Mr. Chairman,
Mr. Secretary General of the United Nations,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am pleased to extend to His Excellency, Mr. Carlos Aparicio Perez, Labor and Social Affairs Minister in the Government of Spain, my sincere congratulations on his chairmanship of the Second World Assembly on Ageing. I am confident that thanks to his experience and skill, the proceedings of this session will be crowned with success.

I am also pleased to extend my heartfelt thanks and consideration to the Spanish authorities for the facilities and adequate conditions they have provided towards holding this world assembly. I should also like to extend to Mr. Kofi Annan, the U.N. Secretary General, my thanks and consideration for his constructive stances and valuable contributions to addressing outstanding human issues and organizing international meetings around topics that constitute major challenges for mankind.

Mr. Chairman,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

This session is being held under the motto "Building a Society for all Ages", twenty years after the first Vienna World Assembly in 1982 during which session a world working program was adopted to benefit this social category. We are called upon, today, to evaluate objectively what has been achieved and to adopt a world strategy and working program that take into consideration the demographic, economic, and social changes that have taken place worldwide over the past few years.

Humanity has achieved increasing economic prosperity and development, at an unprecedented rate in previous centuries, and it will be faced with various new challenges, notably ageing, which will be one of the major challenges facing the world during this new century. Such economic prosperity, that did not benefit all peoples uniformly, will coincide with the growing proportion of elderly people in advanced nations as well as in developing countries. In 2050, elderly people, aged 60 and above, will account for 19% of the total population, against 9% today. This percentage varies from one geographical region to the next; due to higher life expectancy rates and different birth control policies. This will lead to a decline in the percentage of children in the total population from a current 33% to 22% in 2050.

To meet the repercussions of such developments, states will have to adopt clear policies taking into account the recommendations of the various international summits organized by the United Nations since the early 1990's, especially the Social Development Summit and the Millennium Summit, aimed at attenuating differences between nations, keeping in check economic and social crises, and struggling against diseases and epidemics, especially AIDS, and eradicating poverty.

Given that poverty represents a hazard for world security and peace, the international community is called upon to set up effective mechanisms susceptible of struggling efficiently against poverty. This is an opportunity to call to mind the call addressed by His Excellency, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, President of the Republic of Tunisia, for setting up a World Solidarity Fund. My country notes with satisfaction the favorable reception reserved to this appeal by the 55th and the 56th sessions of the U.N. General Assembly, hoping that specific mechanisms will be established for this Fund to become effective as soon as possible.

Mr. Chairman,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

The comprehensive report submitted by the U.N. Secretary General has reviewed a number of issues and the valuable efforts of members states, each according to its capabilities, to implement the work strategies adopted for the elderly at the international and the regional levels.

The report shows that developing nations will be simultaneously confronted to challenges related to development policies and to a constant increase in the proportion of elderly people. This will in turn require that we entrench and reinforce the rights of the elderly as an integral part of human rights; that we provide them with protection and health, social, and psychological care; and that we encourage the elderly to continue their activity and their contribution, as reliable and competent sources of expertise.

Whereas such care for the elderly is an easy matter for secure and stable states, it is indeed an arduous undertaking for countries living under the yoke of occupation, or those torn by armed conflicts and their ensuing train of suffering, deportation, and banishment.

True to its international commitments and national options, Tunisia bestows great solicitude on the elderly, as part of the comprehensive development strategy adopted by the President of the Republic, His Excellency, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, a strategy whose major underpinning is an interdependence between the economic and the social dimensions, placing the indivudal as the highest goal for all development activities and entrenching the values of concord and national solidarity between all sections of society.

The on-going atrocities in the Palestinian occupied territories perpetrated by the Israeli occuping forces, including oppression and mass killings, contradict basic human rights and totally ignores these rights and the sufferings of children, women and older persons as well as those suffering from injuries.

We call upon the international community, and in accordance with relevant resolutions, to assume its responsability to put an end the this tragic situation and to protect the Palestinien people from these inhuman practices.

