MANY TO MANY 67

With the soaring number of older people; the eroding family structures, even of cultures where elders were traditionally revered and taken care of; and also with the coming of age of the largest ever generation of young people, it is most appropriate that we commemorate this year by considering what changes will be needed to our societal system.

The UN Population Fund has been sponsoring a series of roundtable discussions and meetings leading up to an international forum in preparation for the Special Session of the General Assembly which will be reviewing the progress and obstacles in implementation of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) plan of action (30 June – 2 July 1999). Among these was a meeting held in Brussels, October 1998, where a group of experts came to agreement on a series of recommendations and proposals to governments and international organisations. Some of these were to:

- integrate into development strategies the economic and social consequences of aging;

- consider relations between children, young and older adults;

- establish gender-sensitive population policies where fertility is below replacement level and aging is advancing; and

- use various mechanisms to enable aging persons to leave the workforce gradually including job redesign, flexible pension arrangements, temporary or home-office work and mentoring. It is estimated that there are today more than 560 million people aged 60 and over in the world and that India will have 75 million old people by the year 2001.

As a contribution to the general debate TVE (UK) has produced a series of four short films called "The Ageing Game". These short films highlight the impact of old and young people on families and social services in four different countries and cultures – Japan, Nigeria, Tunisia and India.

All four films in The Ageing Game are available to TV stations, as well as on VHS cassette for non-broadcast, educational use for US$30 (£20).


Contact:
Lyndsey Cockwell, TVE, Distribution Office, Prince Albert Road, London NW1 4RZ, UK.
Fax: +44(0)171 586 4866. E-mail:


Many to Many
a quarterly publication issued by
Operation Peace through Unity

Anthony Brooke and Gita Brooke, co-founders
Te Rangi, 4 Allison Street, Wanganui 5001, New Zealand
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Many to Many
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