Older people left out as UN speeches repeatedly invoke young
As war, climate change and inequality have consumed much of the U.N. General Assembly, world leaders have largely left out mention of the planet’s aging population
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — One after another, the world’s presidents and prime ministers came to warn of their countries’ trials and tout their triumphs. But one of the biggest issues in either column was mostly left out.
As war, climate change and inequality have consumed much of the U.N. General Assembly, leaders have largely left unsaid the historic growth of the planet’s aging population.
“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 that the future is just something for younger persons.”
Across the world, societies are seeing the promise and perils of greying lands. Public health improvements, medical advances and declines in poverty have lengthened lives, bolstered workplaces with experienced colleagues and blessed families with grandparents and great-grandparents. At the same time, caregiving and economic crises have expanded with the old outliving their resources and suffering diseases with no cure.
