Abstract

According to data from United Nations, the number of older persons has increased substantially in recent years in most countries and regions, and that growth is projected to accelerate in the coming decades. Globally, the number of older persons is growing faster than the numbers of people in any other age group. As a result, the share of older persons in the total population is increasing virtually everywhere. While population ageing is a global phenomenon, the ageing process is more advanced in some regions than in others, having begun more than a century ago in countries that developed earlier, and getting underway only recently in many countries where the development process has occurred later, including the decline of fertility. This is poised to become one of the most significant social transformations of the twenty-first century, with implications for nearly all sectors of society, including labour and financial markets, the demand for goods and services, such as housing, transportation and social protection, as well as family structures and intergenerational ties. Preparing for the economic and social shifts associated with an ageing population is thus essential to ensure progress in development, including towards the achievement of the goals outlined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Population ageing is particularly relevant for the goals on poverty eradication, ensuring healthy lives and well-being at all ages, promoting gender equality and full and productive employment and decent work for all, reducing inequalities between and within countries, and making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. There is urgent need to consider older persons in development planning, emphasizing that older persons should be able to participate in and benefit equitably from the fruits of development to advance their health and wellbeing, and that societies should provide enabling environments for them to do so. As populations become increasingly aged, it is more important than ever that governments design innovative policies and public services specifically targeted to older persons, including those addressing, inter alia, housing, employment, health care, infrastructure and social protection. In many rural settings, old age women are still being seen as the care-taker of the family – responsible for child minding, facing harsh challenges, especially with the effects of climate change and culture making it difficult to access clean drinking/cooking water; all these factors along with customary laws prevent the women population from fully participating and contributing ideas to the betterment of their communities. Gender focused Community-based Development Plans will lead to better social security protection from all population of the communities.

Keywords: Population, Ageing, , sustainable development, issues, Social security, Housing, Gender Equality, Culture