Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Thank you for giving me the floor for a brief statement on behalf of Partners in Population and Development (PPD). As an Inter-governmental organization of 26 developing countries and representing 58% of world’s population, PPD provides its members a collective platform for advocating and generating political commitment to the complex issues of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, and demographic dynamics including adolescent health, youths and notably ageing.
Mr. Chairman,
Population ageing is happening in all regions and in countries at various levels of development with the fastest pace observed in the developing countries. This represents an unprecedented demographic shift in the number of older people in proportion to the total population. The number of older population of the world over 60 years of age is projected to grow from 901 million in 2015 to 1.4 billion in 2030 .PPD member countries currently carry 442 million people over 60 years of age (i.e. 49 % of the global total). In short, population ageing is a real phenomenon with societal and human development implications with deep and far reaching consequences.
A recent PPD intercountry study on ageing revealed that majority of the member countries consider population ageing as a major concern, yet only fifteen out of twenty six member countries have dedicated national policy for older people. There is a lack of data on policy and program gaps on situation of older persons. Data on older population disaggregated by age-groups, sex, education, economic and social welfare coverage are grossly inadequate, if not unavailable.