International training programme on population ageing

The first quarter of the 21st century has often been called the Age of Ageing. It is a well known fact that the world's elderly population is increasing by a million every month.

In 1985, there were 427 million people aged 60 and over, constituting 8.8 per cent of the world's total population. It is projected that by 2025, 14.3 per cent of the world's population will be aged 60 and above. This number is expected to increase to two billion by 2050.

We are experiencing a revolution in longevity in which the average life expectancy at birth since 1950 has increased by 20 years and is projected to increase by another 10 by mid-century.

Since 1985, the majority of the world's older people are to be found in developing countries. Here, the increase will be greatest and most rapid. In fact, the older population is expected to increase fourfold by 2050.

This dramatic and unprecedented increase in the number and proportion of older people in the world is leading to various political, economic and social consequences and challenges. In developing countries, this demographic phenomenon will pose a particular challenge.

Although a number of developing countries have initiated various innovative and concrete measures aimed at meeting the needs of older people, there exists an acute shortage of trained caregivers at all levels in the field of gerontology.

In February 2007, the United Nations began its five-year review of progress towards the implementation of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing agreed on by the international community at the Second World Assembly on Ageing, which took place in Madrid in 2002.

In view of this, the International Institute on Ageing, United Nations, Malta (INIA), in collaboration with the UN Fund for Population Affairs (UNFPA), will be organising for the first time an 'International training programme in policy formulation, planning, implementation and monitoring of the Madrid international plan of action on ageing'. The programme, which will be held between tomorrow and October 24 at the Imperial Hotel, Sliema will be opened by Mario Galea, Parliamentary Secretary for the Elderly and Community Care, in the presence of Prof. Joseph Troisi, INIA director.

This multi-disciplinary training programme is aimed at discussing the implications of population ageing, underscoring the importance of including ageing issues in a country's development planning and discussing options for policy formulation and programme and services' implementation.

It also hopes to provide a broad and up-to-date understanding of the complex and far-reaching consequences of mass longevity. Participants are helped to evolve and implement appropriate policies that will ensure the quality of life and well-being of older persons in their own society.

This intensive two-week programme includes lectures, workshops and site visits to Zammit Clapp, Mtarfa Home for the Elderly, and Villa Messina, Rabat.

Apart from local experts lecturing on the course are two international tutors, Dr Alexandre Sidorenko, chief at the UN Focal Point on Ageing, Division for Social Policy and Development, New York, and Dr Nikolai Botev, adviser on population and development with UNFPA's Country Technical Services Team for Europe and Central Asia.

Other participants come from Argentina, Bangladesh, Moldova, Nepal, Oman, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Uganda and Ukraine.