Int'l Day of Older Persons celebrated in Baku

By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

International Day of Older Persons has been solemnly marked in Azerbaijan with an exhibition.

The event was co-organized by the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Population and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) on the initiative of the First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva.

In 1990, the United Nations General Assembly designated October 1 the International Day of Older Persons.

This was preceded by initiatives such as the Vienna International Plan of Action on Ageing – which was adopted by the 1982 World Assembly on Ageing – and endorsed later that year by the UN General Assembly.

The exhibition was held as part of the "Building a society for all ages: promoting the welfare of the elderly in Azerbaijan through active lifestyle". 

The exhibition presents photographs taken by professional photographers, reflecting the active activities of older people.

The main goal of the project is to encourage the replacement of existing stereotypes and the traditional approach to the aging process in people's minds with positive perceptions of the aging phenomenon.

The photographs reflect an active and healthy lifestyle which breaks all stereotypes about the aging process. 

Representative of the Secretariat of the First Vice-President of Azerbaijan Fargan Abaszadeh stressed the importance of the project which covers supportive and inclusive programs for the elderly people and contributes to raising public awareness of healthy lifestyle.

The photo exhibition on the International Day of Older Persons is the next step in this direction.

The head of the UN Population Fund in Azerbaijan Farid Babayev called the elderly, who are trying to follow an active and healthy lifestyle, positive role models for the community and society as a whole.

"Nowadays we all need such positive examples. Now we should try to present these examples and promote positive experiences through such measures. I hope that despite the fact that it is still a very new concept in our society, more people will focus on the active and healthy lifestyle among old people...," he said.

Chairman of the DOST Agency Farid Mammadov spoke about measures to strengthen the social protection of senior citizens in the country. He noted that this project is one of the government's social protection measures for the elderly in general.

Furthermore, the photographers were exhibited at the Seaside Boulevard.