October 1st: International Day of Older Persons and National Seniors Day

2019 Theme: "The Journey to Age Equality"

Almost 700 million people are now over the age of 60. By 2050, 2 billion people, over 20 per cent of the world's population, will be 60 or older. The increase in the number of older people will be the greatest and the most rapid in the developing world, with Asia as the region with the largest number of older persons, and Africa facing the largest proportionate growth. With this in mind, enhanced attention to the particular needs and challenges faced by many older people is clearly required. Just as important, however, is the essential contribution the majority of older men and women can make to the functioning of society if adequate guarantees are in place. Human rights lie at the core of all efforts in this regard.

Living up to the Secretary-General's guiding principle of "Leaving No-One Behind" necessitates the understanding that demography matters for sustainable development and that population dynamics will shape the key developmental challenges that the world is confronting in the 21st century. If our ambition is to "Build the Future We Want," we must address the population over 60 which is expected to reach 1.4 billion by 2030.