WUNRN
ELDERLY PERSONS - ELDERLY WOMEN -
EUROPE COE - UN
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Panel
Report on the State of Concern about Ageing at the United Nations
This
Panel Report was issued following the International Day of Older Persons on 1
October 2010 at the United Nations in Geneva.Eminent experts and head of UN
agency units were invited to sum up the 'State of development and concern
about ageing' within the United Nations and assess what has happened in the
last decade. https://sites.google.com/site/unngocommiteeonageinggeneva/
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IDOP_1_October2010_Geneva_PanelReport_FinalVersion160411.pdf
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22 Pages
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"9.
The Assembly points out that the majority of elderly persons in the member
states are women, who form a particularly vulnerable group which is
discriminated against in many ways. Furthermore, the insecurity of elderly
women is exacerbated by inadequate social support and their low income. It can
also be noted that it is frequently women who have the responsibility of caring
for elderly persons, obliging them to stop working with all the ensuing
consequences for their income level and future pension."
Recommendation 1796 (2007)1
The situation of elderly persons in Europe
1. There is no denying the fact that Europe is ageing. However, old age must
be regarded not as an illness but as a highly complex progressive process
requiring a new approach to social policies.
2. Elderly persons possess an extremely diverse range of experience, skills,
needs and concerns and constitute a new source of richness on account of their
private and professional experience.
3. The Parliamentary Assembly takes this opportunity to congratulate the
Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe on its
proposal to draw up a charter on inter-generational co-operation, aimed at
establishing forums for dialogue between the generations.
4. A person’s age is no longer an indicator of health, wealth or social
status, and there is a pressing need to change approaches and stereotypes
related to ageing and to adjust policies accordingly, notably with regard to
the compulsory retirement age. Increased life expectancy also has significant
implications for social protection systems in the Council of Europe member
states.
5. In this connection, the Assembly refers to one of the conclusions of the
United Nations 2nd World Assembly on Ageing held in Madrid in 2002, according
to which “Older persons should have the opportunity to work for as long as they
wish and are able to, in satisfying and productive work”.
6. Unfortunately, elderly persons still too often encounter discrimination,
whether in their daily lives or in a professional context. This discrimination
concerns their employment, their access to health care, education and financial
services and their involvement in political decision making. In this context,
the Assembly considers that extremely rapid action is needed to end, inter
alia, the scandalous situations observed in certain institutions or
retirement homes and to prevent elderly people from suffering from social
exclusion and having to live in unacceptable conditions incompatible with the
fundamental principles governing member states. Increased life expectancy must
be a blessing for everyone.
7. Bearing in mind Article 23 of the revised European Social Charter (ETS
No. 163), which provides that elderly persons shall have access to “the health
care and services necessitated by their state”, the Assembly deplores the fact
that in some countries elderly persons may be denied treatment because of its
high cost.
8. In this connection, the Assembly underlines the need for appropriate
legislation or collective agreements, not least in respect of dependent elderly
persons living in institutions or retirement homes.
9. The Assembly points out that the majority of elderly persons in the
member states are women, who form a particularly vulnerable group which is
discriminated against in many ways. Furthermore, the insecurity of elderly
women is exacerbated by inadequate social support and their low income. It can
also be noted that it is frequently women who have the responsibility of caring
for elderly persons, obliging them to stop working with all the ensuing
consequences for their income level and future pension.
10. The Assembly draws attention to the particular situation of elderly
migrants and elderly disabled people. Elderly migrants face a particular risk
of double or even triple discrimination and requires specific policies and
culturally sensitive services, as outlined in
Recommendation 1619 (2003) on rights of elderly migrants. Moreover, governments
should recognise the significant contribution that elderly migrants have made
to economic growth in the past and the important role they can still play in
helping new generations of migrants to integrate in the host country.
11. The Assembly accordingly recommends that the Committee of Ministers
request the member states to:
11.1. regarding social protection systems:
11.1.1. invite the social partners and the relevant international
organisations to hold a debate on pension reform;
11.1.2. take the consequences of demographic trends into account in their
social and economic policies;
11.1.3. take the necessary steps to ensure the funding and long-term
viability of social protection systems (pension systems, health care and other
social benefits) so as to avoid the risk of economic dependency;
11.1.4. review social support programmes for the elderly;
11.1.5. sign and ratify multilateral social security agreements, namely the
European Convention on Social Security (ETS No. 78);
11.2. regarding employment of elderly people and their participation in
local affairs:
11.2.1. develop policies for the employment of elderly persons, seeking to
keep younger elderly persons in jobs so that they remain in the working
population;
11.2.2. implement new patterns of working time so as to be able to derive
maximum benefit from elderly persons’ professional skills and knowledge;
11.2.3. encourage local authorities to develop projects aimed at involving
elderly persons in decision making and reinforcing inter-generational
solidarity;
11.2.4. create forums for exchanges between the generations of experience
and skills in areas such as education, art, history, traditions, crafts, etc.;
11.2.5. foster voluntary work by elderly persons;
11.3. regarding assistance and support for families:
11.3.1. strengthen assistance and support measures for families by
introducing a system of special allowances, in particular for those caring for
the elderly, and thereby promote greater family involvement when elderly people
encounter health problems;
11.3.2. encourage supplementary and specific allowances in the case of loss
of autonomy;
11.3.3. expand support facilities in the form of short-stay institutions for
the elderly;
11.3.4. draw up, at European level, model rules on minimum standards for
elderly persons in institutional care;
11.4. regarding access to health care:
11.4.1. improve health-care systems and make them accessible to all elderly
persons, ensuring they receive appropriate medical care with specific attention
to their nutritional needs;
11.4.2. establish decent palliative and end-of-life care services for
elderly persons;
11.4.3. provide special training for individuals caring for elderly persons
at home and for medical practitioners;
11.4.4. adapt the existing structures for the provision of health care and
assistance to the elderly in order to make them culturally appropriate to the
needs of elderly migrants;
11.5. regarding vulnerable groups:
11.5.1. launch a process of reflection on the consequences arising from the
migration of elderly persons;
11.5.2. establish a special support programme for ageing immigrants, women
and people with disabilities;
11.5.3. establish preventive health-care systems for elderly persons;
11.5.4. provide specially adapted language courses and other activities
fostering inclusion and participation of elderly migrants and support
non-governmental organisations in their activities and assistance programmes in
this regard;
11.5.5. provide practical information to elderly migrants about receiving
social welfare, pensions and health care in the host country and the country of
origin, via public institutions, community centres, immigrant organisations,
cultural centres and religious institutions;
11.5.6. facilitate links between elderly migrants and their countries of
origin.
1. Text adopted by the Standing Committee, acting on
behalf of the Assembly, on 24 May 2007 (see Doc.
11179, report of the Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee,
rapporteur: Mr Bockel; and Doc.
11200, opinion of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population,
rapporteur: Mrs Cliveti).