Population ageing in the Caribbean: An inventory of policies, programmes and future challenges

“We must be fully aware that while the developed countries became rich before they became old, the developing countries will become old before they become rich”. This statement made by Gro Harlem Brundtland, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General, at the World Assembly on Ageing in 2002 in Madrid, reflects the challenges that the developing world is facing in the twentieth century. Population ageing is a global phenomenon, which is having and will have major implications on all aspects of human life in every society. This process is enduring and irreversible, as observed from differing patterns and distinct paces in various regions and countries all over the world. The United Nations has undertaken various efforts to repeatedly draw governments’ attention to the growing demand for answers to these encompassing and profound demographic changes. Various initiatives on the global as well as on the regional and subregional level have been undertaken to highlight the pressing need for concerted action. Of importance in this regard are the numerous agreements reached at the global conferences on social development, population and women orchestrated by the United Nations in the 1990s, which all refer to ageing as an issue of particular concern. The year 1999 was proclaimed by the General Assembly1 of the United Nations as the Year of Older Persons to recognize ageing as one of the major achievements but, at the same time, as one of the major challenges all populations have to cope with in the twentieth century. This continuous call for action culminated in the Second World Assembly on Ageing, which was held in Madrid 2002, where governments agreed to the implementation of a global action plan. This new Plan of Action focuses both on political priorities such as improvements in living conditions of older persons, combating poverty, social inclusion, individual self-fulfilment, human rights and gender equality. To an increasing degree attention is also devoted to such holistic and overarching themes as intergenerational solidarity, employment, social security, health and well-being. Mandated by the Second World Assembly on Ageing, the Population Division of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC/CELADE) has convened the Regional Intergovernmental Conference on Ageing in November 2003 in Santiago, where a regional strategy for the implementation (ECLAC, 2003b) of the commitments reached in Madrid has been adopted. Further, a background document (ECLAC 2003a) on the situation of the elderly in the Latin American and Caribbean region, of which this document is a substantive part, has been presented to the meeting. Participating government officials formally committed themselves to work on a national follow-up strategy and to report on the progress made in the implementation of their commitments to the Ad hoc Committee on Population and Development to be convened in 2004.

Guía operacional para la implementación y el seguimiento del Consenso de Montevideo sobre Población y Desarrollo

Este documento constituye la contribución de la Mesa Directiva de la Conferencia Regional sobre Población y Desarrollo de América Latina y el Caribe a la Segunda Reunión de la Conferencia Regional, que se realizará en la Ciudad de México, del 6 al 9 de octubre de 2015. Es un instrumento técnico, en que se proporcionan a los países de la región orientaciones específicas para la implementación de las medidas prioritarias del Consenso de Montevideo sobre Población y Desarrollo y se ofrecen insumos relevantes para el monitoreo de dicha implementación, tanto a escala nacional como regional.

Operational guide for implementation and follow-up of the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development

This document is the contribution of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean to the second session of the Regional Conference, to be held in Mexico City, on 6-9 October 2015. It is a technical tool intended to provide the countries of the region with specific guidelines for implementing the priority measures set forth in the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development, and offers relevant inputs for monitoring that implementation at the national and regional levels.

Caribbean synthesis review and appraisal report on the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action

The Caribbean sub-regional synthesis report, covering 12 countries, assesses progress towards the gender equality goals articulated in the 1995 World Conference on Women, which produced the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA). The process leading to the preparation of the report has involved a series of national, regional and global consultations that will culminate in the Beijing + 20 Review. The process has also led to the formulation of the Caribbean Joint Statement on Gender Equality and the Post-2015, as well as the SIDS Agenda, both of which express Caribbean perspectives and expectations regarding gender equality.

The Caribbean and the post-2015 development agenda

This paper will contend that the post-2015 development agenda presents a major opportunity for Caribbean countries to reverse decades of lagging economic performance and make the transition to balanced, holistic, and people-centred growth and development. The MDGs, while valuable in promoting gains in poverty reduction, health, education, nutrition, and maternal well-being were not tailored to the growth and development needs of the region. This can now be changed by a post-2015 development agenda which goes beyond improving the welfare of citizens by meeting basic needs and enhancing access to primary services. The necessary scaling-up of the MDG framework will require that the sustainable development goals, which will anchor the post- 2015 development agenda, are capable of promoting structural change, competitiveness and output gains while advancing social development and meeting environmental concerns. They must also address the unfinished business of the millennium development goals, primarily in the area of human development.

Hacia la construcción de pactos para la autonomía económica de las mujeres: la experiencia de Costa Rica, El Salvador, Panamá y el Perú

El presente estudio proporciona un análisis de los procesos desarrollados en Costa Rica, El Salvador, Panamá y el Perú entre 2013 y 2014 para establecer diálogos y construir acuerdos en torno a la autonomía económica de las mujeres, y ofrece una reflexión sobre algunos elementos comunes entre las cuatro experiencias. El análisis busca identificar, de manera preliminar, las condiciones necesarias para el establecimiento e implementación de acuerdos y pactos que pueden tener resultados concretos para alcanzar la autonomía de las mujeres, así como para garantizar sus derechos en la esfera económica.

Panorama Económico y Social de la Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos y Caribeños, 2015

Este Panorama Económico y Social de la Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos y Caribeños es una contribución de la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL) a la Cuarta Cumbre de Jefes de Estado y de Gobierno de la Comunidad de Estados de América Latina y el Caribe (CELAC), (Quito, enero de 2016).

Economic and Social Panorama of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States 2015

This edition of the Economic and Social Panorama of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States is a contribution by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) to the fourth Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), to be held in Quito in January 2016. This document continues the work carried out since the first summit of CELAC held in Santiago and is a testimony to our ongoing commitment to work in collaboration with the countries of the region.