Dr. Hulki Uz, UNFPA Representative[/caption]Tehran, September 24, 2014- Dr. Hulki Uz, UNFPA Representative, today encouraged further investment in the elderly, and emphasized UNFPAs full support for the National Council of the Elderly and their work to develop and implement an integrated national policy for the elderly.
In a technical meeting on September 24th, Irans draft national policy for the elderly was reviewed in a meeting held by the National Council of the Elderly (under the State Welfare Organization, or SWO). Dr. Uz attended the meeting along with Mr. Rostami, Head of the Secretariat of the National Council of the Elderly, Mr. Heydari, Deputy for Development and Management of Human Resource in SWO, Dr. Nahvinejad, Head of SWO Provincial Office and UNFPA National Project Director as well as representatives from various other organizations.
The all-day meeting provided an opportunity for relevant organizations to comment on the draft policy, in preparation for a meeting to be held next month, at which the draft will be presented to and reviewed by consultants from HelpAge International with support from UNFPA.
In his speech, Dr. Uz said, I am very confident that Iranians have the capacity and willingness to address their own issues. He then went on to emphasize the importance of the elderly population: UNFPA sees all people as opportunities, not challenges. As touched on by the Supreme Leader in his edicts on the new population policy, we have a great source of experience in Irans elderly population, and we must invest in their knowledge and experience. Dr. Uz highlighted the close cooperation between UNFPA and its implementing partners, saying that, Regarding ageing policies, UNFPA fully supports the process of forming an action plan on elderly, as well as its implementation, and is ready to offer our expertise and support to the National Council of the Elderly. You can count on us.
According to Mr. Rostami, We need to improve the policies on elderly from the 5th National Development Plan. In the 6th Development Plan, we hope to improve legislation and push relevant organizations to focus more on issues related to the elderly. He said that currently, 6 million elderly live in I.R. Iran, constituting 8.1% of the population, of whom only 10% require special care.
Mr. Heydari expressed gratitude towards SWOs implementing partners, particularly UNFPA, and said, UNFPAs expert approach towards the issue of the elderly has been extremely helpful and we hope to continue the positive partnership between our two organizations.
By United Nations In Iran
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