INTERNATIONAL DAY OF OLDER PERSONS

 

St. JOSEPH’S COLLGE FOR WOMEN (A)

DEPARTMENT OF BIOCHEMISTRY

REPORT ON INTERNATIONAL DAY OF OLDER PERSONS

 

Date- 01-10-2021                                                                               Time- 10.00 to 11.10 am

COORDINATORS-

Dr. P. Mary Anupama

Dr Mousami Shankar Addala

 

Students involved- Final year BBC students - 40

United Nations General Assembly designated October 1 as the International Day of Older Persons in the year 1980. This was preceded by initiatives such as the Vienna International Plan of Action on Ageing, which was adopted by the 1982 World Assembly on Ageing and endorsed later that year by the UN General Assembly. In 1991, the General Assembly adopted the United Nations Principles for Older Persons (resolution 46/91). In 2002, the Second World Assembly on Ageing adopted the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, to respond to the opportunities and challenges of population ageing in the 21st century and to promote the development of a society for all ages.

The composition of the world population has changed dramatically in recent decades. Between 1950 and 2010, life expectancy worldwide rose from 46 to 68 years. Globally, there were 703 million persons aged 65 or over in 2019. The region of Eastern and South-Eastern Asia was home to the largest number of older persons (261 million), followed by Europe and Northern America (over 200 million). Over the next three decades, the number of older persons worldwide is projected to more than double, reaching more than 1.5 billion persons in 2050.

The United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021-2030) is a global collaboration, aligned with the last ten years of the Sustainable Development Goals, that brings together governments, civil society, international agencies, professionals, academia, the media, and the private sector to improve the lives of older people, their families, and the communities in which they live.  To foster healthy ageing and improve the lives of older people and their families and communities, fundamental shifts will be required not only in the actions we take but in how we think about age and ageing.

 

2021 Theme: Digital Equity for All Ages

The 2021 theme “Digital Equity for All Ages” affirms the need for access and meaningful participation in the digital world by older persons.

The fourth industrial revolution characterized by rapid digital innovation and by exponential growth has transformed all sectors of society, including how we live, work and relate to one another. Technological advances offer great hope for accelerating progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Yet, one-half of the global population is off-line, with the starkest contrast between the most developed countries (87%) and the least developed countries (19%) (ITU Facts and Figures 2020). Recent reports by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) indicate that women and older persons experience digital inequity to a greater extent than other groups in society; they either lack access to technologies, or are often not benefitting fully from the opportunities provided by technological progress.

Objectives of UNIDOP2021:

·        To bring awareness of the importance of digital inclusion of older persons, while tackling stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination associated with digitalization, taking into account sociocultural norms and the right to autonomy.

·        To highlight policies to leverage digital technologies for full achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

·        To address public and private interests, in the areas of availability, connectivity, design, affordability, capacity building, infrastructure, and innovation.

·        To explore the role of policies and legal frameworks to ensure privacy and safety of older persons in the digital world.

·        To highlight the need for a legally binding instrument on the rights of older persons and an intersectional person-cantered human rights approach for a society for all ages.

Students were involved in a debate on the theme and they were asked to speak about the reasons for health issues in children, reasons for their isolation and how we can make them feel wanted. Then the debate went on to knowing how technology can reach the elderly people. 

Students who involved actively- T. Maha Lakshmi, G. Harika, Navya D, Renuka Reddy, S. Priyanka, Bhoomija, Shaik Shain, Vaishnavi, Piyusha, Ritu kumari, Hari Priya, Adama Sarr.

Organizers- Lakshmi Prasanna, Chandini and Harshini.