UN RC Talking Points on the occasion of the regional launch of the first UN Global Report on Ageism

Madame la Ministre, excellencies, colleagues from Eastern Europe and Central Asia. I am happy to be here in Belgrade today TO support our partners from the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue, the Regional Offices of UNFPA and WHO, in hosting the regional launch of the UN Global Report on Ageism.

I would like to acknowledge the work and attention that the government of Serbia is dedicating to the issue of ageing and to this regional global call to combat ageism.

We have said many times that the COVID-19 pandemic has uncovered many structural inequalities and vulnerabilities in our societies. It has certainly shone light on issues that have long been denied or neglected – such as ageism.  Which I will describe as stereotyping and/or discrimination against individuals or groups on the basis of their age.

ageism, as a social behaviour, may be as old as humanity! the term itself, and the area of social study were coined in 1969, and much is known about related behaviours, both in people and institutions. Ageism, and the resulting age-discrimination, have serious and far-reaching consequences for health, well-being, dignity and rights – above all, for older people, but with negative impacts that extend across all of society.

Covid has been the crisis that really exacerbated ageist attitudes, towards both young and old, sometimes pitting generations against each other,

We have seen glaring discrimination when elderly living in care homes were either abandoned or not protected at all in the first few months of the pandemic. We have heard the rhetoric that old people should stay locked in, so that younger generations can be free, which for me, meant that the collective responsibility to address the crisis would be shifted mostly to a more vulnerable group, rather than embraced by all. Each of us has seen how our elder parents have been mentally affected by the isolation, a lot more than other groups, partly because they might not have benefit from the explosion of digital services that happened during the crisis. And on that point, I want to highlight that the race for digitalization of our lives has led a majority of elderly far behind. In France, an estimated 17% of the population, most of which older people, has been marginalised in its access to both public and private services, because of age blind digitalization.

Ageism, in its multiple forms, is an unfortunate cousin of sexism and racism, and predictably, their combination can have very harsh circumstances for certain groups of people, particularly older women.

This period has made us realised that we need to be a lot more proactive about it, if only because our population, especially in Europe, is getting older, if only because the multiple challenges ahead of us such as depopulation and climate change will require greater social cohesion and contribution of all, if only because inter-generational solidarity is a great expression of love, and we need more love in our lives right now.

In reality the older population is an incredibly diverse group – perhaps the most diverse of all age groups. Older people frequently make irreplaceable contributions to their families and communities, as workers, caregivers, volunteers and community leaders.

The report presented today is the results of the joint efforts of several UN organizations - UNFPA, UNECE, OHCHR, WHO. It clearly shows that understanding and addressing ageism requires a multi-sectoral approach.

I would like to mention two key instruments that will help us engage in the whole of societies approach in addressing this important problem:

i/ The United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021-2030) is a global collaboration, aligned with the last ten years of the Sustainable Development Goals, that brings together governments, civil society, international agencies, professionals, academia, the media, and the private sector to improve the lives of older people, their families, and the communities in which they live and

ii/ the new Joint Programme on Ageing launched in 2020 implemented by UNFPA together with the WHO, UNECE, the OHCHR and HelpAge International. The objective is to support countries in strengthening the rights and safeguarding dignity of older men and women through improving health and social care provision and enabling environments across the region.

Our work is far from being done - as a widespread phenomenon, it requires several fronts of action.

First, policy and law that is clear in tackling the risks, causes and consequences of discrimination and exclusion driven by ageism.

Second, the stereotypes and neglect based on ignorance or prejudice should be continuously addressed through all available means and from a very early age. For this we should employ education, intergenerational programmes and campaigns, intense outreach and communication, interaction with both older persons, young persons and wider communities. This would eventually impact the perceptions, narratives around age, and secure effective protection and prevention mechanisms.

Third, i believe that a particular focus is needed around health, both physical and mental, to ensure that elderly people have equal rights to good health services, that they are not discarded just because, well, you know, they are old and done!  I hope that somehow we can work on that sense of self value, which so many elderly have lost.

Aging is most natural process, but a true measure of civilization is how we treat our old people, ourselves in a few years, with dignity, empathy and care, so that they enjoy life to the fullest until the end. More inclusive, equitable and age-friendly societies will be more resilient, sustainable, secure and fair. At the UN, we are committed to advance older people’s rights through our strategic priority on well-being. I trust this event today will galvanise our joint action, with a sense of urgency. Hvala!