Korea must brace for aging: UN official
It is important to highlight issues that affect older people, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, as the population ages, a high-ranking United Nations official says.
U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) East and North-East Asia Office director Kilaparti Ramakrishna says Korea needs to think about the experiences and contributions of older people, socially and economically, as it is projected that 41.5 percent of the population will be 60 or older by 2050.
“For ESCAP, this is a key area of work because it affects our region in a dramatic way,” the director told The Korea Times. “We have the world’s most-aged country, Japan, the fastest-aging country, the Republic of Korea, and the country with the largest population of older persons, China.”
According to the U.N., the composition of the world’s population has changed dramatically in recent decades. Between 1950 and 2010, life expectancy worldwide rose from 46 to 68 years, and it is projected to increase to 81 by the end of the century.
Almost 700 million people are now over the age of 60. By 2050, 2 billion people, over 20 percent of the world’s population, will be 60 or older. The increase in the number of older people will be the greatest and the most rapid in the developing world, with Asia as the region with the largest number of older people, and Africa facing the largest proportionate growth.
In the 1990, the U.N. General Assembly adopted International Day of Older Persons, to be held Oct. 1. This year’s theme was “Stepping into the Future: Tapping the Talents, Contributions and Participation of Older Persons in Society.” This recognizes that “older persons play important roles in our families, communities and economies,” Ramakrishna said.
UNESCAP has been working with governments and academic and civil society across the region to share expertise and find policies that help better manage population aging. It also conducts analysis to find a direction for aging policy in this region. The recently launched report titled “Addressing the Challenges of Population Aging in Asia and the Pacific” outlined some key recommendations for governments on this topic.
“Part of this is supporting global processes such as reviewing the Madrid International Plan of Action on Aging, a global policy framework on aging,” he said.
Ramakrishna praised Korea for significant progress with its universal contributory public pension and the tax-funded social pension as a safety net.
He recommends using technology in the future.
“Korea has made considerable progress based on technology and innovation, and the Fourth Industrial Revolution offers further opportunities based on internet connectivity and increased computation of data and AI,” Ramakrishna said.
“Korea is therefore well positioned to further explore the use of technology in aging, so that better quality care can be provided more efficiently, and so that older persons can continue to participate in society longer aided by technology.”
To enable countries to provide more social services, UNESCAP also looks at the economic dimensions, such as enabling older people to continue working.
“Flexible work arrangements and non-discrimination on the basis of age are therefore recommendations arising from the report that all countries can improve on, and are in their self-interest to improve on,” he said.
The international community started to highlight the situation of older people in the “Vienna International Plan of Action on Aging,” adopted at the World Assembly on Aging in 1982. The 1991 “United Nations Principles for Older Persons,” the 1992 “Global Targets on Aging for the Year 2001” and the 1992 “Proclamation on Aging” further advanced international understanding of essential requirements for the wellbeing of the elderly.