Age Demands Action campaign leads global action on UN Day of Older People

Older people in 36 countries worldwide will join together on Wednesday 1 October, the UN International Day of Older People, under the banner of Age Demands Action – a global campaign calling for recognition and support of older people’s vital contribution to society.

Groups and organisations across four continents will take part in national activities to press for improved ageing policies and practice in their countries. High profile personalities will be endorsing their action and their calls for support.

Highlights include:

• The Philippines - 3,000 older people will march to Parliament to lobby for legislation extending access to social pensions
• Ethiopia - a delegation will meet with the President to ask for greater support for older people caring for those living with HIV and AIDS
• In Nepal, a petition will be presented to the Constitutional Assembly demanding secured rights for older people. The delegation will include Min Bahadur Serchan, who this year, age 76, set the world record for the oldest person to climb Mount Everest

Around the world, older people will be making their voices heard.

Globally, HelpAge International will be calling on the international community to include older people in three key areas of the international development agenda:

HIV and AIDS – Key United Nations data on HIV and AIDS currently excludes those over the age of 50. This ignores older people as a group at risk of infection and fails to recognise their role as carers for children orphaned by AIDS. Collecting data on how older people are affected is essential to developing an effective global response.

Millennium Development Goals – These goals aim to tackle issues faced by the world’s poorest, yet largely exclude older people. Age Demands Action is calling for social protection schemes, including social pensions to support older people, to be included in all strategies undertaken to achieve the MDGs.

Rights – In order to ensure the rights of older people are realised, Age Demands Action is calling for the UN to commission the Office of the High Commission for Human Rights to carry out a study on Human Rights and Older People.
 
Richard Blewitt, Chief Executive of HelpAge International, says:

“Older people are the backbone of families and communities. They work to feed their extended families and they care for grandchildren, often orphaned by HIV and AIDS.  Yet 100 million older people worldwide live on less than $1 a day. They are among the poorest and most marginalised groups in many countries.

“Time is running out.  By 2050 one in five of the world’s population will be over the age of 60.  Governments must act now to invest in and support older people through age-friendly policies and practice in order to realise their true social and economic potential.”

Age Demands Action is the first worldwide campaign of its kind, launched in 2007 by HelpAge International, the global network striving for the rights of older people.

It is supported in 2008 by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, South African singer and story teller Gcina Mhlophe and Stephen Lewis, Co-Director of AIDS-Free World and Board Chair of the Stephen Lewis Foundation.

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Notes to Editors

HelpAge International has a vision of a world in which all older people fulfil their potential to lead dignified, healthy and secure lives. HelpAge International is a global network striving for the rights of disadvantaged older people to economic and physical security; healthcare and social services; and support in their caregiving role across the generations. To find out more visit www.helpage.org