From 1 October to 4 November, an exhibition "Older persons in a society: understanding, respect, care", devoted to the International Day of Elderly Persons, runs in the Documents of International Organizations Reading Room (room 207g).

This Day was proclaimed on 14 December, 1990 at the 45th session of the UN General Assembly (resolution 45/106). It is annually celebrated on 1 October.

This celebration is a tribute of respect and consideration for the people who experienced long work, hard tests and rich experience. The aim of this day is to attract attention of public opinion to the need of changing attitudes towards older persons, their problems, personal and social needs, as well as to their contribution to society. The resolution notes that people must only live longer, but they also need that their life must be better, varied and full.

In the beginning the problems associated with the aging of population, affected mainly developed countries, but now they are gaining importance in the rest of the world. Nowadays as scientists predict, there are almost 700 million people over 60 years. By 2050 the number of people over 60 years will have reached two billion that will be more than 20 percent of the world’s population. Therefore, the international community began to pay special attention to the situation of older persons in the world.

In 1982, the First World Assembly on Ageing was held in Vienna. The International Plan of Action, which determined approached of the international community to the problem of aging, was adopted during this event. In 1991, the General Assembly adopted the United Nations Principles for Older Persons (resolution 46/91), and in 2002 the Political Declaration and the International Plan of Action, which became a turning point in strategy of building a society for all ages, were adopted at the Second World Assembly on Ageing, held in Madrid.

For the first time the governments of different countries discussed the problems of aging comprehensively and in the wide context of social and economic development and human rights. During the Assembly, the International Plan of Action on Ageing was revised and re-approved. There were determined e new measures in the following areas: the employment of elderly people, increase of their income, improvement of health care, education and social security. Special attention was paid to problems of older women, who is the majority in this age group.

A significant increase in the number of older persons in the world required a deep revision of their role in society and attitude to them in general. A key element of the Madrid International Plan of Action can be considered the recognition that elderly people can make a huge contribution to society. Therefore, they should not be deprived of this opportunity. Older persons are energetic and essential participants in the process of development and the keepers of social stability. Thus, society should make more efforts to use their potential in full measure.

In Belarus, the government paid much attention to older persons. The country has an extensive system of social protection of such population. It includes the provision of different benefits and protection, pensions, social care and home care.

The proposed thematic exhibition is aimed at attracting attention to the problems of older persons, their individual and social needs, increasing public awareness of population aging problem.

The exposition includes about 60 documents, most of which are documents of international organizations (UN, UNESCO, the European Union, the Council of Europe, etc.) in Russian and English: books, periodicals, the UN mimeographed materials.

The exhibition includes the following sections:

International documents aimed at implementing all human rights and fundamental freedoms of older persons;
Participation of older persons in economic, political and social life;
Medical care, support and social protection of older persons;
Population aging of society: statistics;
Older persons in the Republic of Belarus.

The exhibition will be of interest to sociologists, members of the various state bodies, social workers, teachers and university students, as well as to all those who are interested in the current social, demographic, and socio-economic problems.

Useful links:

UN system

Main documents

Older persons in a society: understanding, respect, care

Informational resources

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