Today, 1st October, is the 33rd commemoration of the UN International Day of Older Persons.
The objectives of UNIDOP 23:
To increase global knowledge and awareness of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and generate commitments among all stakeholders to strengthen the protection of the human rights of current and future generations of older persons around the world;
To share and learn from intergenerational models for the protection of human rights around the world; and
To call on Governments and UN entities to review their current practices with a view to better integrate a life course approach to human rights in their work, and to ensure the active and meaningful participation of all stakeholders, including civil society, national human rights institutions and older persons themselves, in the work on strengthening solidarity among generations and intergenerational partnerships.
Which I think means make things better for older persons. Although I'm happy to be corrected on that as there are lots of buzz words in there and I tend to turn off.
Anyway I'm all in favour of old people, which is a good thing as there are going to be lots of us. "The number of people aged 65 years or older worldwide is projected to more than double, rising from 761 million in 2021 to 1.6 billion in 2050. The number of people aged 80 years or older is growing even faster."
The statistic that amazes me most is this one: Globally, babies born in 2022 are expected to live 71.7 years on average, 25 years longer than those born in 1950.
Twenty-five years longer. That is a huge increase, I assume, due to the improvement in the promotion of good health practices, and better prevention and treatment. Sadly I'm afraid life spans will still be unequal internationally, and even nationally.
So here's to all you bloggers out there - most of whom I suspect fall into the Older Person category. From what I've read of you we're all doing our best to keep our brains and bodies moving and working.
Here's to Older Persons!
