Population ageing is an inevitable result of the demographic transition towards longer lives and smaller families. In 2022, the world marked the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing. To commemorate this landmark, the World Social Report 2023 explores the economic and social implications of ageing of the population. The report is intended to provide world leaders with information and policy guidance as they chart a path forward and renew commitments to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Ageing
Older persons are a tremendous repository of knowledge and experience. With the past three years intensifying the socioeconomic, environmental, health and climate-related impacts on the lives of older persons, this year’s International Day of Older Persons (1 October) focuses attention on the resilience of the more than one billion older women and men in a changing world. On this day, let’s renew our commitment to promoting the social, economic, political inclusion of all people at all ages, and building more inclusive and age-friendly societies and a more resilient world.
While the world has been focused on the pandemic for the past two years, the rapid rise of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias pose another threat to global public health.
Nathaniel Counts is Senior VP for Behavioral Health Innovation at Mental Health America and Assistant Professor at Albert Einstein's School of Medicine. In this IMF podcast, Counts says dementia will vastly increase across the globe as the population age rises with increasing life expectancy and have profound impacts on welfare and economic growth, especially in low- and middle-income countries.
Photo: An old lady at her window in a Nepalese village. ©UN Photo/John Isaac
The “Living with the Times” toolkit contains illustrated posters with key messages for older adults on how to maintain their well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Already, there are more than 1 billion people aged 60 years or older, with most living in low- and middle-income countries. Many do not have access to even the basic resources necessary for a life of meaning and of dignity. Many others confront multiple barriers that prevent their full participation in society. The United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021-2030) is an opportunity to bring us all together for ten years of concerted, catalytic and collaborative action to improve the lives of older people, their families, and their communities.