A/HRC/14/31 from governments, NGOs, United Nations agencies and academic institutions attended the meeting and contributed to the independent expert’s evaluations on social pensions. 7. The independent expert wishes to express her gratitude to all States that submitted information and to the experts and NGOs that supported this process and assisted in the preparation of this report. She will continue to consider the topic of old age and poverty in future mission reports. II. Poverty and old age A. Ageing and its repercussion for social policies 8. There is an urgent need to understand the implications of increasing longevity in the world. The population aged over 60 is expected to rise from 737 million persons in 2009 to over 2 billion in 2050.4 Those older than 80 years represent the fastest growing segment of all societies. Moreover, older women increasingly outnumber older men as their ages increase. 9. The proportion of older persons is growing fastest in developing countries. In South East Asia, the percentage of older persons will have increased to 10 per cent by 2025 and 19 per cent by 2050. In South Asia, it is projected that the older population will have increased by 350 million between 2000 and 2050. This is more than five times the increase of 66 million from 1950 to 2000. Older persons constituted less than 7 per cent of the increase in population from 1950 to 2000 but will account for 20 and 62 per cent of the increase from 2000 to 2025 and from 2025 to 2050 respectively.5 In Africa, the pace of growth of the older persons’ population is slower, but nevertheless the number of persons aged 60 or above is set to quadruple: from 47.9 million in 2005 to 206.8 million by 2050.6 In Latin America and the Caribbean, about 24 per cent of the population will be 60 or over by 2050, with the most rapid growth occurring among the “oldest old”, those aged 80 or above. By 2050, there will be more people aged over 60 than under 15 years of age.7 10. Integrating ageing populations in policymaking is not just a question of financing welfare policies. It requires a change of vision of the relations between generations and the roles of different age groups. States should not rely on the traditional vision that families will take care of older persons that have become dependent, especially as traditional family care structures are under increased pressure as a result of, inter alia, migration and urbanization. States have a duty towards older persons that must not be reduced to a question of affordability. 11. The international community has committed itself to addressing the challenges associated with ageing in three documents: the Vienna International Plan of Action on Ageing (1982), the United Nations Principles for Older Persons (1991) and the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (2002). These documents complement the existing human rights and labour standards which establish legally binding obligations upon States. 4 5 6 7 4 See A/64/127, para. 3. Ghazy Mujahid and K.A.P. Siddhisena, “Demographic Prognosis for South East Asia – A future of rapid ageing”, Papers in Population Ageing, No. 6 (Bangkok, United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA), 2009), p. 9. Regional Dimensions of the Ageing Situation (United Nations publication, Sales No. 08.IV.1), p. 25. Ibid., p. 27. GE.10-12583