Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen,

Allow me to express, on behalf of my Government and our delegation, my great satisfaction regarding our participation in the Second World Assembly on Ageing. The topic of this event has a particular importance for the social and economic development of all our countries. The Government of the Republic of Croatia endorses the Draft Declaration and International Plan of Action on Ageing which will guide our action on ageing in the years to come.

Mr President,

The progress in the development of science and technology, and especially in the field of medicine, the improvement of living conditions and other changes that took place during the 20th century resulted in prolonged life expectancy and increase in the number of people over sixty years of age. It will happen soon that one third of the world population will be older than sixty. This demographic transformation challenges all our societies to promote increased opportunities, in particular for older persons to realise their potential to participate fully in all aspects of life.

The Republic of Croatia is also among the countries which are facing a considerable increase in the number of older persons. According to the first results of the 2001 census, the Republic of Croatia has 4,381,000 inhabitants of which 548,000 are older than 65 years. That accounts for 12.5% of the total population. In distinction from other countries in which similar demographic trends have been noticed, in Croatia such trends have specific features, that is, they are taking place in the conditions of economic transitions and massive damage caused by the war. That had a considerable influence on material, social and other position of older persons.

In the Republic of Croatia older persons mostly live in their homes and with their families. Only 2% of persons over 65 years of age have been placed in institutions. Croatia has 46 homes for older and infirm persons whose founders are counties, and 34 homes in the private sector. Since the capacities of accommodation in such institutions are insufficient, the policy of the care for the elderly implies the search for solutions in a more intensive development of noninstitutional forms of care, in order to address the existing problems. In addition to institutional care, homes for older and infirm persons organise the provision of services of assistance and care at home to the local community in the area where they operate. Such forms of assistance cover about 3,200 persons. Centres for assistance and care are being established within the county offices for labour, health and social welfare. Ten such centres have been established so far. In addition, two thousand older and infirm persons have been placed in foster families. Encouragement is given to the model of providing services in day care centres, which enable the elderly to go on living in their own houses or with their own families. In the care of the elderly, an increasingly important role is being played by the non-governmental sector, which suddenly developed with the beginning of the war in Croatia, when the state-run systems of welfare and health care could no longer bear the burden of new welfare and health problems.

Mr President,

Following the principle of dignity and fundamental rights of older persons, the Government of the Republic of Croatia is trying to make sure that this issue is approached in a responsible manner by the state authorities, families, individuals, associations and others, according to their tasks and obligations. The system of social welfare builds from the fact that everyone should take care of himself or herself and of the members of his or her family, primarily by his or her work, in accordance with his or her economic conditions and psychophysical potentials, or by his or her assets. The system functions on the basis of the principle of subsidiariness and it should constitute the assistance from the community which comes in the last place, that is, when all other sources available to the individual and his or her family have already been exhausted.

The basic principle of the development of the social welfare system in the care for the elderly and infirm rests upon decentralisation and privatisation. The Republic of Croatia has recognised the need for decentralisation of the social welfare system which offers itself as a natural process in the building of a democratic society. The legislation relating to the social welfare system provides for a legal and institutional framework within which the system is supposed to become gradually decentralised in the financial and organisational terms. The final decentralisation of the system is planned to be carried out by the end of 2004.

In parallel with the process of decentralisation, there is also the process of de-institutionalisation which is carried out with a view to improving the quality of life of older persons. This is of particular importance if we have in mind the potentials that can be found in non-institutional approach to treating and addressing the whole array of welfare problems. In that regard, the social welfare system in the Republic of Croatia is ready for co-operation with everyone in the community who have something to offer in order to make sure that the joint problems be solved in the ways that are, from the point of view of quality, different than those in the institutional care.

Croatia is currently implementing the reform of its pension system for which normative foundations have been laid. This reform is supposed to alleviate the adverse situation in this area. Namely, in the last ten years, Croatia has recorded one of the probably most drastic reductions in the ratio between the number of pensioners and the number of employed persons. Through the reform, the pension system envisaged, with its three pillars, already being implemented, should correspond to the economic and social conditions in which Croatia will develop in the coming period. This model is along the lines of the basic changes from a passive to an active welfare state.

In Croatia a new health care policy is soon to be implemented, together with a reform of the health care system and the medical insurance system which is directed at ensuring the availability of the obligatory health protection. Moreover, a mixed model of medical insurance implying the basic and supplementary medical insurance is being introduced.

Mr President,

In line with the knowledge about the needs of the elderly, the financial potentials of the state, in particular at the local level, and the circumstances in particular areas, the Government of the Republic of Croatia is planning to do the following in the field of the protection of older persons:

- focus its activities towards further development of non-institutional social welfare sector, especially at the local level, in order that the network of various types of services for older persons at their home may be made more available to a larger number of older persons,
- in the future encourage the establishment of homes for older and infirm persons primarily in the private sector,
- encourage further development of the functions of the care for the elderly in non-governmental organisations, religious communities and associations,
- encourage the units of local government and self-government to provide more care for their older members,
- encourage positive health behaviour of older persons aimed at the prevention of illnesses and improvement of the quality life of older chronic patients,
- take measures aimed at the reduction of older people's exclusion in all areas of social life,
- promote the measures for the creation of such an environment in which architectural barriers will be removed to the greatest possible extent and living conditions be adjusted to the personal needs of older persons,
- encourage social integration of older persons and their more active participation in the society,
- encourage inter-generational solidarity,
- influence the society as a whole with regard to the promotion of positive attitudes about ageing.

This approach is in accord with the welfare role that the Republic of Croatia, as a democratic and welfare state, has in all domains, hence in the area of care for the elderly.

Thank you Mr President.