Tunisia's policy in the area of care for the elderly stems from a strong political determination founded on the enduring principles commanding the preservation of a bond between generations, abidance by Arab and Moslem values, and meeting the requirements of the age. It is also founded on the state's complementary efforts in, on the one hand, developing programs, establishing bodies, and providing financial and technical assistance and, on the other, in the participation of civil society, based on the values of solidarity and mutual asistance; in a drive to provide comprehensive care to the elderly for them to continue their generous efforts and thus be aware of their status within the family and within society.

The first legislation providing for care for the elderly was published on 31 October 1994. This law defines the term elderly and lays the stress on the duty of the family, society, and the state in providing them with care and protection. Furthermore, numerous intervention mechanisms have been initiated to benefit the elderly, through the various programs, measures, and health and social services aimed at providing them with care, taking into account their specific circumstances and conditions, while underscoring that Tunisia's fundamental option consists in maintaining the elderly within their families, as their preservation within their natural environment has a positive effect on their social life and on reinforcing family ties. As part of this effort, mobile multidisciplinary units managed by associations were set up to secure an urgent and efficient health and social intervention for the elderly and to bring such services closer to their homes and even inside their families when needed. The state has also striven to provide needy elderly persons with permanent assistance as part of the National Program to Assist the Elderly within their Families.

Tunisian legislation also authorizes volunteer families to host elderly persons, on the condition that they provide them with decent living conditions in exchange of a monthly allowance granted by the state. It should be noted that the elderly person's approval is a fundamental requirement for such arrangements to be carried out.

Furthermore, in the case of elderly persons with no family support, the state has set up specialized facilities to provide them with accommodation as well' as with financial assistance and health care. The number of people living in the 11 facilities has not increased for a number of years, thanks to the strategy aimed at maintaining the elderly within their families.

Tunisian legislation regarding the elderly also provides for the possibility of setting up private institutions caring for the elderly. The law defines the conditions under which such institutions may be set up and the services they are required to provide in terms of health, social, and cultural services and leisure.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

For a number of years, Tunisia has known a period of demographic change mainly characterized by an increase in the proportion of elderly people from 6.7% of total population in 1984 to 9% today. This percentage is expected to reach 18% by 2029, the highest percentage in the Arab world. This increase will coincide with a decline in average population growth, currently running at 1.1 thanks to the Reproductive Health Program and improved health coverage and living conditions.

At the institutional level, a special committee on the elderly was set up within the High Population Council, entrusted with an in-depth exploration of the direct impact of demographic developments in Tunisia.

Taking into account the specific characteristics of this section of society and its numerous needs; and in a drive to help them avoid the hazards of life, the state is continuing its efforts to expand social security coverage to most professions, whether employees or independent workers, to provide all sections of society without exception with a secure retirement and a comfortable old age. Training has also been provided to health employees and Tunisia's health infrastructure was enhanced in order to meet the needs of elderly people and to provide them with care that corresponds to their health situation characterized by the emergence of chronic diseases and various disabilities.

In addition, as part of its efforts to preserve the purchasing power of pensioners, the state has confirmed the principle of linking old age pensions to the standard of living, pensions are therefore automatically revised when there are wage increases.

The new economic and population challenges that will be posed to Tunisia in the next few years require radical reforms in old-age schemes in both the public and the private sector, to preserve the balance of social security schemes. In this regard, it is contemplated to initiate a new system safeguarding the rights of working pensioners, providing for a minimum pension based on distribution while also providing for additional capitalization schemes.

Mr. Chairman,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

The various parties to this conference have contributed to clarifying the various viewpoints and proposals reflecting the specific social and cultural characteristics and the needs of various developing as well as advanced member states with a view to their inclusion within the world Statement and Strategy on Ageing. Adoption by the Second World Assembly on Ageing of these two documents is likely to reinforce future national policies in the area of care provision for the elderly, a section representing the memory of mankind.

Thank you for your attention.