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| Kathmandu Monday April 08, 2002 Chaitra 26, 2058. |
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A graying population
The five-day United Nations (UN) World
Assembly on aging begins in Madrid today. This is the second assembly on aging organised
by the UN since the establishment of the world body in 1945. The first assembly of elderly
people declared 1999 "the international year of older persons". The assembly is
an attempt to improve the lot of the elderly. It is also an effort to integrate the aging
population within the larger process of human development. The assembly is expected to
adopt new measures against inhumane attitudes, policies and practice at all levels in
order to better protect the aging. The plan seems to call for a secular aging, empowering
the old fully for the socio-economic development of the country they live in. Such
provisions will provide them opportunities not only to keep developing individually but
also enjoy their civil rights. Besides, such an international assembly also creates
awareness among people that the elderly population has not been given proper care in the
society they live in or been able to participate in its development.
Of the total population, five percent
consists of elderly people even in this country. Women have a lower life expectancy
compared to men because of gender discrimination and other socio-economic factors.
Meanwhile, it is the improvement in the health system that has raised the life expectancy
of elderly people. A decade ago, Nepal’s population of elderly people was less than
two percent of the total, the lowest in the sub-continent. However, it did not remain that
way for long. The country has made remarkable progress in the health sector, raising the
life expectancy of both women and men. But the government has taken no measures to provide
medical facilities and economic benefits for the elderly population. The CPN-UML
government had introduced a monthly salary for aging people for a year only to scrap it
later. The government has neither built adequate old age homes that provide shelter for
the aging population, nor has it been able to tap this reserve of knowledge and experience
for the development of the country. What our society follows is a traditional way of
caring for the elderly, denying them participation in economic, political and social life.
The decline of fertility rates, especially in
developed countries, has become an overriding concern due to noticeable disproportion
between younger and older persons. This is the main reason why the developed countries
continue to invite the immigration of youths and educated persons from developing
countries. The graying of the population has also presented both opportunities and new
challenges for all societies. The aging population in every country can no longer be taken
as a burden on society. We have yet to utilize fully this rich resource for development.
The elderly have been given no political, social and economic rights in many countries
including Nepal. The adoption of the international plan of action 2002 should eliminate
such traditional, societal and gender based discrimination. This will certainly help the
elderly population exercise their individual rights which in turn can empower them to
participate effectively in the economic and social development of the country. |
