Subscribe to Updates

    Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

    What's Hot

    Linux Foundation Projects Unite at COP28 to Showcase Open Source Action on U.N. Sustainable Development Goals

    November 28, 2023

    OpenADR Alliance Launches New Communications Standard to Help Utilities Manage Growth in Renewable Energy Sources and EV Charging

    November 28, 2023

    BLUEGRACE Energy Bolivia, Announces Participation at Upcoming COP28 Climate Change Conference to take place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), from November 30 to December 12, 2023

    November 28, 2023
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    GCC News HubGCC News Hub
    • Automotive
    • Business
    • Entertainment
    • Health
    • Lifestyle
    • Luxury
    • News
    • Sports
    • Technology
    • Travel
    GCC News HubGCC News Hub
    Home » UN speeches consistently invoke young people, excluding older people
    News

    UN speeches consistently invoke young people, excluding older people

    September 28, 2022
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Reddit WhatsApp Email

    One after another, presidents and prime ministers from around the world spoke of their countries’ trials and triumphs. One of the biggest issues, however, was largely ignored in both columns. While war, climate change, and inequality have dominated the United Nations General Assembly, leaders have largely left the historic growth of the aging population unspoken.

    UN speeches consistently invoke young people, excluding older people“Older persons are pretty much missing,” said Claudia Mahler, one of the few voices at the U.N. devoted to aging, in the Commission on Human Rights. “Everybody thinks the future belongs to the young.” Across the globe, societies are witnessing the promise and peril of greying lands. According to AP, improvements in public health, medical advances, and reductions in poverty have lengthened lives, strengthened workplaces with experienced colleagues, and blessed families with grandparents and great-grandparents.

    In addition, caregiving and economic crises have intensified, with the old outliving their resources and suffering from incurable diseases. Leaders stepped to the rostrum this past week to address the world in front of the hall’s green marble, but few noticed the shift. They spoke of “youth,” “children,” and “new generations.” Listening to young people was considered “essential,” and ensuring their education was sacred. The old were rarely included.

    “Everyone is only focusing on youth,” said Mahler, whose official U.N. position is independent expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older people. The older generation does not speak loudly enough, and there are not enough leaders who are focused on it. No one wants to discuss it, even though it’s urgent.”

    In recent decades, the number of people aged 60 and older has risen globally, hovering around 1 billion. In the next three decades, the United Nations expects the number to more than double again. The biggest international headlines will inevitably intersect with the oldest among us, just as they do now.

    However, leaders who ignored the topic still emphasized all sorts of pet priorities, including social media regulation (Slovakia), cryptocurrency laws (Central African Republic), subseabed mining (Costa Rica), mangrove preservation (Suriname), snake bites (Eswatini), and weaponized artificial intelligence (Philippines).

    A president from Timor-Leste boasted of gains in life expectancy, a Mauritius prime minister talked about social safety nets for the elderly, or both, as Bangladesh’s leader did. Others made fleeting mention of how the old were caught in their countries’ conflicts, as in speeches by the presidents of the Palestinian Authority and Ukraine. Standing apart from most others was Bolivian President Luis Arce, who devoted a section of his speech to older people, though still less than a minute of a 37-minute address.

    “We are concerned about the focus on future generations without taking into account all the work older adults, older generations have done,” Arce said, urging the young to “show solidarity with those who have built our nations” and making note that there is no equivalent to the U.N.’s Convention on the Rights of the Child, passed in 1989, for those at the other end of the age spectrum.

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email

    Related Posts

    Antarctica’s melting ice highlights urgency of climate action, says UN Secretary-General

    November 27, 2023

    Space travel’s hidden risks include erectile dysfunction and frost damage challenges

    November 25, 2023

    Holiday shopping alert for recognizing and avoiding online scams

    November 21, 2023

    Unprecedented fires ravage Brazil’s Pantanal, wildlife at risk

    November 20, 2023

    Yellowstone Park confirms first case of zombie deer disease

    November 18, 2023

    Magnitude-7.2 quake strikes Philippines with no tsunami threat

    November 17, 2023
    Latest News
    Health

    Maximizing your diet with prunes and plums

    November 28, 2023

    Prunes, the dried form of specific plum varieties, are a powerhouse of nutrients. Revered for…

    Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal set to roar at the box office with record advance bookings

    November 27, 2023

    Weekend workouts equally effective as daily routines, new study finds

    November 27, 2023

    Antarctica’s melting ice highlights urgency of climate action, says UN Secretary-General

    November 27, 2023

    Physical activity mitigates cognitive deficits caused by lack of sleep

    November 27, 2023

    Space travel’s hidden risks include erectile dysfunction and frost damage challenges

    November 25, 2023

    Sony Interactive Entertainment to face $8 billion lawsuit over PlayStation Store pricing

    November 25, 2023

    Apple unveils more affordable pencil, a game changer in digital creativity

    November 25, 2023
    © 2021 GCC News Hub | All Rights Reserved
    • Home
    • Contact Us

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.