce resources. Experts predict an "age war" over the allocation of limited resources, when politicians try to play off the old

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against the young at election time. "All of this drives a wedge between generations", says Mrs. Alvarez.

The panellists will attempt to address this issue by responding to the following challenging questions posed by Mrs. Alvarez: What might society do to encourage satisfying and productive intergenerational relationships, now and in the future? What issues do we need to identify as obstacles on the road to interdependency and intergenerational ties that are truly mutual?

The International Year in 1999 is the culmination of years of work by the United Nations. Mrs. Alvarez, who in 1991 initiated the resolution adopted by the General Assembly calling for the observance of an International Year of Older Persons, chose 1999, believing it would symbolize the end of an era of old ideas and the birth of a new perspective on ageing.

For further information, please contact Shala Mokgethi, Development and Human Rights Section, United Nations Department of Public Information; tel: (212) 963-3771; fax: (212) 963-1186.

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