The International Day of Older Persons (IDOP) is an occasion to highlight the important contributions that older people make to society and raise awareness of the issues and challenges of ageing in today’s world. On 14th December 1990, the United Nations General Assembly designated 1st October the International Day of Older Persons.
The Theme for 2019 was “The Journey to Age Equality”. The 2019 theme is aligned with Sustainable Development Goal 10 (SDG 10) and focuses on pathways of coping with existing and preventing future old age inequalities. Often, disparities in old age reflect an accumulated disadvantage characterized by factors such as: location, gender, socio‐economic status, health and income. Between 2015 and 2030, the number of people aged 60 and over is expected to increase from 901 million to 1.4 billion. In this regard, trends of ageing and economic inequality interact across generations and rapid population ageing, demographic and societal or structural changes alone, can exacerbate older age inequalities, thereby limiting economic growth and social cohesion.
The 2019 theme aims to:
• Draw attention to the existence of old age inequalities and how this often results from a cumulation of disadvantages throughout life, and highlight intergenerational risk of increased old age inequalities.
• Bring awareness to the urgency of coping with existing — and preventing future — old age inequalities.
• Explore societal and structural changes in view of life course policies: life-long learning, proactive and adaptive labour policies, social protection and universal health coverage.
• Reflect on best practices, lessons and progress on the journey to ending older age inequalities and changing negative narratives and stereotypes involving “old age.”