BC FORUM News

September, 2019

BC government proclaims
October 1st 2019 International Day of Older Persons in the Province of British Columbia

View the Proclamation below.

View the United Nations Declaration

Read the Statement from BC FORUM here.

Read article by Agnes Jackman, BC FOURM Regional Rep here.

The Proclamation reads:

WHEREAS the United Nations International Day of Older Persons celebrates the importance of the 71st anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and reaffirms the commitment to promoting the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by older persons, and

WHEREAS the 2019 International Day of Older Persons has as its theme “The Journey to Age Equality” and focuses on pathways of coping with existing and preventing future old age inequality, and

WHEREAS older human rights champions today were born around the time of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, and

WHEREAS growing older does not diminish a person’s inherent dignity and fundamental rights, and

WHEREAS more than 40 years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, issues of human rights for older persons were taken up in 1991 in the formulation of the United Nations Principles for Older Persons, which provided guidance in the areas of independence, participation, care, self-fulfillment and dignity, and

WHEREAS in 2002, governments for the first time agreed to link questions of ageing to other frameworks for social and economic development and human rights, and

WHEREAS the interdependence between older persons’ social integration and the full enjoyment of their human rights cannot be ignored, as the degree to which older persons are socially integrated will directly affect their dignity and quality of life;

NOW KNOW YE THAT, We do by these presents proclaim and declare that October 1, 2019 shall be known as “International Day of Older Persons” in the Province of British Columbia.

IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, We have caused these Our Letters to be made Patent and the Great Seal of Our Province of British Columbia to be hereunto affixed.

WITNESS, The Honourable Janet Austin, Lieutenant Governor of Our Province of British Columbia, in Our City of Victoria, in Our Province, this thirteenth day of August, two thousand eighteen and in the sixty-seventh year of Our Reign.

BY COMMAND.