SPEAKERS FOCUS ON AGEING ISSUES AS COMPONENT OF FUTURE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES

Press Release
GA/SHC/3576

SPEAKERS FOCUS ON AGEING ISSUES AS COMPONENT OF FUTURE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES

As the transformed social and economic contours of all nations became apparent with the ageing of the world's population, momentum must be sustained to celebrate a veritable “new age for old age", the Dominican Republic's representative said this morning as the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) continued its consideration of social development and follow-up to the International Year of Older Persons.

To start making a mark on the situation of the elderly in all societies, she called for a new plan of action in preparation for the Second World Conference on Ageing, to be held in 2002 in Madrid. Unlike the 1992 Plan of Action, its proposals should be geared to older persons in developing countries as well as to those in industrialized nations. It should also view the elderly as a resource in achieving the plan’s aspirations.

The representative of the country that will host the Conference, Spain, affirmed that the commitment to the Conference must begin with the preparatory process. He said the outcome of a technical committee's meeting next month would be presented to the Committee on Sustainable Development to coordinate activities and involve all actors. Of key importance for the Success of the Conference was an awareness that ageing issues must be mainstreamed into other forums.

Many representatives agreed that ageing was a critical component of sustainable social development. The representative of Saudi Arabia said his country promoted development by providing avenues for all to participate, while safeguarding the standard of living by limiting the negative effects of overly rapid change. That meant developing human and material resources in line with Islamic principles, with particular concern for those needing special care, such as the elderly.

A Partnership among all actors was a key to facing the challenges of an evolving world marketplace, the representative of Benin said. The coherent, multisectoral approach needed now brought to mind the old adage that it was better to teach a man to fish than merely to give him a fish. But today, it was also necessary to teach him how to market those fish.

The representative of Germany said most social, economic and cultural challenges in the next century would be triggered by the demographic phenomenon.

Third Committee Meeting - 1a - Press Release GA/SHC/3576 6th Meeting (AM) 28 September 2000

of ageing. Indeed, the international community should be aware that the debate on ageing would be a debate on the future shape of societies

The representatives of Venezuela, Mongolia, India, Israel, Australia, Ethiopia, China, Philippines, Germany, Belarus and Bhutan also spoke this morning, as did a youth representative from India.

Also addressing the Committee was the Observer of the Holy See.

The Committee will meet again at 3 p.m. It is expected to conclude its present consideration of social development and follow-up to the 1999 International Year of Older Persons.

Third Committee - 3 - Press Release GA/SHC/3576 6th Meeting (AM) 28 September 2000

Committee Work Programme

The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) met this morning to continue considering social development, including questions related to the world social situation and to youth, ageing, disabled persons and the family. It would also consider follow-up to the 1999 International Year of Older Persons. (For background, see Press Release GA/SHC/3573 of 25 September.)

Statements

LUIS HERRERA-MARCANO (Venezuela) summarized his country's work in the field of social development, saying it was human centred. Human welfare was the reference point of the country's social policy and new constitution. Since young people were considered the agents of social change, training and employment programmes had been instituted for them. Elderly people's rights, dignity and social security were assured by many new governmental programmes. The country was also engaged in preparing for the Second Conference on Ageing, to be held in Spain in 2002. In addition, new policies had been put in place to protect the rights of the disabled, including support for international actions on their behalf.

Finally, he said, since the family was considered the custodian of the society's values, the constitution itself protected family rights. The government actively supported all such initiatives, and was now preparing for the International Year of the Family, to be held in 2004.

OCHIR ENKHTSETSEG (Mongolia) said that as the Committee gathered to deliberate issues related to social development, members should not ignore the particular attention paid during the Millennium Summit to the issue of globalization and how to make its effects more inclusive. Also, much had previously been said about targets, objectives and other international developmental goals set by United Nations conferences in the 1990s. Now, what was needed above all else was a “new commitment on the part of developing and industrialized countries to transform paper targets into concrete achievements”.

