International Day of Older Persons 2015: 2015 Theme: Sustainability and Age Inclusiveness in the Urban Environment

All over the world 1st October is Celebrated as International Day of Older Persons (IDOP).

International Day of Older Persons 2015: 2015 Theme: Sustainability and Age Inclusiveness in the Urban Environment

"Making cities inclusive of older persons means generating opportunities for their economic and social participation in accessible and safe environments. It also means providing affordable housing as well as the health and social services needed to support ageing in place."

                                                                                           - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

On 14 December 1990, the United Nations General Assembly (by resolution 45/106) designated 1 October the International Day of Older Persons.

This was preceded by initiatives such as the Vienna International Plan of Action on Ageing - which was adopted by the 1982 World Assembly on Ageing - and endorsed later that year by the UN General Assembly.

In 1991, the General Assembly (by resolution 46/91) adopted the United Nations Principles for Older Persons.

In 2002, the Second World Assembly on Ageing adopted the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, to respond to the opportunities and challenges of population ageing in the 21st century and to promote the development of a society for all ages.

The theme of the 2015 commemoration is “Sustainability and Age Inclusiveness in the Urban Environment”.

Living up to the Secretary-General's guiding principle of "Leaving No-One Behind" necessitates the understanding that demography matters for sustainable development and that population dynamics will shape the key developmental challenges that the world in confronting in the 21st century. If our ambition is to "Build the Future We Want", we must address the population over 60 which is expected to reach 1.4 billion by 2030.

UN 25th International Day of Older Persons: Sustainability and Age Inclusiveness in the Urban Environment

The 2015 celebration of the 25th anniversary of International Day of Older Persons (IDOP), in anticipation of the third United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) to be held in 2016, will focus not only on the impact of the new urban environment on older persons, but also the impact of older persons on the new urban environment.

Already, the move of people worldwide to cities is happening at a record pace, with 6 out of every 10 people in the world expected to reside in urban areas by 2030. Consistent with the phenomenon of urbanization, the number of older persons is increasing most rapidly in urban areas of developing countries. The combined effect of both phenomena means that the number of people over 60 living in cities may grow to over 900 million by 2050 – making up a quarter of the total urban population in developing countries .

In principle, these trends offer older persons prospects for improving their quality of life. Well planned cities are more likely to provide income generating and education opportunities, in addition to housing and urban environments that are more accessible and safe for older persons, including the incorporation of age-friendly features in public facilities. This includes access to affordable, reliable, safe and physically accessible transportation, which is one of the cornerstones of older persons’ participation, independence and social inclusion.

The 2015 IDOP celebration seeks to demonstrate that an age inclusive agenda is crucial for sustainable urban environments to promote equity, welfare and shared prosperity for all.




Source: http://www.un.org/en/events/olderpersonsday/

The Promise of Prometheus – Golden Aging in Europe and Central Asia

In Greek mythology, the “Golden Age” referred to an idyllic period of peace and stability when people lived long, healthy, active, and prosperous lives. Prometheus, the Titan god of forethought, is said to have promised, “A new Golden Age shall come, brighter and better by far than the old!”

In this ancient fable, stable populations and long lives were central elements of flourishing societies free of disease and poverty.

Nowadays, stagnant populations and aging societies are often seen as a challenge or threat, rather than an opportunity – but the current aging of societies in Europe could bring citizens closer than many expect to the ideal described in mythology.

Aging Societies

The average age of the population in Europe and Central Asia today is 37 years old – eight years older than the average age six decades ago. This development is most advanced in the western part of the region, but the relatively young populations in Turkey and in Central Asia are expected to quickly follow this demographic trend.

The main reason behind population aging in the region is not that people are living longer, but that they are having fewer children. Since the 1970s, fertility rates have declined dramatically. Outward migration of young people is also playing a role in shaping the population structure in several countries.

The potential impacts of aging societies are often cause for apprehension. Working individuals, for example, are concerned about bearing the burden of financing health and pension systems that will have to support more elderly people.

Such concerns are warranted – and governments are tasked with helping to address them in a socially responsible and fiscally prudent way. The task is immense and challenging, but not impossible. Indeed, aging societies present opportunities to implement important socioeconomic reforms that can ultimately help foster a more active, healthy, and productive society.

