Medical workers provide free health checks-up for senior citizens (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - Statistics fromcountries whose senior citizens continue working show no increase inunemployment rate of young workers, an official of the United NationsPopulation Fund (UNFPA) in Vietnam said.
Information from the 2017 Global Symposiumon Ageing was shared among population and old people experts at a conferenceheld in Hanoi on November 24.
The symposium, hosted by UNFPA in Octoberin the Republic of Korea, reviewed and appraised progress 15 years after theadoption of the 2002 Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA).
"Reports presented at the symposiumhave shown a global trend in population ageing, even in countries considered tohave a young population," Dr Nguyen Ngoc Quynh, a UNFPA social protectionanalyst, said at the conference.
It requires extensive efforts fromcountries to adapt to the trend, even though they are in different stages ofthe ageing process, according to the expert.
This includes a comprehensive labour policyreform geared towards “active ageing,” which is the process of optimisingopportunities for health, participation and security to enhance the quality oflife as people age, according to the World Health Organisation.
It should include pension system reformsand elimination of labour market barriers and labour incentive policies for oldcitizens.
“Reports from different countries show thatan ageing population does not create a labour shortage, since a large number ofsenior citizens want – and still have the ability – to continue working,” Quynhsaid.
“They also show that working seniorcitizens do not increase unemployment rate of young workers,” she said.“Studies in China show that working senior citizens even create jobs in theservice industry, since they are still making money and have the needs to spendmoney.”
There are some 10 million senior citizensin Vietnam, accounting for 11 percent of the total population. Vietnam is amongthe 10 countries with the fastest speed of ageing in the world, according tothe Ministry of Health.
"By classifying ’senior citizens’ as60 years old and above, Vietnam will waste a large number of labour force thatcan still contribute to the development of the country," Quynh added.
"There is a shortage of statistics todemonstrate how different countries protect the rights of older people,"Dr Nguyen Van Tien, former vice chairman of the National Assembly’s Committeeon Social Affairs, said.
He noted that out of the 133 countries thata group of international experts from the United Nations and NGOs studied since2011, only 22 countries – or 17 percent – had conducted surveys on the rightsof older people.
The 2002 MIPAA, adopted at the Second WorldAssembly on Ageing in April 2002, does not have enough legal power to protectthose rights.
The studies also found out that seniorcitizens are subject to various types of discrimination, including domesticviolence, sexual violence and abandonment.
Tran Bich Thuy, director of HelpAgeInternational in Vietnam, proposed the formation of a consultant group onpopulation ageing in Vietnam, which is aimed at facilitating the country’sefforts to adapt to such a trend in 2018-21.
“The group is founded on the grounds ofsharing information, coordinating efforts and policy advocacy on populationageing,” she said. “Although voluntary and informal, the group will play therole of a consultant to the National Committee on Ageing (VNCA).”
A proposal of the group’s formation would besubmitted to VNCA by the end of this year, she added. The group would startworking next year, if approved by VNCA.-VNA
Information from the 2017 Global Symposiumon Ageing was shared among population and old people experts at a conferenceheld in Hanoi on November 24.
The symposium, hosted by UNFPA in Octoberin the Republic of Korea, reviewed and appraised progress 15 years after theadoption of the 2002 Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA).
"Reports presented at the symposiumhave shown a global trend in population ageing, even in countries considered tohave a young population," Dr Nguyen Ngoc Quynh, a UNFPA social protectionanalyst, said at the conference.
It requires extensive efforts fromcountries to adapt to the trend, even though they are in different stages ofthe ageing process, according to the expert.
This includes a comprehensive labour policyreform geared towards “active ageing,” which is the process of optimisingopportunities for health, participation and security to enhance the quality oflife as people age, according to the World Health Organisation.
It should include pension system reformsand elimination of labour market barriers and labour incentive policies for oldcitizens.
“Reports from different countries show thatan ageing population does not create a labour shortage, since a large number ofsenior citizens want – and still have the ability – to continue working,” Quynhsaid.
“They also show that working seniorcitizens do not increase unemployment rate of young workers,” she said.“Studies in China show that working senior citizens even create jobs in theservice industry, since they are still making money and have the needs to spendmoney.”
There are some 10 million senior citizensin Vietnam, accounting for 11 percent of the total population. Vietnam is amongthe 10 countries with the fastest speed of ageing in the world, according tothe Ministry of Health.
"By classifying ’senior citizens’ as60 years old and above, Vietnam will waste a large number of labour force thatcan still contribute to the development of the country," Quynh added.
"There is a shortage of statistics todemonstrate how different countries protect the rights of older people,"Dr Nguyen Van Tien, former vice chairman of the National Assembly’s Committeeon Social Affairs, said.
He noted that out of the 133 countries thata group of international experts from the United Nations and NGOs studied since2011, only 22 countries – or 17 percent – had conducted surveys on the rightsof older people.
The 2002 MIPAA, adopted at the Second WorldAssembly on Ageing in April 2002, does not have enough legal power to protectthose rights.
The studies also found out that seniorcitizens are subject to various types of discrimination, including domesticviolence, sexual violence and abandonment.
Tran Bich Thuy, director of HelpAgeInternational in Vietnam, proposed the formation of a consultant group onpopulation ageing in Vietnam, which is aimed at facilitating the country’sefforts to adapt to such a trend in 2018-21.
“The group is founded on the grounds ofsharing information, coordinating efforts and policy advocacy on populationageing,” she said. “Although voluntary and informal, the group will play therole of a consultant to the National Committee on Ageing (VNCA).”
A proposal of the group’s formation would besubmitted to VNCA by the end of this year, she added. The group would startworking next year, if approved by VNCA.-VNA
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