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GLOBAL COOPERATION NEWSLETTER
December 2010
In this edition
ASEAN member states agree to the importance of caring for the elderly
Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin – new executive director UNFPA
India's microcredit meltdown
Factors in the development of people with disabilities in Ghana
Africa Tripartite Declaration on the implementation of the social protection floor
New gateway on social protection is launched
Rethinking social protection using a gender lens
“ASEAN member states agree to the importance of caring for the elderly”
This was the headline in the Brunei Times after the seventh ASEAN Ministerial Meeting for Social
Welfare and Development, November 2010. Member states agreed that the welfare of seniorcitizens continued to be one of the main issues and concerns needing to be addressed.
The declaration followed the proposal from the Government – Non Government Organisations (GONGO Forum that prepared the draft for the consideration of the ASEAN Ministerial meeting. This wasthe 5th GO-NGO Forum organised by ICSW and the ASEAN Secretariat. ICSW brought together
national member councils of ICSW and representatives of expert organisations including HelpAgeInternational.

Delegates to the ASEAN GO-NGO preparatory meeting
The Brunei Times further reported - In a significant move, the “Brunei Darussalam Declaration on
Strengthening the Family Institutions: Caring for the Elderly People” was adopted by both theSeventh Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Ministerial meeting for Social Welfare andDevelopment (7th AMMSWD) and third AMMSWD + 3 (Japan, Korea and China) member countries.
The states agreed to concerted effort to promote the quality of life and well-being of the elderly, as
well as reducing the social risks faced by a generation of people who have helped develop theregion. They recognised the ageing population was a growing trend in the South East Asian region
and exchanged views on strengthening the family institution to provide care for the elderly.
Ministers from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines,Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Japan and Korea unanimously acknowledged it was theresponsibility of governments to look after the elderly population by introducing financial andGlobal Cooperation NewsletterPage 1

medical assistance schemes. Brunei’s Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Pehin Orang KayaPekerma Laila Diraja Dato Paduka Hj Hazair Hj Abdullah highlighted the growth of the ageing
population in member countries and the world and said the declaration’s issuance was “veryconcrete and significant for the enhancement of the social development as well as welfare”.
Some of the items adopted in the declaration include: promotion of quality health care, support andsocial protection for the elderly, preventive and rehabilitative health care, secure, active andhealthy ageing by reducing the incidence of poverty among the elderly and promoting theawarenessandabilityof
theyounger
generation
toliveahealthy
lifestyle.
The countries were requested to begin measures to implement their commitment to elderly people,including providing more resources and annual reviews. They will also look into developing a social
support system and encourage the development of education programs that enhance the ability offamilies and to care for the elderly while providing appropriate care and support.
The declaration will see countries promoting quality of life for the elderly by creating conditions thatwill enhance their self-reliance and ability to remain economically active and achieve secure, activeand healthy ageing by reducing the incidence of poverty among the elderly.
To further enhance their quality of life in terms of health, each ASEAN member government willcontinue to promote quality health care, support and social protection for the elderly including
preventive and rehabilitative health care and providing support for capacity building for primary
health providers, social workers, caregivers and volunteers in delivering care for the elderly.
Also recognised were the social impacts of ageing populations. Life expectancies are rising steadily
which increase the challenges of providing adequate care and support for the elderly.
“The care of the elderly is an ongoing thing, and there will be no final stage in overcoming theproblem, as there are always new things that need to be introduced. Through these meetings wecan share all the best practices and experiences of other countries in how we can further enhanceand improve the standard of care for the elderly in our respective countries,” said Pehin Dato HjHazair.

Braema Mathiaparanam ICSW Regional President leading discussions on caring for the elderly
At the conclusion of the GO-NGO Forum Braema Mathiaparanam said, “This was a most satisfactory
conclusion to the 5th GO-NGO Forum. ICSW is pleased with the steps taken by member
governments of ASEAN to improve the care provisions for older people.”