A New Golden Age

Policies can help stabilize the demographic structure, enhancing the opportunities and mitigating the negative socioeconomic consequences of aging populations. The most immediate priorities for governments are to enable longer and more productive working lives, ensure fiscal sustainability, and prevent aging from leading to an increase in old-age poverty. But individuals, businesses and governments all have a role to play.

According to legend, Prometheus was always looking to the future and preparing for what might happen tomorrow, next year, or in a hundred years. To fully prepare for the new demographic reality and to seize the potential opportunities, policymakers across Europe and Central Asia would do well to follow his example. Perhaps then, all citizens can look forward one day to their Golden Age of aging.

Read in detail: http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2015/06/16/promise-of-prometheus-golden-aging-in-europe-and-central-asia

Courtesy: World Bank Report 2015

THE PUNE DECLARATION 2015 AGE-FRIENDLY SMART CITIES

The signed copy of the Pune Declaration on "Making Smart Cities Age-friendly" was handed over to the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shri Devendra Phadnavis, by the Chairman of ILC-I, Shri Jayant Umranikar on the auspicious day of Akshaytritaya, the 21st of April 2015. And the same is being sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

THE PUNE DECLARATION ON ‘MAKING SMART CITIES AGE-FRIENDLY CITIES AND COMMUNITIES IN INDIA’-2015

PREAMBLE:

On the cusp of the commencement of the vision of the ‘100 Smart Cities’ as propounded by Honourable, Shri Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India,

Acknowledging that,  India today has nearly 100 million elderly population over the age of 60 years which by 2050, may grow to  315 million and by the time these Smart Cities become functional,  every fifth citizen of a city and every third voter in the electorate, may be a senior citizen,

We, the representatives of senior citizens’ organizations, NGOs and stakeholders in the cause of population ageing, under the aegis of the International Longevity Centre-India (ILC-I), having met on the 15th of February 2015 in Pune, unanimously declare the following:

Principles of thought and action:

1. Advocating World Health Organization’s concepts of ‘Active Ageing’ and that of an age-friendly city with elder-friendly, barrier-free structures & services encouraging easy accessibility for all senior citizens,
2. Believing in the UN Principles of Older Persons and their emphasis on Independence, Dignity, Self-fulfillment, Participation and Care,
3. Drawing inspiration from the Priority Directions of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, with special focus on ”Ensuring Enabling and Supportive Environments”,

We, the representatives of senior citizens’ organizations, NGOs and stakeholders in the cause of population ageing,

Declare the following areas of intervention that would serve to build the framework for Age-friendly Cities and Communities:

•     Transportation, Outdoor spaces, Buildings &Housing
•     Community Support, Recreation and Health Services
•    Social and Civic Participation of Senior Citizens
•    Safety and Security of Senior Citizens
•   Employment, Communication and Information
•    Development of Affordable Technology and Assistive Devices

 

Dedicate ourselves to: 

1.     Ensuring an enabling environment to make an age-friendly city barrier-free, inclusive, connected and accessible.
2.  Building an elder-friendly social environment having an age-friendly, affordable infrastructure that aids mobility, connectivity and most importantly, independence of the senior citizen as also developing ‘ageing-in-place’ housing facilities, using inclusive innovations.

We, the Undersigned, Pledge ourselves to:

•      Supporting the building and development of safe & inclusive neighbourhoods, including public infrastructure, buildings, roads, pavements, elder-friendly housing, hospitals, retirement homes, residential care & nursing homes.
•     Establishing safe, comfortable and affordable transportation systems that facilitate qualitative mobility, connectivity and easy accessibility of places & services for senior citizens.
•      Ensuring the availability of good quality, affordable health services including preventive, primary, secondary care, rehabilitative and palliatives services, long-term and end of life care.

RESOLVE THAT:

•      The Government, society, community, NGOs and the Senior citizens themselves would work towards making all proposed Smart Cities of the country, “Age-friendly”using inclusive innovations and affordable technology, in the areas of Transportation and Roads, Housing, Infrastructure, Social Environment, Health Services, Safety and Security of the Senior Citizens, Outdoor spaces, Communication and Information.

Pune, 15^th February 2015

Name, Designation and Signed by:

Dr. R. A. Mashelkar, President, International Longevity Centre-India(ILC-I).

Dr. Arun Nigavekar, Vice President, ILC-I

Mr. Jayant Umranikar, Chairman, International Longevity Centre-India (ILC-I).

Mr. D. N. Chapke, President, All India Senior Citizens Confederation (AISCCON).

