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Expert Group Meeting on the Human Rights of Older Persons
Co-organized by UNDESA and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights: New York, 29 - 31 May 2012
Conference Room B, North Lawn Building, United Nations Headquarters
Ambassador Julia Tavares Alvarez
This note is a tribute to our recently deceased friend and colleague, Julia Tavares Alvarez, former Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to the United Nations for over 20 years. She retired from the United Nations in February 2002, returning home to the Dominican Republic at that time.
On April 1st, 2012, she died at home in Santiago, DR.
Throughout her tenure, Ambassador Alvarez was a tireless worker on behalf of older persons and women. She was one of the earliest diplomats to recognize the facts of a growing global elder population, terming this phenomenon an “Agequake”. She worked very hard to raise awareness about this demographic and its implications, which are now being more fully recognized.
Ambassador Alvarez was responsible for the United Nations General Assembly establishing the following UN benchmarks: Passage of the United Nations Principles for Older Persons, 1991; designating October First as the permanent United Nations Day of Older Persons,1991; establishment of the 1999 International Year of Older Persons; and creation of the Second World Assembly on Ageing, held April 2002 in Madrid.
Julia Alvarez was a believer and practitioner of inclusiveness at all levels: Committees that she chaired at the UN included NGO representatives as members. For example, the Intergovernmental Committee for the International Year. Ambassador Alvarez was on exceptional friend to the NGO Committee on Ageing. She was always encouraging, supporting and including us in various programs, both governmental and NGO-based. She was consistently sensitive to the conditions of peoples all over the world and was a strong advocate for intergenerational interactions. She believed in “A Society for All Ages”, the theme for the 1999 International Year and which was carried through the 2002 Second World Assembly on Ageing. This theme continues to inform the work of the NGO Committee on Ageing to this day.
Ambassador Julia Alvarez was known as the ‘angel of ageing’. Her influence is everlasting.
CALL FOR PAPERS
CALL FOR PAPERS: Current Gerontology And Geriatric Journal.
On the occasion of the European Year of Active Aging, the CURRENT GERONTOLOGY AND GERIATRIC journal is coordinating a Special Issue entitled Active Aging. The Co-Editors are Rocio Fernandez-Ballesteros, Alan Walker, Alex Kalache and Jean Marie Robine.
The CALL FOR PAPERS can be found here.
All articles must be submitted by the on line manuscript tracking system.
It is important that authors take into consideration the special edition focus areas. The issues to be addressed include:
• Are active/healthy/successful/productive aging equivalent (synonymous) or are they referring to different concepts?
• Would different empirical definitions of active aging be required depending on age (young old vs. oldest old), culture etc? or, is it possible to arrive at a operational consensus?
• Which will be the best proposed operational definition of active aging with the strongest empirical support?
• Which are the best predictors/ determinants of active aging from a bio-psycho-social perspective?
GLOBAL ALLIANCE FOR THE RIGHTS OF OLDER PEOPLE
Established in 2011, the Global Alliance for the Rights of Older People is a civil society movement born out of the need to strengthen the rights and voice of older people globally. The Global Alliance for the Rights of Older People supports the creation of new international and regional human rights instruments as powerful tools for strengthening the rights of older people.
The Alliance is committed to building national-level capacity to work towards more effective human rights instruments for older people.
AGEQUAKE
The Shape of Population Change [United Nations publication (ST/ESA/SER.A/208)]
Between now and 2050, the total number of persons 60 years and older worldwide will rise from about 600 million to almost 2 billion. Never before in human history have so many lived so long. To enhance a greater understanding of this “agequake” and how each of us can play a role, the NGO Committee on Ageing website offers a unique “one-stop” resource. Opinion-leaders and individuals will find the listing of documents and expert papers, gathered from the Committee’s specialized meetings and briefings, along with related United Nations documents and organizational web sites can help provide insights and background understanding of this demographic revolution and its global implication.