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Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin – new executive director UNFPA
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently announced the appointmentof Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin (Kenya) as the new Executive Director ofthe United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). He will succeed Thoraya
Ahmed Obaid, and will assume office on 1 January 2011 for a term offour years. For more information on the challenges Dr Osotimehin willencounter read Rachel Nugent (Center for Global Development) at
http://blogs.cgdev.org/globaldevelopment/2010/11/can-new-leader-get-respectfor-un-populationagency.php?utm_source=nl_weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl_we
ekly_11302010

India's Microcredit Meltdown
The high-flying Indian microcredit industry is in the midstof its version of the U.S. subprime lending crisis. Just backfrom the epicentre in Andhra Pradesh, David Roodman
Senior Fellow at the Center for Global Development
untangles a tale of greed, political machinations, and goodintentions gone awry. David Roodman has written
extensively on microcredit – details and more on this storyat
http://blogs.cgdev.org/open_book/2010/11/understandingindia%E2%80%99s-microcredit
crisis.php?utm_source=nl_weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_ca
mpaign=nl_weekly_11302010

Factors in the development of people with disabilities in Ghana

Recently ICSW Vice President Charles Abbey was in Finland to undertake a course in human rights
at the Institute for Human Rights, Abo Akademi University. Charles was interviewed by the Ministry
for Foreign Affairs newsletter during his stay in Finland. Charles said “People with disabilities should
be seen as actors, not objects of charity. There are more than 600 million disabled people, of whomtwo thirds live in developing countries. People with disabilities need to participate in thedevelopment of society just like everybody else,"
Charles aims to acquire funding and to establish a Ghana NGO Forumto plan a strategy for implementation of the rights of people withdisabilities and their participation in society. "We could hold, say,television and radio debates, which would involve people withdisabilities. There is a need for training and awareness-raising. People
should be told that even if they are disabled, it does not mean thatthey do not have the power to do things.
Of the world's population about ten percent of people have disabilities. Ghana is estimated to be thesame, and that means more than two million people have one or more disabilities.
People with disabilities face practical problems of finding employment. Buildings and buses are notaccessible to people with disabilities.
Ghana has sought in recent years to improve the status of people with disabilities. In 2006 theParliament adopted the Disability Act which aims to improve the status of disabled people throughpromoting training and employment opportunities.
http://global.finland.fi/Public/default.aspx?contentid=206951&contentlan=1&culture=fi-FI

Yaounde Tripartite Declaration on the implementation of the Social ProtectionFloor
Tripartite delegates from 47 African member states of the International Labour Organisation
attended the Second African Decent Work Symposium “Building a Social Protection Floor with theGlobal Cooperation Newsletter

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Global Jobs Pact” The symposium was held in Yaoundé, Cameroon in October 2010. Having
reviewed the conclusions on the outcomes of a number of historical milestones in the developmentof social protection policy during the past decades and having discussed the strategic options
available for the extension of social security, the delegates adopted the Yaounde Tripartite
Declaration on the implementation of the Social Protection Floor “in full recognition of the urgent
need for all African Member States and Social Partners to start the effective and rapid
implementation of a Social Protection Floor for all Africans." The Declaration can be found at:
http://www.ilo.org/gimi/gess/RessShowRessource.do?ressourceId=19140

New Gateway on Social Protection is launched
The South-South Learning Gateway on Social Protection http://south-south.ipc-undp.org/ waslaunched during a workshop in South-Africa. The website is an initiative of the UNDP International
Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG) http://www.ipc-undp.org/
The idea of the website has its roots in the Africa-Brazil Cooperation Programme on Social
Protection, which started in 2008 to support the development and implementation of effective social
protection policies and foster South–South learning with partner African countries.
The website has been set up as a “virtual bookcase” with a searchable database of social protection
materials from across the world. The collection includes tools, case studies, policy papers andresearch. Besides the library, there is a section featuring a social protection mapping of developingcountries. “We are aiming to expand the knowledge base and capacities of developing countries todesign and implement nationally-owned poverty reduction strategies, bridging the gaps between
theory, policy and practice with accessible and diverse social protection information, as well asproviding a space where practitioners can share ideas, experiences and resources”, explained
Melissa Andrade, coordinator of the IPC-IG’s South-South Learning cluster.
All policy makers, institutions, research centres as well as civil society organisations interested onsocial protection policy dialogue are welcome to join this network.

Rethinking social protection using a gender lensODI Working Papers 320, October 2010. Authors: Rebecca Holmes and Nicola Jones

This paper synthesises findings from a multi-country research projectexamining the extent to which existing social protection programming
approaches are reinforcing women’s traditional roles and responsibilities, orharnessing the potential for social protection to transform gender relations ineconomic and social spheres. 58 pages ISBN: 978 1 907288 31 9
http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/download/5099.pdf

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