Speech
19 November 2008
HelpAge International 25 year anniversary
Speech by DFID Minister Mike Foster, Astor Suite at 1 Parliament Street, London, 19 November 2008
Thank
you.
This is a good time for birthdays: the National Health Service is 60; the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights is 60.
HelpAge International – at 25 – is relatively young by comparison.
But your achievements in the last 25 years have been hugely important.
You have emerged as a vital champion of the rights of older people in developing
countries.
You have created a global network campaigning to end age discrimination that has
rightly earned the respect of governments, international organisations and the
public.
And you have made sure that we all pay attention to the 21st century’s
demographic time bomb, and recognise ageing as a crucial issue we must all
address.
Older people and the MDGs
If we are to meet the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, and keep the
promise we have made to make poverty history, we must not forget the 100 million
older people who have less than $1 a day to live on.
They deserve to grow old with dignity.
And they continue to make a huge contribution to their families and communities.
People like Tholi, a widowed grandmother living in a Johannesburg township, who
cares for her three grandchildren. They were orphaned three years ago. Now it is
up to Tholi to look after them.
But she struggles to find enough money to buy them all food. Her granddaughter,
Themba, doesn’t go to school because Tholi can’t afford to pay school fees.
Every night, the children go to bed complaining of hunger. Her story is echoed
throughout Africa and beyond.
If we ignore the plight of people like Tholi we will undermine communities
around the world.
Communities with which we are inextricably linked. We may never have met, but in
today’s interconnected world, our actions impact on them and theirs on us.
So it’s in our interests to address the global challenges which affect us all.
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Global challenge of an ageing population
The challenge of an ageing population is a truly global one.
By the time HelpAge International reaches its 60th birthday, the proportion of
older people in the world will have doubled and there will be more over-60s
than under-14s.
We recognised the challenge that presents to the UK in last year’s Comprehensive
Spending Review – identifying it as one of the five key long term issues facing
us in the years ahead.
HelpAge International plays a vital role in reminding us of the challenge it
also presents to the developing world.
Older people in developing countries are disproportionately represented among
the poor. Two-thirds receive no regular income.
In Malawi, households headed by older persons are among the poorest, with
poverty rates over 20% higher than the general level.
Over half of the orphans and vulnerable children in Malawi are cared for by
their grandparents.
And we know that social protection schemes are key to reducing poverty among
older people. They are something we take for granted in the UK. Without them,
poverty levels would more than double.
But too often in developing countries they are restricted to the privileged few.
A universal social pension
The International Labour Organisation has calculated that, in many poor
countries, a universal social pension to everyone over 65 years old – equivalent
to $15 per month – would typically cost no more than 0.5% to 1% of GDP –
compared to the average of 13% of GDP that developed countries spend on social
security.
And we have seen the difference that a simple state pension can make. In Zambia,
a cash transfer to older people resulted in a 16% increase in school attendance
by children. The South African social pension reaches over 90% of eligible older
people. It has had a major impact on poverty, increasing the incomes of the
poorest 5% of the population by 50%.
Recently, Tholi celebrated her 60th birthday and became eligible for a state
pension. It transformed her family’s life. The cash she receives goes on food
for the children and other essential expenses – including school.
Tholi’s story highlights the role that pensions can play in tackling child
poverty and hunger in Africa.
In DFID’s last White Paper we recognised the importance of pensions, and the
right to social protection - and committed to increase our spend in this area in
at least ten countries.
I am grateful to HelpAge International for helping us to fulfil that commitment.
We were pleased to support your Age Demands Action campaign last year, and as
you know the UK has signed up to halving the number of older people living in
extreme poverty by 2015 through the Madrid International Plan of Action of
Ageing.
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The heart of the development agenda
We have also worked with you to improve capacity building and training for
developing countries in social protection programmes. For example, the recent
international course on social transfers in Thailand which HelpAge International
facilitated.
I believe it is vital that all development partners work together in helping
governments to support older people.
I hope that HelpAge International will work with the International Labour
Organisation and others to build the economic analysis of what is affordable and
sustainable, so that we can continue to make the case for a basic minimum
package of social protection to support older people around the world.
Older people and their interests need to be at the heart of development
programmes if we are to successfully focus on the poorest, most vulnerable and
marginalised.
Older people deserve to have their rights realised and their specific needs met
so that they can live lives of dignity and make a contribution to society.
And older people rely on organisations like HelpAge International to continue to
fight for them, day in, day out, in every corner of the world.
As they make up a greater proportion of the population, the challenge we face
will increase, and so will your work.
We are committed to working with you to meet that challenge, and ensure that
older people are right at the heart of the development agenda.
I commend the progress you have made, I am very pleased to be supporting you,
and I look forward to celebrating your 50th birthday in 25 years time.
End
Further information
More details about DFID's work with HelpAge International are available on
their
website.
This
story is about a woman in Bolivia who has received help from a
DFID-supported legal advice centre.
Links
