Taking Account of Older People in Development Cooperation: A Review of the Status of Ageing in Major Bilateral and Multilateral Aid Agencies

Abstract

In 1996 aid donors signed a set of targets for development cooperation drawn from the UN Summits of the previous decade. The first and most important of these targets is to halve the number of people living in extreme poverty by 2015. Taking account of older people in developing countries is a critical way to achieve this goal but aging is often an overlooked issue in most aid programs. Thus this paper reviews the status of aging in major bilateral and multilateral aid agencies. It notes that although taking into account of the contribution and needs of older people living in developing countries is critical to the reduction of poverty and the achievement of this target aging as an issue is virtually invisible in most aid programs. The bilateral donors include Australia Austria Belgium Canada Denmark Finland France Germany Ireland Japan The Netherlands New Zealand Norway Spain Sweden Switzerland UK and USA. Among the multilateral agencies there is the European Union the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development the Pan-American Health Organization the UN Development Programme the UN Population Fund the World Bank and the WHO. There are signs of change but a major shift in attitude needs to take place in recognition of both the rights and the contribution of older people.