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Organized by the U.N. Department of Public Information and the NGO Committee
on Aging, the program addressed follow-up actions to the United Nations'
Second World Assembly on Aging, held last April in Madrid. United Methodist
representatives attended the nongovernmental component of that event.

The Madrid document makes clear that aging is not just an issue of social
security, but also an issue that should be part of overall development and
economic policy, said U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in a written
message read to participants. "And for the first time," he said,
"governments agreed on the need to integrate aging with other frameworks for
social and economic development and human rights."

The time for such action has come, he added. "There is no time to lose. The
older population of the year 2060 already has been born. They will occupy an
unprecedented share of the world's total population."

Helen Hamlin, chairwoman of the NGO Committee on Ageing, stated that the
Madrid plan needs to be widely disseminated. "We would like to promote
knowledge of the plan to the remotest possible areas, so that citizens of
the world can know what their governments have committed to do," she said.

In her keynote address, Eveline Honigsperger - who works on aging and
population policies for the Austrian government and served as vice president
of the Madrid assembly - pointed out that a projected increase in the
elderly population "has far-reaching consequences" on all areas of life.

Three major directions for action arising from Madrid focus around the areas
of older people and development, health and well-being throughout old age,
and supportive surroundings for the elderly, according to Honigsperger.

Older people also need to be involved in societal policy-making. "Older
persons are the best experts on their own interests and should have the
opportunity to represent themselves," she said.

Panel members discussed aging-related issues in Africa, Latin America and
Asia. A problem particular to Africa, according to Tavengwa Nhongo of Kenya,
is "the majority of people do not believe that we have a population boom of
older people on the continent of Africa." In addition, various countries,
ethnic groups and even local communities have different definitions of what
is considered elderly. In Kenya, for example, the retirement age has been
reduced to 55 years and could even be lowered to 52, he said.
 
Older Africans also deal with problems with income and food security, access
to medical care, and acts of abuse and violence from others, said Nhongo, a
regional representative in Africa for Help Age International, a leading
nongovernmental organization on the issue of aging.

African countries must develop policies and legislation to deal with these
problems and also recognize how the issues of the elderly affect other
generations. Programs need to be developed, for example, that recognize the
synergy of AIDS orphans and the older people who often care for them. "If we
bring these together, we are likely to ensure that the two groups will
survive together," Nhongo explained.

The bottom line, however, is that unless the entire cycle of poverty is
addressed, "we will never be able to address the problems of old people
adequately," Nhongo said. "I'm appealing to the developed world to come
together and work with us in the developing countries to break the cycle of
poverty."

Economic insecurity is a hallmark of aging in Latin America and the
Caribbean, where only one in 10 people has any sort of pension, according to
Martha Pelaez of the Pan American Health Organization, a regional office of
the World Health Organization. That makes the elderly economically dependent
on families that "are still eager to support each other but not always able
to support each other," she said.

Basic health care issues - including malnutrition, which can lead to
disability - are another major concern for older people. Pelaez said Latin
American ministers of health met recently and established goals to improve
the health of older people and reduce disability and mortality rates.

In Egypt, the family remains the main support system for older persons,
especially women, according to Madiha el Safty, a sociology professor at
American University in Cairo. But that support is more of a problem in urban
areas, and although the government has opened some nursing homes, it has yet
to find a comprehensive solution for elderly support.

Job migration, spurred by economic problems, also is an issue affecting the
elderly. "It's the young people, the working age, that leave the country,
and it's the old people who are left behind," she explained.

Although Japan claims an older population than most countries, with 18
percent age 65 or older in 2002, it also has a better support system.
Michiko Mukuno, director for aged society policy in the Japanese government
cabinet, said the annual income of elderly households is not significantly
different than that of other households.

In addition, 75 percent have no major health problems, and one in five older
people still works. "On the average, they are healthy, economically secure
and active," she reported.

But a gender gap also exists among the elderly. "Women's income is a third
of men's, and 17 percent of older women are without any income," Mukuno
explained.

Addressing the challenge of the economic situation of older women is part of
a new Japanese government plan aimed at promoting the re-employment of the
elderly. Mukuno said the government envisions a future society where anyone
can work, regardless of age.

Johan Scholvinck, director of the Division for Social Policy and
Development, U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs, encouraged
participants in the International Day of Older Persons to continue their
advocacy role.

"Many a U.N. conference would have come and gone if not for the NGO
(nongovernmental organization) community keeping the governments' feet to
the fire," he said. The Madrid plan of action gives a clear role to civil
society to work with national governments to improve life for older people,
he added.

The United Methodist Board of Discipleship, which oversees the
denomination's Committee on Older Adult Ministries, and the United Methodist
Board of Church and Society are drafting legislation on aging issues for the
2004 General Conference, the denomination's top legislative body.

Suzanne Paul, the United Methodist founder and executive director of Global
Action on Aging, said her organization has set two goals as a follow-up to
Madrid. The first goal is to prepare a national aging resource kit, for use
in the United States, "to look at how the global is local." The second goal
is to document the need for protecting older people who live in areas where
violent conflicts occur.

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*Bloom is New York news director for United Methodist News Service.

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United Methodist News Service
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