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|  | Liaison Newsletter > LIAISON Vol. 3, No. 1, January 1999 - Articles
Bridges Between Generations Seven years ago, the General Assembly decided seven years ago to declare 1999 as the International Year of Older Persons (IYOP), with the theme Towards a Society for All Ages. Since 1959, World Refugee Year, the UN has designated specific years in order to draw attention to important issues. Governments of Member States, assisted by civil society, are encouraged to take the themes as opportunities to raise awareness and promote policy initiatives among citizens (The same rationale is applied to a lengthy list of annual days and special decades). The year 1998, which was the International Year of the Ocean (IYO) did not receive the attention it deserved in Canada nor create the impact expected. IYOP, however, seems already to have raised the interest of a broader range of organizations. The underlying framework for the International Year of Older Persons is the International Plan of Action on Aging, the first international instrument on aging which was endorsed by the General Assembly in 1982. Its principles may be divided into five different clusters of relevant issues: independence, participation, care, self-fulfillment and dignity. Working from that basis, the focus of this year has been developed into four themes: the situation of older persons, individual lifelong development, relationships between the generations and, finally, the interrelationship of population aging and development. Considering that 590 million persons will be 60 years of age or older in the year 2000, it is time to recognize the importance of this group in the population, suggests Gudy Cutler, Director of the Department of Public Relations at the Canadian Association of Retired Persons (CARP): "This year is important to make society more aware about seniors and aging. […] We do not have a very positive view of aging. Aging in many countries, including Canada, is not related as it should be to wisdom, life experience, etc. We should provide seniors with different opportunities to express themselves." Aware of the fact that the cuts in the health system gives more responsibilities to family members, homecare will be one of the issues that CARP will work on during the Year: "We will hold a forum covering homecare issues and also we will study the homecare situation across the country. [...] One of our objectives is to see homecare considered within the Canada Health Act". For l’Assemblée des aînées et aînés francophones du Canada, (a Francophone organization of seniors in Canada), the most important interest will be to continue to establish a bridge between seniors and young people: "We have started a programme in the Prairies, which will be expanded to the Maritimes in 1999, that facilitates seniors giving support to young people, especially those who are looking for a job", explains René Toupin, their President. The success of the Plan of Action of the International Year of Older Persons in this country will depend largely on the actions undertaken by a wide variety of institutions and organizations. The Federal Government has established a National Secretariat to promote the Year and to engage the many institutions and organizations that serve or otherwise involve seniors in Canada. The Division of Aging and Seniors of Health Canada will play a lead role during this coming year, along with many other seniors organizations beyond CARP and l’Assemblée des aînées et aînés francophones du Canada. Provincial Governments are also expected to establish IYOP focal points. IYOP will provide an opportunity both globally and nationally to assess the aging situation. It will also be, as the President of l’Assemblée des aînés et aînées francophones du Canada, René Toupin, points out, "a key moment to encourage our volunteers and try to get more people involved in the issues facing older persons." This last comment brings us back to the theme of this International Year, Towards a Societty for All Ages, which elicits solidarity and exchanges between generations. It is wrong to say that the International Year of Older Persons implies only the involvement of elders: it aims to reach the whole population in order to develop a stronger partnership between all ages. For more information about the International Year of Older Persons, please refer to: -UNA-Canada's special web section on IYOP: www.unac.org/en/get_involved/internships/index.asp -Division of Aging and Seniors (Health Canada): (613) 957-1176 / www.hc-sc.gc.ca/seniors-aines/ -Canada’s National IYOP Site: iyop-aipa.ic.gc.ca -United Nations IYOP: www.un.org/esa/socdev/iyop/index.html |