She went on to say that the central importance of education had been universally recognized. Yet today, over 113 million children had no access to primary education, 800 million adults were illiterate, and gender discrimination continued to permeate education systems. Provision of universal primary education remained a great challenge for the international community. Last April, the World Education Forum had set the goal of ensuring that by 2015 all children, particularly girls and ethnic minorities, would have access to free and compulsory primary education. Success in attaining that goal would give millions more the skills to rise from poverty; failure, on the other hand, would fuel an educational and social crisis in the years ahead. With that in mind, she said that it was high time to launch a United Nations Literacy Decade. She looked forward to the joint report of the Secretary-General and the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), containing a specific proposal and action plan for a time frame for launching a Literacy Decade.

The role and contribution of cooperatives in social development had been duly recognized by the final outcome documents from the Copenhagen and Geneva Conferences, she said. Cooperatives continued to play an important role in employment promotion and poverty alleviation. Childcare and elderly care cooperatives, along with cooperatives caring for the disabled, were now considered timely and appropriate responses to the social challenges faced by many countries around the world. Last year’s draft United Nations Guidelines, aimed at creating a supportive environment for the development of cooperatives, could serve as guidance to many governments, particularly in the developing world, in creating or restructuring cooperatives. She also noted the need to improve the living standards of older persons. It was essential to provide the elderly with an adequate opportunity for post-retirement employment with a view to generating additional income.

ASITH K. BHATTACHARJEE (India) said that the trends outlined in the 2000 report on the world social situation were disconcerting. Though the growth rate of the world population had slowed down, its distribution was changing with more people -- about 80 per cent -- living in developing countries. The 1990s saw a sharp setback for developing economies with near stagnation of their per capita incomes. The rich became richer and the poor were consigned to inexorable poverty in unacceptably increasing numbers. Though poverty in old age has been combated in developing countries through State-assured pension schemes, newer problems, such as alienation, were increasingly on the rise.

Developing countries were faced with the double burden of older diseases not being fully eradicated while acquiring those that traditionally were major causes of death in developed countries, he continued. Globalization had contributed in no small measure to the world social situation. No wonder that then the 2000 Report warned of a "clear danger" of the repetition of the experience of globalization and liberalization of the early twentieth century, when a few enclaves of "modern" or "progressive" countries commanded global heights and the majority were left to drift outside the mainstream of integration.

BREMLEY LYNGDOH (Youth Delegate, India) said the creation of sustainable livelihoods had become an important component of sustainable development. More support should be given to promoting and developing the economic and environmental sustainability of youth livelihoods. Youth would inherit the problems created in the past. Its views must be made part of sustainable development policies. It must also be kept in mind that livelihood was a broader category than employment. It entailed enterprising behaviour in a development context. The institutional challenge was to improve the effectiveness of training systems in the context of current conditions.

The capacity of young people to address sustainable development issues must be enhanced, he said. They were the future of society. The improvement of their skills must be an urgent priority of governments. Global policies affecting youth employment and livelihood must be addressed. However, youth must also take actions consistent with commitments made by governments to implement the outcomes of world conferences. A Youth Employment Summit was being planned to launch a Decade Campaign of Action in 2004. The aim was to give 500 million young adults -- especially those facing poverty -- productive and sustainable livelihoods by the year 2012. The ultimate goal was to launch a programme for improving skills, for example by ensuring access to education for young women and equipping youth for micro- and small businesses in the informal sector.

DAVID SULTAN (Israel) said that ensuring that every citizen had the right to live in dignity had been a high priority of Israel since its establishment. In 1999, the Israeli Knesset expanded the scope of the compulsory education law to include children as young as three years of age. The result was the broadening of the State's commitment to compulsory free education for younger age groups, including a large population of children who had previously not received systematic, State-supervised pre-school education. In the field of health, universal health coverage ensured that no resident of Israel was without adequate care. A 1959 equal employment opportunity law was bolstered in 1998 with the passage of two new laws -- the Law of Prevention of Sexual Harassment and the Law for the Advancement of the Status of Women.

Israel, he said, was undertaking the struggle for social development while concurrently carrying the burden of security and absorption of new immigrants. In addition, it was facing the same predicaments shared by other countries -- rising rates of unemployment, increasing social gaps, a changing labour market and the effects of globalization. In spite of those difficulties, Israel had succeeded in establishing a welfare state capable of serving an ever-expanding percentage of its population. It had been eager to share its experiences with other countries that were struggling to achieve social development despite their meager resources. A Centre for International Cooperation (Mashav) was established in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs four decades ago to assist other nations to advance and develop.

