AARP Statement on the Occasion of the 2009 UN International Day of Older Persons

By Barry Rand, AARP CEO

As we pause to celebrate the nineteenth annual International Day of Older Persons, we also stop to reflect on the changing world we live in and the challenges that lie ahead.

Our world has changed dramatically in the ten years since the International Year of Older Persons in 1999.  As of 2008, 62 percent (313 million) of the world's people aged 65 and older lived in developing countries.  By 2040, today's developing countries will be home to more than one billion people 65+, 76 percent of the projected world total.  Moreover, people 80+, are the fastest growing portion of the population in many countries, including the United States. In a world where older people will outnumber children for the first time in history by 2050, this is also our greatest challenge, and reducing that inequity is our shared international imperative.

The aging of the world's population is the transformational issue of our time.  As people get older, they want and need many of the same things, regardless of where they live.  They want health and financial security.  And they want options for living their lives. They want to be included in their societies and to be able to enjoy the opportunities that life has to offer.  So, we must ask ourselves:

• How will we address aging populations?
• How will we ensure long-term health care and economic security for so many?
• How will we ensure dignity and independence as we age?
• How will we do all of this without burdening future generations with the costs?
• How will we use our knowledge and experience to create a better world for our kids, grandkids and great-grandkids?
• In short, how will we create a world where people in all societies can age with dignity and purpose?

AARP, as the world's largest organization dedicated to the interests of older citizens, is committed to using our experience, knowledge and resources to work with other countries to address these global aging issues.  We will do this:

• By listening and learning-sharing our ideas with other countries and learning from their experiences.  As I have worked internationally throughout my career, I've always been impressed with how other countries apply best practices within their cultures.  It's one thing to understand what the best practices are; it's quite another to migrate and adapt them effectively into unique cultures and understand why they work in one culture and may or may not in another.
• Through collaboration-by reaching beyond our borders to engage leaders of other countries to address policy challenges and help find solutions, by developing and nurturing partnerships to address common goals. 
• Through inclusion-reaching out and addressing the needs of those who are often left behind. 
• And, through our voice-by being a strong advocate for global aging issues and for creating a society for all ages that would enable the generations to invest in one another and share in the fruits of that investment, guided by the twin principles of  reciprocity and equity as called for by the United Nations.

We're at a pivotal time in our history. The global economic recession we are experiencing this year is giving us a glimpse of what it would be like if we have to redefine our dreams.  Nobody wants that. People are hurting.  We see more people struggling to get by.  We see people losing the jobs, their homes, their retirement nest egg, and their health care. The gap between the haves and the have nots is growing, as it has for the past 25 years. This is a challenge too great to ignore, not just in the United States, but throughout the world.

It has been said that reducing inequity is the highest human achievement.  In a world where older people will outnumber children for the first time in history by 2050, this is also our greatest challenge, and reducing that inequity is our shared international imperative.

On this International Day of Older Persons, let us dedicate ourselves to addressing the challenges that lie ahead and to working together to create a society for all ages.

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