‘EU role in protecting older citizens’ social and economic rights’
AGE Platform Europe nvites you to its 3rd annual conference, which will be held on Friday 20 November 2015 in Brussels back to back with AGE General Assembly. Our annual event will address the EU role in protecting older citizens’ social and economic rights and is open to all AGE members and external stakeholders. Anexhibition area will also allow NGOs, non-for-profit and for-profit service providers and industry to present their activities or projects. Read more on this event
According to recent WHO figures, the number of people over the age of 60 is expected to double between 2000 and 2050 and in 2050 more than 1 in 5 people will be 60 year or older. Unfortunately, the growing older population has intensified manifestations of ageism. This trend makes it all the more urgent to get mobilized more widely to adapt our societies and make them both age-friendly and sustainable.
AGE responded to the call of the United Nations Independent Expert on the Enjoyment of All Human Rights by Older Persons to assess the implementation of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA), as part of the preparation of her final report due for September 2016.
The Council of EU ministers of employment and social affairs has released a report on the adequacy of pensions. The report is an update of the 2012 Pension Adequacy Report and highlights the key challenges older persons face in attaining their right to an adequate standard of living. A key chapter focusses on women, whose risk of poverty is much higher than men’s. AGE welcomes the report and calls for more concrete actions to be taken to improve pensions of older women.
There are only a few days left to register for the event disseminating the findings from the INNOVAGE project, our “European Conference on Social Innovations for Healthy and Active Life Expectancy”. This one-day event presents the findings from the INNOVAGE project since 2012.
The EU network for fall prevention, ProFouND, is launching on the occasion of the United Nations International Day of Older Persons, its ‘2015 Stay Strong Stay Steady Campaign‘ which seeks to promote active healthy ageing and independent living through physical activity. The campaign also includes an inter-generational dimension calling on older and younger people to work together to prevent falls.
AGE Platform Europe has collected its members’ feedback on the EU Country Specific Recommendations (CSR) addressed to EU member states as part of the European Semester exercise 2015. According to our members, many recent reforms in national social protection systems requested by the CSR have a cumulative negative impact on the fundamental rights of older people in many EU Member States and will challenge their rights to participate in society, live independently and in dignity.
Ahead of the meeting of the EU member states’ ministers on 14th September to discuss the current refugee crisis, AGE Platform Europe European points out that our European values of democracy, freedom and respect of human rights should apply in the same way to EU citizens as to those who seek refuge in a EU country.
In a press release, we call the European Union and national governments to agree on a common EU strategy, which would enable to perverse those values and support EU countries in respecting their international refugee and human rights legal obligations.
European Parliament assessment of the 2012 European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations (EY2012) echoes AGE recommendations and calls for further action at EU and national level to help the EU cope with its demographic challenge
A l’occasion de la Journée internationale des personnes âgées, les Aînés du CdH vous invitent à fêter les “Aînés dans le coup” au “Senior Village” à Bruxelles le 1er octobre de 13h à 15h30.
The Nordic Older People Organisations meeting in Denmark in September 2015 issued a common statement calling on Nordic countries to welcome fleeing refugees.
The Dutch Senior Organisation ANBO is sounding the alarm about the financing of home care in the Netherlands, which they say are not getting the financial support needed from health insurers to manage the increased demand.
The German federal association of senior citizens organisations (BAGSO) has issued a position statement on a draft law to improve hospice and palliative care in Germany.
The European Commission is launching until 21 October a public survey to allow citizens to choose out of five challenges facing our society the one they would like to see tackled in the coming years by Horizon 2020 funding programme.
The Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) has just launched an online interactive tool named Clarity, to help people who feel their fundamental rights are not respected find the right organisation that can provide assistance.
The United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities released a study on how to ensure the right of persons with disabilities to social protection.
On the International Day on 1st October, AGE Platform Europe supported the ‘Silver Rainbow’ social media campaign led by ILGA-Europe in order to raise awareness of the specific challenges faced by older lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersexual (LGBTI) people and share the many resources from ILGA member organisations and civil society partners on that topic.