JULIA T. ALVAREZ (Dominican Republic) said that while there had been many accomplishments during the recently concluded International Year of Older Persons, the Committee should recognize that, in a sense, any year dedicated to a group of people was “static”: it arrived, it was celebrated and then it was gone. It was imperative, therefore, that the Year be considered merely a starting point and not an end in itself. With that in mind, however, her satisfaction with the follow-up to the Year had been tempered with caution, as she recalled how the noble intentions for the Plan of Action that emerged from the 1982 World Assembly never fully bore fruit. The current Assembly must therefore make its mark on the situation of the elderly in all societies. The transformed social and economic contours of all nations that would become increasingly apparent as the world’s elderly population increased would require no less. The international community must sustain momentum in this regard so that a veritable "new age for old age" could be celebrated.

She said that on the road to the Second World Conference on Ageing, to be held in 2002 in Madrid, it was important to acknowledge some notable shortcomings in the 1982 Plan of Action. While that Plan dealt with ageing as a worldwide phenomenon, its prescriptions did not always fit its descriptions. Most proposals in the plan seemed geared for older persons in industrialized nations, not those in developing countries. Most dramatically, the Plan had been endowed with “grand ambitions” but lacked more quantifiable endowments that would have paid for some of its goals. The Plan also failed to view its subject, the elderly, as a resource in achieving the Plan’s aspirations. These flaws all but insured that the inspirational words of the Plan would not be translated into deeds. As the Second World Conference approached, it was vital to correct those flaws in a revised Plan of Action. The Committee’s work should be focused and informed by the knowledge of the social and economic environment in which population ageing will take place in the coming century.

INOCENCIO ARIAS (Spain) welcomed the Committee's focus on the follow-up of the 1999 International Year in light of his country's hosting of the upcoming conference on ageing, to be held in Madrid in 2002. He said the question of old age was generating vast debate. In Spain those issues were the province of the State Council for Elder Adults. The worldwide consideration of issues affecting the elderly would be addressed at the Madrid Conference, but the commitment was a present responsibility. The adequacy of the preparatory process must be ensured.

He said a technical committee had been set up. It would meet in Santa Domingo next month and its outcome would be presented to the Committee on Sustainable Development. The purpose was to coordinate activities for the ageing so that all actors would be involved. Of key importance for the success of the Conference was an awareness that ageing issues must be mainstreamed into other forums. It was an issue that was of equal importance to developed and developing countries, as well as those in transition.

RENATO R. MARTINO, Permanent Observer of the Holy See, said that the overview in the 2000 Report on the World Social Situation highlighted key global developments in terms of economic and demographic trends, and from a social perspective. In that Report, a number of developments were identified which were expected to have a profound influence on the shape of society in the coming years and decades. Those insights, together with evidence of a genuine concern for life, peace, the family and the environment, were positive signs that the “Family of Nations” was actively involved in building a better world for all.

Despite such positive developments, said the Archbishop, economic and social indicators showed the persistence and often the widening of the gap between haves and have-nots characterized by the unequal distribution of wealth. The Secretary- General had aptly proposed that a “global compact” be established, whereby private corporations would commit themselves to observing good practices in the areas of human rights, labour and the environment. Development could not be limited to economics and politics, but must pay attention to cultural and human factors. In that regard, the family played a critical role. The Holy See neither offered technical solution nor proposed economic or political programmes. Its contribution was on another plane. It proposed instead a solidarity which accepted the fact of interdependence and raised it to the moral plane.

COLIN HOLLIS (Australia) said the roles of older people were evolving. Just as young people must be encouraged to participate, the older should be given opportunities to continue achieving and contributing to their communities and their nation, even when they required support to do so.

Outlining initiatives Australia had taken during the 1999 International Year, he said partnerships had been a particularly important element in the Government's approach to the Year. Success was already evident. Surveys showed stereotypes had broken down. National media and advertising awards initiated during the Year were continuing to reinforce a positive portrayal of older Australians. A national strategy on ageing was expected to be completed during 2001. It would ensure a long-term and coordinated policy of responsiveness to issues associated with a rapidly ageing population, particularly with regard to community attitudes towards ageing and older people. Australia looked forward to playing a constructive role in the Madrid meeting on ageing.

