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[email protected]World Day of Older Persons’ Volunteerism: Towards a society for all ages!!
AID MEMORY
Aging: Facts and Figures
o All countries face significant challenges in ensuring that their health and social care systems are prepared to address this demographic shift.
o By 2050, 80% of older people will live in low- and middle-income countries.
o The pace of population aging is much faster than in the past.
o In 2020, the number of people aged 60 and over surpassed the number of children under five.
o Between 2015 and 2050, the percentage of the world’s population aged 60 and over will almost double, from 12% to 22%.
About Volunteering
According to the United Nations Volunteers, volunteering is understood as “a wide range of activities, including traditional forms of mutual aid and self-help, formal service provision, and other forms of civic participation, carried out of one’s own free will, for the public good, and in which monetary reward is not the primary motivating factor”
(State of the World’s Volunteering Report, 2022). (IAVE 2025 Call to Action Survey)
In short, it is a form of civic participation and values education.
About Active Aging
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines active aging as the process that increases and improves opportunities for physical, social, and mental well-being throughout life, leading to increased healthy life expectancy, productivity, and quality of life in old age. It also includes all types of activity (social, intellectual, physical, spiritual, emotional, civic, political, or productive). This means that even people in a state of prostration or with some level of disability can undertake this process, according to their personal characteristics and possibilities, thus contributing to their own well-being and that of their families.
Active aging is based on the recognition of the human rights of older adults and the United Nations Principles of Independence, Participation, Dignity, Care, and the Realization of Their Own Desires, overcoming the criterion based solely on the needs of individuals, which considers older adults as passive subjects.
It helps older adults remain economically independent, productive, healthy, and participate in the social, cultural, and political life of their communities. It prevents premature death, postpones illnesses, and disabilities, thus avoiding costly medical treatments for families and the State.
(Distance Workshop on Older Adults and COVID-19: Discovering Together! New Opportunities to Contribute to Society. Bravo Oscar 2020)
The celebration of World Volunteer Day for Older Persons on June 15, 2025:
o Is a response to the increase in the world’s older adult population and the increased longevity that humanity is achieving, which is a challenge for public policy, especially for developing countries, which are aging at an unprecedented rate.
o Is a preparatory activity for the celebration of the UN International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development in 2026.
o Helps raise awareness among society about the need for the UN to adopt an International Convention on the Rights of Older Persons.
o It contributes to strengthening the commemoration of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, an initiative of the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse and Mistreatment (INPEA), which has been held on June 15 by UN agreement since 2006.
o Highlights the activism and leadership demonstrated by older adults through their organizations or volunteer work in processes related to the defense of their rights, the pursuit of dignified treatment, and a life free from violence, discrimination, abuse, and mistreatment.
o Helps demonstrate that volunteering by older adults is a form of active aging, and its practice allows them to view old age as another stage of life, with opportunities for personal and social fulfillment.
o Highlights mutual aid or self-help volunteering as a way of joining forces to achieve the common good, in which the older adult volunteer plays a leading role.
o It makes visible and highlights the contribution of older persons to the social, economic, and political processes of their countries, demonstrating their ethical and civic commitment to citizen participation and intergenerational solidarity.
o It contributes to overcoming stereotypes about old age and aging and joins the World Health Organization (WHO) campaign against ageism.
o It is part of the objectives of the Decade of Healthy Aging 2021–2030, agreed upon by the UN.
Why June 15th?
o Because it is a date already institutionalized and recognized by the UN as World Day for Awareness of Elder Abuse and Mistreatment, so events, reports, or demands held on that date will only need to incorporate information on the progress and contributions of older adults through their organizations or volunteer programs. Most importantly, this information must be provided directly and as testimony by older adults themselves.
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