Mr President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen... 
 
 

1. Improving conditions for the elderly people of the world is one of the most important issues for our ageing society. The United Nations commitment to that aim is gratifying. I am convinced that with our new Plan of Action and the Declaration that we are about to adopt, this awareness will be enhanced and result in concrete improvements for the world's elderly and indeed contribute to positive development for people of all ages. 
 

2. There are many who maintain that the most significant change in our society has been brought about by the IT revolution. Others believe that globalisation is the most important transformation confronting modern man today: that our lives have been radically changed by the removal of old barriers, that we can move freely across former borders and that we can create new international coalitions. 
 

3. But I believe that an equally important change, and perhaps even greater in significance than the IT revolution and globalisation, is the Age Revolution. Our own lives, hopes, longings, relationships and sense of community have been fundamentally changed by the fact that average life expectancy has been extended by 25 years during the 20`h century. Our entire society is in the process of being transformed into something quite different and presenting far more cheerful prospects, now that one-third of one's life remains when one is 65. 
 

4. However, while we are relatively well-prepared for the IT revolution and globalisation, we appear to be most unprepared for the Age Revolution. Our labour market segregates and discards older people, our culture is directed at young people and our entire democratic system seems to be based on older people being passive observers. It is one of our absolutely most important political tasks to prepare the new society so that it comes to view the Age Revolution as the most optimistic challenge for our generation. 

5. We must come to grips with prejudices, break away from traditional views of older people, and ensure that they enjoy full human rights. Gender aspects of ageing and the situation of older women also need to be given particular attention. Here the new International Plan of Action will play an important role in stimulating and inspiring efforts to change attitudes throughout the world. In Sweden we aim to pursue active policies to realise the visions set up by the Plan of Action.

6. Mr President, I would now like to mention some of the most important principles and development areas included in our policies.

7. A secure financial situation is a precondition for being able to take part in the life of society. Universal welfare policies constitute the basis for this security. The pensions system must be reliable. Sweden has introduced a new, modern pensions system that is designed to be viable in the face of demographic change.

8. To a greater extent than today, elderly people should be included in political assemblies at all levels of society. To ensure a living democracy, the knowledge and experience of all groups must be made use of.
 

9. We must make an effort to try to reverse the trend that has led to the taste and opinions of young and middle-aged people totally dominating cultural life and public debate. Older people should have a self-evident right both to take part in, and to undertake cultural activities themselves. 
 

10. Total citizenship also means that older people must be given more opportunities to share their experiences with younger generations. They are needed in schools, working life, higher education and voluntary associations. We must stimulate the meeting between generations. 
 

11. The transition from working life to retirement needs to be facilitated. Many want to carry on working, but at a lower tempo. They must be given this chance. Society too, must take advantage of their knowledge, experience and ideas. The desire of old people to learn new things must be taken seriously. Now that a new information society is emerging, this is particularly important. 
 

12. At all its levels, it is one of government's most important political tasks to guarantee good care of the elderly. Systems for care of the elderly must be able to give the old person care that takes into consideration the fact that dependency on others means an enormous change, and that for many people, ageing is a matter of trying to attain some kind of harmony during the final stages of one's life. 
 

13. The issue of resources is crucial. Citizens must be able to rely on society being able to provide good services for the care of the elderly - and this applies to everyone. Individual need should be the criterion - not his or her financial situation. This is fundamental to welfare policy. It represents an enormous challenge for our ageing society in Sweden in which some 13 per cent of the entire population will be over the age of 80 within 25 years. 
 

14. Good care of the elderly means zero tolerance of all forms of abuse, neglect and ill-treatment. During the next few years, we shall be developing and refining the Swedish system for dealing with complaints and providing support to older people who have been the victims of abusive treatment, by establishing, for example, local ombudsmen for the elderly. I note with satisfaction that the United Nations has clarified the need for measures to deal with all forms of abuse of older persons in the special report of the SecretaryGeneral. (Titel: Abuse of older persons: recognizing and responding to abuse of older persons in a global context). 
 

15. Mr President, I have tried to illustrate the commitment of the Swedish Government to pursue policies that are in line with the objectives of the International Plan of Action on Ageing. We are, however, aware that conditions and opportunities vary from country to country and in different part of the world. In designing and implementing strategies and programmes for international cooperation we must seek to build our policies upon the common understanding that all people are fundamentally equal and are all entitled to the same rights. 
 

            Thank you, Mr President!