LULIT ZEWDIE G/MARIAM (Ethiopia) said the report on the world social situation gave a clear picture of the urgent attention social issues demanded in developing countries, particularly in Africa. A commitment had been made to addressing the critical situation three months ago in Geneva, during the five-year review of the 1995 Copenhagen Plan of Action. That had been underscored by the Millennium Summit Declaration, in which world leaders reiterated the crucial need for social development.

Describing concrete measures her government had taken to speed social development and improve the well-being of people, she said a developmental social welfare policy had been established. Its objective was to alleviate poverty, promote social integration and create productive employment. It targeted vulnerable groups, including persons with disabilities and victims of social situations. It focused on improving conditions at all social and community levels by involving all partners, including civil society and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Addressing social problems required political will and commitment, and called for maximum cooperation and coordination among all actors. Efforts should aim at long-term measures ensuring sustainable development. Social development was the responsibility of each individual nation. However, international assistance to Africa fell far short of eliminating the continent's obstacles to social and economic development.

MEI YUNG CAI (China) said the First World Conference on Ageing and the celebration of the International Year of the Older Person had proved that the international community was dedicated to giving the issue high priority on the development agenda. The follow-up to the Year would see the adoption of a revised Plan of Action and the identification of medium and long-term strategies. He hoped that initiative would maintain the momentum of the earlier Conference and continue to hold the attention of the international community, particularly as issues of ageing would be increasingly related to social development.

China, he said, was continually dealing with the ageing issue. Studies had shown that China’s elderly population was on the rise and would reach 230 million by 2020. That fact had made it necessary for the Government to take active measures to identify the basic problems of older persons, as well as related social issues. In that regard, China had progressively built a social security system for the elderly. However, as China’s economy was still developing, he was aware that the country had a long way to go to meet the needs of the elderly and to provide top-quality services for them. He said that the number of elderly around the globe would soon reach astronomical proportions. The international community’s work on their behalf should be systematic; cooperation was the key to ensuring a better society for all ages.

EVELYN AUSTRIA-GARCIA, (Philippines) said her delegation was pleased to note the various activities undertaken by Member States to improve the plight of the elderly. The Philippines shared that concern for the elderly, who were revered and cherished members of Philippine society. Demographic projections had heightened consciousness of the need to highlight the role of older persons in national development. The projected increase in the proportion of the elderly from one in 10 today to one in five by the year 2050 had underscored the need to mobilize the skills and expertise of older persons.

The Philippines was concerned over the issue of human rights for older persons, particularly for women, who were subject to structural inequalities, social and economic exclusion, abuse, and negative stereotypes. The Philippines welcomed the research undertaken and the international conferences already held. Her country was interested in continuing the discussion on the best practices for addressing the needs of ageing populations worldwide. It also looked forward to participating in the preparations to update the international plan of action, and fully supported the convening of the Second World Assembly on Ageing in Madrid in April 2002.

DETLEF BOLDT (Germany) said the main demographic issue of the next century would be ageing. To a large extent, most of the fundamental social, economic and cultural challenges were, or soon would be, triggered by the demographic phenomenon of ageing. In responding to those coming challenges, the international community should be aware that the debate on ageing would be a debate on the future shape of societies. Population ageing had indeed spread well beyond the industrialized world. In some developing countries, the current growth rate of elderly populations was now more than twice that of developed countries. Countries with economies in transition were subject to similar demographic changes. The focus must therefore be on developing policies that met the needs of the elderly, as well as the societies in which they lived.

He went on to say that functioning and available national infrastructures to support age-related policies and programmes were crucial. In that regard, he welcomed the decision of the General Assembly to revise the 1982 Plan of Action on Ageing in order to carry the momentum created by the celebration of the International Year of Older Persons into the twenty-first century. He highlighted the work of the United Nations and its subsidiary agencies before turning to his own Country’s accomplishments in dealing with the issue of ageing. Germany had set up a national agency to support the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth in carrying out preparations for the Second World Summit on Ageing. A number of expert seminars had already been convened, and the results of several studies that had been commissioned would be presented during the upcoming session of the Commission for Social Development.

