Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great honor and distinct pleasure for me to be able to address this Assembly. I would like to present the position of the Polish Government on the draft International Plan of Action on Ageing 2002 and the draft Political Declaration.

The development of a society for all ages is a task that the governments of the Member States adopted 20 years ago in Vienna at the First World Assembly on Ageing. It is not an easy task to fulfil as the interests of different generations sometimes diverge. Yet, a society cannot be truly democratic if age were to be an accepted principle dividing people into haves and have-nots, and into those who are provided with care and those who are deprived of it.

In the two decades that have passed since the First World Assembly in Vienna, the ageing of the Polish population has progressed relatively slowly. At the beginning of the eighties, over 13 percent of our population was aged 60 and over, and in 2000-over 16 percent. On the other hand, 30 years from now as many as 26 percent of Poles will be 60 or older. Much more dynamically has progressed the professional deactivation of the older generation and even of middle-aged persons. In 1980, the retirees and other pensioners constituted 18 percent of the country's adult population. Presently, one adult person in three is either retired or on a disability pension.

In view of the increasing number of the retirees and disability pension recipients and the approaching demographic peak of the elderly, the Polish government has for some years been pursuing policies aimed at ensuring social security for the present and future older generations. Our experience has shown that the realization of a society for all ages requires not only the elimination of any discrimination based on age but also taking positive action toward a society of solidarity. These two principles should be applied together with the principle of individual diligence and responsibility for one's life, including the way one will live his older years.

For example, the new pension system in our country is based on this approach. This system is founded on three pillars. The first -which is mandatory- is based on the principle of intergenerational solidarity. The second -which is also mandatory- is based on the principle of individual responsibility and is supervised by the State. The third -a voluntary pillar based on commercial old-age insurance- is based on the principle of individual diligence (i.e., preparing a nest egg).

Therefore, as believers in both social solidarity and individual responsibility, we support the position laid down in the draft International Plan of Action on Ageing, that public policies on ageing should promote:

(1) The participation of senior citizens in development;
(2) Good health and well-being for senior citizens;
(3) Enabling and supportive environments.

Senior citizens should enjoy adequate social security and should be empowered to fully participate in society. Social insurance system, covering all the gainfully employed, constitutes the cornerstone of economic security of Polish citizens, especially when they grow older. It pays out retirement or disability benefits to all those who, due to old age or poor health, are unable to continue work. Furthermore, the lacking of one's own means of existence or insufficient income entitles one to social assistance. In the future, also individual savings will gain importance in maintaining one's standard of living in old age.

We believe that income security for senior citizens should be based on a variety of sources -public and private. Still, contribution-based systems allowing for pension capital build-up over the many years of employment should be the primary basis. It should also be complemented with mandatory indexing of benefits for inflation to ensure their real value.

Combating poverty in the older generation should progress in two directions simultaneously. First, assisting those who have already fallen into poverty and, second, enabling the young and the middle-aged to secure an adequate income for themselves, once they retire from work. Curbing of unemployment and those aspects of disability that deactivate people professionally are among key approaches to adopt. A policy on senior citizens should, therefore, be an element of social policy broadly understood.

Men and women should equally share in the opportunities society offers to provide for one's economic security in the old age. Our experience has shown that the most difficult task is the effective eradication of two main sources of inequality in this respect. First -the lower earnings of women throughout their work life resulting in their lower retirement benefits and, second -a shorter working life of women, which is mainly caused by their need to combine family and professional roles.

Government policies should create incentives for the elderly to continue employment beyond the retirement age. Upon reaching the retirement age the worker should have the right but not the duty to retire from work. Furthermore, retirement age should be the same for men and women alike. Early retirement should be reduced if not altogether eliminated. Although older workers should have the right to stay in employment, they should not be able to combine full retirement benefits with unlimited earnings from employment. This is because the needs of all generations must be taken into account in a society for all ages. In our situation, where there is high unemployment among the young, helping them find their first jobs is more important than ensuring additional sources of income for those who have already earned their retirement benefits. We are currently working hard in the Government to persuade our citizens to those ideas.

We favor supporting active lifestyle of our senior citizens and their self-organization. Civil society must be open to persons of all generations giving them the opportunity to express their needs and interests. In the nineties Poland experienced an eruption of non-governmental organizations. Some of them assist seniors in organizing their free time and in their education. Self-help organizations are another category very active among seniors. We expect to see further growth of such organizations, especially when the post-World War II baby boomers reach the retirement age, as they are better educated than their parents and have greater experience with civil society.

Work is presently underway in the Polish Parliament on an Act on volunteer service. Once passed into law, the Act should encourage greater activism by and for senior citizens. We encourage volunteer work of senior citizens and the development of various forms of education for them. Service for one's community and personal development may greatly contribute to individual self-fulfillment.

Poor health is an important barrier hindering seniors' ability to fully participate in society. The state of health of the elderly persons in Poland is less than satisfactory. Senior citizens in Poland are covered by the national health care system. They also turn to the private healthcare sector, mostly by way of purchasing medicines and certain medical services. In reforming our health care system we are making it friendlier to the needs of our ageing society.

Families and local communities should also adapt to the needs of ever-longer living senior citizens, some of them suffering from poor health. In Poland, care for elderly persons with disabilities is first and foremost the responsibility of their families and the community social assistance. We support the idea of senior citizens living with their families and in their social environment for as long as possible. However, families providing care for their elderly relatives deserve support. At the same time, development of continuous and daycare centers for the elderly who require such assistance must not be neglected.

Greater emphasis must be placed on the promotion of healthy lifestyles, as it, together with a healthy environment and good living conditions, influences one's health in older age to a much greater degree than the level of available medical care.

Comfortable housing conditions are very important for the person's well-being. Housing shortages have always been ubiquitous in Poland. But those shortages primarily affect the younger generation. Polish seniors usually do have apartments. Yet, those apartments are oftentimes of low quality and/or not free from physical barriers hindering the senior inhabitants' contacts with the outside world. However, improvement of housing conditions of senior citizens is not an easy task. First, it requires considerable public funding, as the average elderly person usually cannot afford the costs of modernization of his apartment or purchasing a new apartment of higher standard. Second, improvement of housing conditions by moving elsewhere is often not a viable option in that it uproots the elderly person from his "natural" environment.

Although the responsibility for creating favorable living conditions rests primarily with the elderly themselves, their families and communities, public policy toward the elderly should be co-created by the national government and local self-governments in partnership with the interested NGOs, churches, and other organizations and businesses.

The Polish Government believes that the challenge posed by ageing requires a response in the form of appropriate strategies at all levels -international, national, regional, and local. Such strategies should build on the strengths of all sectors- public, NGO, and market. In this context, I would like to state that both draft documents before us constitute a good foundation for further work in this direction.

Thank you for your kind attention.