Mr. N. M. Kodolikar, President, Federation of Senior Citizens Organisations of Maharashtra (FESCOM).

Dr. T. N. Wazarkar, President, All Senior Citizens Organisations of Pune(ASCOP).

Dr. Siva Raju, Dean & Professor, School of Development Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences & Hon. Director, ILC-I.

Mr. R. H. Belavadi, Hon. Director, ILC-I

Dr. Dilip Satbhai, Hon. Treasurer, ILC-I

Dr. Bhushan Patwardhan, Director, School of Health Sciences, University of Pune & Hon. Director, ILC-I.

Ms. Anjali Raje, Executive Director, International Longevity Centre-India (ILC-I).

Mr. Sailesh Mishra, Founder, Silver Innings, Mumbai.

Mr. Hiren Mehta, Harmony for Silvers Foundation

Mr. Prakash Borgaonkar, Director, HelpAge India

Dr. S. P. Kinjawadekar, Former President, AISCCON

Mr. Jaydeo Naik, Secretary, Viman Nagar JyeshthaNagrik Sangha

Dr. Vinod Shah, President, Janseva Foundation

Mr. Madhukar Pawar, Executive President, ASCOP

Mr. Ramanbhai Shah, Former President, AISCCON

Mr. Avinash Lakare, Central Council member of AISCCON

Dr. Alka Vyas Vice President,AISCCON & Vice President (Women’s Cell),FESCOM.

Mr. Vinayak Bhave, Hon. Advisor (Finance), ILC-I.

 

Towards an Age-friendly World, WHO guidelines

A key strategy to facilitate the inclusion of older persons is to make our world more age-friendly. An age-friendly world enables people of all ages to actively participate in community activities and treats everyone with respect, regardless of their age. It is a place that makes it easy for older people to stay connected to people that are important to them. And it helps people stay healthy and active even at the oldest ages and provides appropriate support to those who can no longer look after themselves.

Many cities and communities are already taking active steps towards becoming more age-friendly. A new dedicated website, Age-friendly World, supports them in this endeavor by providing a one-stop-shop on age-friendly action at the local level: guides and tools, age-friendly practices and information on hundreds of city and community initiatives around the world. Browse the web site to learn more about what can be done to make your city or communities more age-friendly.


Check this exclusive Age-friendly website:  http://agefriendlyworld.org/en/


View the map of cities which have joined the Age-friendly network: 
https://extranet.who.int/sree/Reports?op=vs&path=/WHO_HQ_Reports/G21/PROD/EXT/GNAFCC%202 


Take this WHO Survey and Contribute your inputs:  http://apps.who.int/datacol/survey.asp?survey_id=600
 

Application form to join WHO Global Network of Age-Friendly cities: http://www.who.int/ageing/application_form/en/


Issued in public interest by #Silverinnings

WHO: “Ageing well” must be a global priority

6 November 2014 ¦ GENEVA

A major new Series on health and ageing, published in "The Lancet", warns that unless health systems find effective strategies to address the problems faced by an ageing world population, the growing burden of chronic disease will greatly affect the quality of life of older people. As people across the world live longer, soaring levels of chronic illness and diminished wellbeing are poised to become a major global public health challenge.

Effective health interventions increasing life expectancy

Worldwide, life expectancy of older people continues to rise. By 2020, for the first time in history, the number of people aged 60 years and older will outnumber children younger than 5 years. By 2050, the world’s population aged 60 years and older is expected to total 2 billion, up from 841 million today. Eighty per cent of these older people will be living in low-income and middle-income countries.
The increase in longevity, especially in high-income countries (HICs), has been largely due to the decline in deaths from cardiovascular disease (stroke and ischaemic heart disease), mainly because of simple, cost-effective strategies to reduce tobacco use and high blood pressure, and improved coverage and effectiveness of health interventions.

Challenge of ageing healthily

However, although people are living longer, they are not necessarily healthier than before – nearly a quarter (23%) of the overall global burden of death and illness is in people aged over 60, and much of this burden is attributable to long-term illness caused by diseases such as cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, heart disease, musculoskeletal diseases (such as arthritis and osteoporosis), and mental and neurological disorders.
This long-term burden of illness and diminished wellbeing affects patients, their families, health systems, and economies, and is forecast to accelerate. For example, latest estimates indicate that the number of people with dementia is expected to rise from 44 million now, to 135 million by 2050.

Read in detail:  http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2014/lancet-ageing-series/en/

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