Mr/Mme Chairperson, Ladies and Gentlemen,

In my address I would like to inform you about the demographic situation in the Czech Republic, and the measures our Government has adopted to cope with the negative consequences of population ageing.

Until the early 1990s, the Czech Republic had not had any particular problems with population ageing. However, over the last ten years our society has undergone substantial changes, reflected in improvements in the population's health, changing lifestyles and behaviour, the lower level of employment activities among young people, and the high rate of early retirement among the elderly. These changes have also had an impact on the demographic situation.

One of the key aspects of current demographic trends in the Czech Republic is the shrinking population, owing to natural decline and a sharp drop in the birth rate.

The year 2000 was the seventh consecutive year in which the number of deaths exceeded the number of births in the Czech Republic. The number of registered immigrants from abroad was not enough to offset natural decline. In the last five years the post-productive segment of the Czech Republic's population has been larger than the pre-productive segment. Other significant factors are the dependency ratio (the ratio of persons aged 65 or more to the number of children aged 0 -14 years), which has risen to 106.8%, with 158.7% forecast for 2010, the rising life expectancy at birth (in the Czech Republic it is currently 71.6 years for men and 78.3 years for women, respectively), falling mortality rates for the middle-aged and the elderly, a decline in the marriage rate, the increasing mean age at first marriage, etc.

A significant consequence of population decrease is the gradual ageing of the population, which in the future will be the greatest demographic problem faced by the Czech Republic. Among the elderly, the percentage of women aged 60 or more will exceed the percentage of men. The average age is expected to continue to rise, the percentage of the population aged over 60 will also rise, and there will be a long-term shrinking of the population group aged 15-59. The Czech Republic has not managed to avoid the problems associated with population ageing, the problems that other developed countries also have to face.

Czech society has therefore been forced to respond to these demographic changes and its ageing population by devising a plan to deal with the consequences of those factors.

By a decision taken by the 1st Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labour and Social Affairs an Advisory Board on Ageing, a standing advisory body to the Minister, was set up at the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs in the year 2000. Among the Board's members there are representatives of various ministries, leading social policy experts, and representatives of organisations and associations for the elderly.

The Advisory Board's main task is to elaborate the National Programme of Preparation for Ageing, in accordance with the recommendations contained in existing and forthcoming international documents.

In December 2001, the Czech government approved the draft fundamental principles for the National Programme of Preparation for Ageing, as a binding framework for elaborating the National Programme. The document has now been completed, and once it has been supplemented to include the conclusions of the 2nd World Assembly on Ageing, it should be submitted to the Czech government for discussion and approval in the first half of this year.

Following the approval by the Czech government, the National Programme of Preparation for Ageing should be operative for 2003 - 2007.

Following the approval of the Programme, the ministries concerned will implement the measures within their scope of activities, and will submit reports on programme implementation to the 1st Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labour and Social Affairs in two-year intervals. It is also suggested that the 1st Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labour and Social Affairs regularly reports to the government on the Programme implementation. It is anticipated that the Programme should be revised in 2007 to cover a further five-year period from 2008 to 2012.

The following approaches have been put forward to deal with population ageing in the Czech Republic:

- support for equal rights and opportunities
- eliminating discrimination for reasons of age
- support for opportunities for individual development and greater independence
- ensuring available and essential care and services for older persons
- support for and extension of life-long learning
- changing attitudes to ageing and older persons
- ensuring the social integration of older persons
- preventing exclusion from the labour market, maintaining and increasing employment for older workers, improving labour mobility
- enhancing the significance of individual preparation for ageing and old age
- ensuring full participation in political, economic and social life

The National Programme of Preparation for Ageing aims to create a favourable social climate to tackle the problems of ageing, to change attitudes and approaches at all levels, resulting in the formation of a "society for all ages", which will lead to the adoption of social, political and economic measures dealing with the demographic changes, primarily population ageing.

Population ageing must be understood not only as an objective reality, but also as a challenge for society to be ready to tackle the problems associated with this. To achieve that objective, it is necessary to develop the necessary conditions in all areas of society, and to make individuals responsible for their own preparations for old age. The National Programme of Preparation for Ageing is therefore aimed at society as a whole: the young and middle-aged generations, and older persons themselves.

The draft National Programme of Preparation for Ageing takes into account both international priorities and the specific needs of the Czech population.

The new International Plan of Action on Ageing will become the Czech Republic's platform for policy of preparation for ageing, and will provide both specific impulses and a general framework for institutions and individual citizens to develop the activities and processes required.

The Czech government also intends to promote the active management of migration flows, aimed at supporting the coming and settling of qualified foreign professionals and their families, as a complementary instrument to mitigate the impact of the demographic situation. This project, based on the experience of Canada and similar to the new German migration policy, will be submitted to the Czech government in May, and is expected to be launched in 2003.

I believe that at the Regional Ministerial Conference on Ageing, to be held in September this year in Berlin, I will be able to give you information on our new experience, and to announce that the Czech Republic has already adopted its National Programme of Preparation for Ageing.

Thank you for your attention.