Mr Michael O’Flaherty has been appointed as the next Director of the Fundamental Right Agency (FRA). Mrs O’Flaherty’s “profound human rights expertise and wealth of experience on the national, European and international stage will strengthen FRA’s role as a major player in shaping the fundamental rights landscape across the EU”, states FRA Management Board Chairperson Frauke Lisa Seidensticker in a press release.
The European Commission is launching a public consultation to gather EU citizens’ views on the possible obstacles they face in their daily life when living, studying, working, shopping or simply travelling within the European Union.
This consultation is open from 14 September to 7 December 2015.
The European Commission has presented a proposal to improve the services provided to long-term unemployed. While long-term unemployment has sharply risen in recent years, it is a particular problem for older workers, as 60% of older unemployed have been so longer than one year. The Commission proposes
The European Commission has published a document outlining how it wants to tackle the difficult balancing act of many workers between work and family life. The roadmap argues for legislative and non-legislative developments in this area and includes not only actions for fathers and mothers, but also for workers who care for dependent family members.
The European Commission and the Expert Panel on Effective Ways of Investing in Health (EXPH) have launched a public consultation on the preliminary opinion on the ‘Access to health services in the European Union’.
The 16th International Conference on Integrated Care will take place in Barcelona on 23-25 May 2016. The conference is co-hosted with PIAISS of the Catalan Government, Hospital Clinic Barcelona (HCB), Forum ITESSS and the Tic Salut Foundation.
On 21st September, World Alzheimer Day, Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI), published the 2015 edition of The World Alzheimer Report, ‘The Global Impact of Dementia: An analysis of prevalence, incidence, cost and trends’ which looks at the incidence and impact of dementia worldwide and makes recommendations to provide a global framework for action on dementia.
On 5 October, two ageing-related Written Declarations were submitted within the European Parliament: on Alzheimer’s disease and on dignity at the end of life.
The new study by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) “LTC protection for older persons: A review of coverage deficits in 46 countries”highlights a serious lack of social protection worldwide for older persons in need of long-term care, resulting in age and gender discrimination and a high risk of poverty, social exclusion and abuse in old age.
On 16th September the United Nations (UN) Independent Expert on the Enjoyment of All Human Rights by Older Persons presented her report on care and autonomy to the Human Rights Council and exchanged views with Member States and civil society.
As part of the EU-funded project Robot-Era, aiming to offer a set of robotic services to foster independent living in old age, a short survey is being carried out in order to collect the views of the various stakeholders involved by the introduction of robotic services in healthcare facilities and in older people’s homes.
The survey takes about 10 minutes to be completed and is preceded by a 10 minute long video presenting Robot-Era services.
The European Commission issued in August a new policy initiative on the topic of work-life balance under the title ‘New start to address the challenges of work-life balance faced by working families‘.
Founded by Lara Seixo Rodrigues, a street artist from eastern Portugal, LATA 65 (lata means “can” in Portuguese) is an urban art workshop that teaches the basics of street art to seniors in various neighbourhoods around the city of Lisbon, Portugal. It started as a way of bringing art closer to the communities, and a way of bringing the communities themselves closer together.
This report on the adequacy of pensions, released by the Council of EU ministers of employment and social affairs is an update of the 2012 Pension Adequacy Report. It assesses the degree to which pensions manage to provide older people with adequate income and poverty protection.
The “World report on ageing and health” of the World Health Organization (WHO) highlights the need for major societal change, to ensure that people are not just living longer, but also healthier, lives. The report outlines key areas for action, in the organization of health systems, in our wider physical and social environments, and in the way society as a whole views older people.
