By Anders Hylander
Today, our interim Chief Executive Officer, Silvia Stefanoni, is attending the UN Special Session on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and post-2015 agenda at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
At the session, Ms Stefanoni will deliver a statement on sustainable development in an ageing world, which has been jointly developed by HelpAge International, Age International and the UN NGO Committee on Ageing (New York). The statement has been endorsed by a wide range of civil society partners working on ageing, youth, disability and gender.
Raising awareness of population ageing
“Today’s session is a key moment for us to raise awareness about population ageing with world leaders, as well as our colleagues in civil society. I look forward to fruitful discussions and an ambitious agenda from the UN members states,” Ms Stefanoni commented.
After the session, UN member states will agree an outcome document, which is expected to set out a clear roadmap towards a single global development framework and set of goals. These will be universal in nature and applicable to national contexts to be agreed by 2015; the year the MDGs expire.
Sustainable development in an ageing world
Today’s statement puts forward five key messages, which must be included in the new post-2015 framework to ensure it delivers equal and sustainable development for all age groups, including the world’s rapidly growing population of older people.
These are:
- Any new framework must be human rights based and take account of the rights of people at all stages of their lives, from cradle to grave.
- Data collection must be improved; all data collected must be disaggregated, analysed and disseminated for all ages up to and over 100. We will be making a strong call for this next week, on 1 October, when we launch the Global AgeWatch Index.
- The framework must have a goal on social protection and decent work. This must be human rights based, nationally owned and have clear measurable objectives.
- A health goal should be framed to maxmimise healthy life expectancy at all stages of life. This must include universal health coverage.
- There must be a goal on gender with targets and indicators that are inclusive of all people of all ages and abilities.
Furthermore, we support Beyond 2015‘s call for a development framework which takes into account poverty eradication, environmental sustainability, inequality, human rights and global responsibility.
What next?
- If you want to learn more about our campaign to influence the post-2015 discussions and how you can engage, send us an email.
- Download the latest statement in English or Spanish.
- Follow the online conversation on Twitter at @helpage and #UNGA