Fiji Launches First Ageing Policy In The Pacific Sub-Region

Suva, Fiji - With the global population trend indicating that 17 per cent of the population of Fiji will be 60 years and over by 2050, policies on population-related issues like ageing is becoming increasingly important.

Launching Fiji’s national ageing policy in Suva on Monday, United Nations Population Fund Pacific Sub-Regional Office Director and Representative described the policy as “truly a pioneering, practical and home-grown document”.

Mr Jena said the UNFPA Pacific Sub-Regional Office was honored to be associated with Fiji’s National Ageing Policy 2011– 2015.

“It is a forward-looking framework of preventive measures and I am confident that its vision of an inclusive society that instills dignity, respects human rights, and meets basic needs through empowerment of older persons will soon be resonating in many other Pacific languages,” Mr Jena said.

“The policy is practical in that it is action-oriented and avoids to over engineering this important part of social and human development. It sets clear goals, strategies, objectives and actions that are feasible to achieve within a realistic time frame.

“I am confident that all stakeholders will engage and commit to timely deliver on its noble goals.

“It is surely a home-grown policy because it has been inspired by an extensive process of national and divisional consultations … it stands guarantee for such an essential authentic approach to population ageing.”

Mr Jena said the Fiji aging policy was “an excellent preparation for the challenging undertaking of formulating a population policy”.

“A population policy is an encompassing document that helps in understanding what is intimate and sensitive to mankind, and is intrinsically linked to human reproduction,” Mr Jena said.

“All societies developed an ingenious complexity of values, norms and customs to help its members in coming to terms with the human life cycle that brings us – inevitably - from birth through reproduction to death.”

The policy by the Ministry of Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation is a pioneering project as the first ever national ageing policy in the Pacific sub-region. The UNFPA contributed to the project with both financial and technical support.

The UNFPA marked the global population hitting the 7 Billion mark in October this year; its annual flagship publication, The State of World Population dedicated one full chapter to ageing under the rubric “Security, economic strength and independence in old age”. The report recommends, among other things, that promoting health and productivity of the world’s older people would mitigate the challenges faced by ageing societies.

The United Nations Population Division foresees a global population of 9.3 billion at 2050, of which 2.4 billion people – or about 25 percent - will be over the age of 60. Fiji will be part of this global trend as population census data indicate that 17 per cent of the population of Fiji will be 60 years and over by 2050.

Minister for Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation Dr Jiko Luveni said senior citizens should be recognised and supported to live their lives with utmost care thus a policy to “specifically address the needs of senior citizens”.

“The projections of the UNFPA reveals that presently, Fiji’s older population is growing by 3,000 people per year and oldest old population (80 years and over) is also expected to increase rapidly from 5,000 in 2010 to 28,500 by 2050,” Dr Luveni said in the policy Foreword.

“These statistics are alarming and the change in population structure could have vast implications for the future social and economic life in Fiji.

“The policy will serve as a platform to devise appropriate strategies and mechanisms to create safety nets for both the senior citizens and society to address the expected growth in aging population.”

Mr Jena said for a society to achieve a higher average life expectancy for both women and men indicated “success towards improving each and everybody’s quality of life in the sense that we all look forward to be gifted by longevity”.

“The document we are launching today does justice to the said socio-cultural and demographic complexities by being forward looking, while not forgetting the past as a source of reference and wellbeing to young and old, women and men, rich and poor, rural and urban,” Mr Jena said.

“Achieving an average life expectancy of for example 75 years, provides the country with a first ever opportunity of three generations spanning a full life cycle, thus allowing each Fijian to live together and overlap with previous and next generation.”

Mr Jena added that increasing life expectancy created a comfortable space for constructive inter-generational dialogue which was of particular relevance in societies that were losing indigenous knowledge at an accelerating rate.

UNFPA - because everyone counts.

UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is an international development agency that promotes the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity. UNFPA supports countries in using population data for policies and programmes to reduce poverty and to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV/AIDS, and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect.

ENDS

© Scoop Media