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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