In
1950 there were 200 million people over 60 years old - by 2000 that number had
tripled to nearly 600 million and by 2025 it is estimated that there will be over
1 billion older persons.
1999
was celebrated as the International Year for Older Persons to promote the theme
of working to create "a society for all ages." In 2002 the United Nations
adopted an International Plan of Action on Aging in which all governments pledged
to work for the security of older persons, as well as to empower them so that
they can "participate fully in the economic, political and social lives of
their societies."
August
21, Senior Citizens Day, is an opportunity to celebrate the wisdom and achievements
senior citizens have made, as well as to advocate for the rights of older people
throughout the world.
The International Day for Older Persons is celebrated on October 1 throughout
the world, and is an important time to remind governments about their pledges
to work towards the Millennium Development Goals of helping, among other things,
to end hunger and poverty for older persons and people of all ages.
"A
longer life provides humans with an opportunity to examine their lives in retrospect,
to correct some of their mistakes, to get closer to the truth and to achieve a
different understanding of the sense and value of their actions. This may well
be the more important contribution of older people to the human community. Especially
at this time, after the unprecedented changes that have affected humankind in
their lifetime, the reinterpretation of life-stories by the aged should help us
all to achieve the urgently needed reorientation of history."
-- United Nations - International Plan of Action on Aging
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