ANZHELA KORNELIOUK (Belarus) said the social dimension was a main element in her country's economic policy. Its experience in dealing with social problems such as unemployment was vast. The ageing population had been growing in Belarus. Affected by the Chernobyl disaster, the health situation of the elderly had suffered. Activities for the International Year on Ageing had been incorporated into the country's policy. The focus had been on “active ageing”.

In addition to policies ensuring health care and medical assistance to the elderly, she said that geriatric services had been set up. Her country would participate in the upcoming Madrid Conference on ageing. It would also support development of a new plan of action that took in the rapidly evolving new realities.

FAWZI BIN ABDUL MAJEED SHOBOKSHI (Saudi Arabia) said that despite the advance of past decades, much remained to be done in the developing societies on the social front. Armed conflicts and destruction of infrastructure were two main causes of serious social problems. Countries in transition also faced social problems as they underwent changes. His country promoted development by focusing its efforts on providing avenues for all to participate. At the same time, it safeguarded the standard of living by limiting the negative effects of overly rapid change.

His society's human and material resources were being developed in line with Islamic principles, he said. Living standards were being raised by a number of means, including efforts to increase income and train local leaders in progressive values affirming Islamic beliefs. The Government paid particular attention to those needing special care, such as the elderly and those unable to fend for themselves. It was painful to have development and prosperity in one side of the world while the rest suffered. He urgently called on the developed nations to increase their support and not place impossible obstacles in the path of people hungry for social development.

YESHEY DORJI (Bhutan) said that apparently there was no lack of political commitment to the goals of social development. By actively participating and supporting development-oriented conferences held since Copenhagen and through the Millennium Summit, the international community had accorded the highest priority to social development. What remained to be done was to match the lofty words and ideas that came out of those events with actions. In that regard, while socio- economic development was the primary responsibility of national governments, in today’s interdependent world it would not be possible for them to overcome the myriad challenges their countries faced unless the international community came forward with the requisite support.

“The eradication of poverty is a global challenge, calling for a global response,” she said. The conditions of dire poverty affecting half the world’s population were appalling and severely undermined human dignity. The United Nations must be at the forefront of the battle against this challenge to worldwide sustainable development. As a landlocked developing country, Bhutan had faced daunting challenges in its efforts at social development. The country’s rugged terrain and scattered settlements had greatly added to the cost of maintaining infrastructure and services required for the welfare and well-being of its people. By adopting a holistic, people-centred approach to development, however, some progress had been made: every Bhutanese citizen enjoyed free healthcare and education services; infant and maternal mortality rates had been halved within the past few decades; and life expectancy had increased from 47 to 66 years. That approach, which also included providing leadership that raised the welfare of the people above all other considerations, was called Maximizing-the-Gross-National- Happiness-Beyond-Just-Gross-National-Product.

NICOLE J. ELISHA (Benin) said the idea that productive employment played a key role in the elimination of poverty and the restoration of human dignity had been one of the highlights of the World Social Summit. Indeed, it had been noted that 2 billion new jobs must be created within the next two decades in order to fight global poverty and meet the economic demands of developing countries. Creating those jobs would prove challenging, however, as much of the world’s population lived in developing countries and now largely worked in the “informal” sectors. Underemployment, and particularly the provision of better employment for children, should be priorities, since many people in that category worked in hard- to-monitor spheres such as agriculture. In fact, 85 per cent of young people in developing countries did not have access to education or jobs. Those were the challenges the international community would have to address in order to ensure hope for the future

She went on to say that priority should also go to the improvement of agriculture, in Africa and other developing countries. She again drew the Committee’s attention to the need for creating productive jobs in African countries. Although there had been a large number of programmes and conferences on social development, the rapid changes caused by globalization might have

overtaken any advances made. The old adage advised is not merely to give a person a fish but to teach him how to fish. But in today’s world, the phrase “not only teach him how to fish, but how to put those fish on the market” needed to be added. What was also needed to face the challenges of the evolving world marketplace was a coherent, multisectoral approach with emphasis on partnerships among all actors. The international community must respect the commitments previously undertaken to ensure liberalization and social growth. She appealed to the world community to work together to ensure development for all societies and to ensure that families, children and the elderly had access to the fruits of progress.

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