wfn.org | Conference declares rights of older women

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Sept. 1, 1998        Contact: Linda Bloom*(212)870-3803*New York
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By Suzy Heydel*

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - A "Nashville Declaration on Older Women's
Rights" was drafted during an Aug. 27-30 convocation at Scarritt-Bennett
Center.

Dozens of United Methodists joined women from other faith and secular
groups at the official preparatory event for the United Nations'
International Year of Older Persons in 1999. Global Action on Aging, an
international grassroots citizen's group that focuses upon issues of
concern to older persons, sponsored the event, in partnership with the
Stanley Foundation.

The two-page Nashville Declaration, shaped by the 100 participants from
the United States, Europe, Africa and Asia, was presented to Ambassador
Julia Alvarez from the Dominican Republic, who gave the conference's
keynote address. The declaration will be presented to the U.N. General
Assembly at its session on the International Year.

The declaration calls for older women to have:

*	access to free education and lifelong learning;
*	access to barrier-free environments and clean air, water and
soil;
*	freedom from hostile social environments and negative attitudes
about older women;
*	access to comprehensive, long-term health care;
*	representation in the political process; and
*	provisions for economic security and opportunities for
self-sufficiency.

Drafting the declaration was just one result of the four-day dialogue
about the increasing isolation, poverty and marginalization of older
women. Through a combination of lectures, focus groups and informal
discussions, participants examined the prevailing stereotypes on aging
and the proposed changes in Social Security, health care delivery and
environmental factors that threaten the economic security and well-being
of older women around the world. 

Brigid Donelan, program officer of the U.N. Aging Program, opened the
conference by delivering a message from Secretary General Kofi Annan
that set the tone from a global perspective.

"Women nearly everywhere are living longer than men," she said. "Women
are also more likely than men to be poorer in old age and face a higher
risk of chronic illness and disability, discrimination and economic and
social marginalization.

"At the same time, the essential contributions they make to the
well-being of their families, communities and the economy are often
overlooked," she added.

Income security is a key concern for Suzanne Paul, the founder of Global
Action on Aging and a former United Methodist Board of Global Ministries
executive. "Privatization of Social Security poses the biggest threat to
older women's well-being in the U.S. today - and to those who will one
day be old," she said.

Alvarez, who has introduced most of the resolutions on aging at the
United Nations, stressed the need to "see that older people possess the
same rights and obligations as all members of society."

"We need to think about the places of elders in society, speak out for
their inclusion in all social institutions, see them as part of the
human community instead of rendering them invisible," Alvarez said. "But
thinking, speaking and seeing will go for nothing if we cannot also
convince people to feel in their hearts the mutual dependence between
young and old and the solidarity between the generations, which would
lead to the reality of a society for all ages."

Other speakers included Carroll Estes, director of the Institute for
Health and Aging, University of California at San Francisco; Laurel
Beedon, senior policy analyst at the American Association for Retired
Persons; Annelies de Vris, a representative of the National Age
Discrimination Office of the Netherlands; and Liz Calvin, executive
secretary for Women and Children for the United Methodist Board of
Global Ministries.

Marilyn Winters, a United Methodist consultant who worked with Paul to
organize the event, challenged the participants. "Our goal is to focus
the attention of people and organizations around the world upon issues
of aging and to get them involved in next year's activities."

A satellite teleconference on aging, entitled "A Society for All Ages,"
has been set for Oct. 16, 1999. The producer is Shirley Whipple
Struchen, director of the United Methodist Teleconference Connection.
# # #
*Heydel is a free-lance writer based in Brentwood, Tenn.
United Methodist News Service
(615)742-5470
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