Eurodiaconia, a European network of social and health care Christian organisations promoting social justice, recently produced a brochure highlighting some of its members’ initiatives. The publication “Supporting persons with dementia and their families: Good practice from Eurodiaconia members”identifies the following key messages and pressing challenges aimed to raise awareness amongst decision makers and strategic partners:
This publication, by the UK Local Government Association (LGA), presents the financial challenges but also the opportunities offered by the demographic change to local communities.
According to a recent study, older workers are not necessarily less productive than their younger colleagues, but use their brain differently. With the age our brain is able to compensate declines in some abilities with an increase in others, provided they are used on a regular basis.
‘Young people are indeed able to run faster, but older people know the shortcuts’ concludes the research.
A Associação Portuguesa de Psicogerontologia-APP, Instituição Particular de Solidariedade Social sem fins lucrativos e de âmbito nacional, dedica-se às questões biopsicológicas e sociais inerentes ao envelhecimento e às pessoas idosas, visa a promoção da dignificação, respeito, saúde, autonomia, participação e segurança das pessoas idosas, num quadro de envelhecimento ativo e de solidariedade intergeracional, e de uma sociedade mais inclusiva para todas as idades, promove novas mentalidades e combate estereótipos negativos relativamente à idade e ao envelhecimento.
According to recent WHO figures, the number of people over the age of 60 is expected to double between 2000 and 2050 and in 2050 more than 1 in 5 people will be 60 year or older. Unfortunately, the growing older population has intensified manifestations of ageism. This trend makes it all the more urgent to get mobilized more widely to adapt our societies and make them both age-friendly and sustainable.
AGE responded to the call of the United Nations Independent Expert on the Enjoyment of All Human Rights by Older Persons to assess the implementation of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA), as part of the preparation of her final report due for September 2016.
The EU network for fall prevention, ProFouND, is launching on the occasion of the United Nations International Day of Older Persons, its ‘
AGE Platform Europe has 
European Parliament assessment of the 2012 European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations (EY2012) echoes AGE recommendations and calls for further action at EU and national level to help the EU cope with its demographic challenge
A l’occasion de la Journée internationale des personnes âgées, les Aînés du CdH vous invitent à fêter les “Aînés dans le coup” au “Senior Village” à Bruxelles le 1er octobre de 13h à 15h30.
The Nordic Older People Organisations meeting in Denmark in September 2015 issued a common statement calling on Nordic countries to welcome fleeing refugees.
The Dutch Senior Organisation ANBO is sounding the alarm about the financing of home care in the Netherlands, which they say are not getting the financial support needed from health insurers to manage the increased demand.
The German federal association of senior citizens organisations (BAGSO) has issued a position statement on a draft law to improve hospice and palliative care in Germany.
The European Commission is launching until 21 October a public survey to allow citizens to choose out of five challenges facing our society the one they would like to see tackled in the coming years by Horizon 2020 funding programme.
The United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities released a study on how to ensure the right of persons with disabilities to social protection.
Mr Michael O’Flaherty has been appointed as the next Director of the Fundamental Right Agency (FRA). Mrs O’Flaherty’s “profound human rights expertise and wealth of experience on the national, European and international stage will strengthen FRA’s role as a major player in shaping the fundamental rights landscape across the EU”, states FRA Management Board Chairperson Frauke Lisa Seidensticker in a
For the first time in history, the European Union was under consideration by a United Nations human rights committee.
The European Commission and the Expert Panel on Effective Ways of Investing in Health (EXPH) have launched a public consultation on the preliminary opinion on the ‘Access to health services in the European Union’.
On 21st September, World Alzheimer Day, Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI), published the 2015 edition of The World Alzheimer Report, 
On 16th September the United Nations (UN) Independent Expert on the Enjoyment of All Human Rights by Older Persons presented her report on care and autonomy to the Human Rights Council and exchanged views with Member States and civil society.
As part of the EU-funded 
The European Commission issued in August a new policy initiative on the topic of work-life balance under the title ‘New start to address the challenges of work-life balance faced by working families‘.
Founded by Lara Seixo Rodrigues, a street artist from eastern Portugal, 
