Photo courtesy of John Knodel)

Truly intergenerational society, best response to ageing
In a message delivered for the International Day of Older Persons, 1 October, Secretary-General Kofi Annan stressed that the tremendous contribution young and old people could make towards society’s development was often ignored.
“Older persons suffer because of outdated stereotypes that depict them as frail and needing care. What is overlooked is that many older persons actually provide care for others”, Mr. Annan said.
He added: “Populations in developing countries will age most rapidly in the coming century. Yet those countries have only limited economic resources with which to response to the ageing of their societies. The challenge will be to ensure that those countries do not experience the ageing of their societies as a burden, but derive from it added value and opportunities for development through an actively engaged older population. In other words, the challenge will be helping those countries build an intergenerational society”.