1 December 2015 – UN Population Fund (UNFPA) in Uzbekistan, Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan, ‘Oila’ Center and Research Center ‘Ijtimoiy Fikr’ jointly organize a one-day conference on addressing the issues of ageing in national social policies.
The conference that gathered over hundred representatives of government bodies, social and research organizations was held within the framework of ‘The Year of Attention and Care for the Older Generation in Uzbekistan’ declared by the President in 2015.
Its objective was to discuss and analyze the current social policy development with the focus on aged people, and provide suggestions for improvement. In particular, participants have discussed the following issues:
- New trends in reproductive process in Uzbekistan;- Ageing issues in Uzbekistan and globally;
- Socio-economic problems of the elder people;
- Health, morbidity and mortality;
- Changes in sex and age structure of population;
- Ageing and life expectancy
In addition, a Collection of research papers, abstracts and articles of 25 researchers and demography experts was presented. The articles in Uzbek and Russian languages cover issues like demographic situation in Uzbekistan in the context of age trends of the world’s population, the role of aged generation in the family and society, and social protection of the elder people in Uzbekistan.
UNFPA Representative in Uzbekistan Ms. Mieko Yabuta welcomed participants of the conference and said: “Life expectancy at birth is now over 80 in 33 countries; just five years ago only 19 countries had reached this. The contributions of older persons to social life are invaluable. Many such contributions cannot be measured in economic terms – such as care giving, volunteering, and passing cultural traditions to younger generations”
UNFPA has been supporting organization of various forms for local demography experts since 2011, with the aim of promoting social dialogue, raising the capacities of national demography experts and increasing their access to world practices and expertise in the area of population and development.