The Office for Human and Minority Rights of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, in collaboration with Color Media Communications, marked the International Day of Older Persons on September 30th at the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia.
Suzana Paunović, Director of the Office for Human and Minority Rights of the Government of Serbia, Zoran Djordjević, Minister of Labour, Employment, Veterans’ and Social Affairs, Nadežda Satarić, Chairwoman of the Managing Board of the Serbia for All Generations – Amity (Srbija za sve generacije) civil association spoke at the event, as did Aranka Medješ, a representative of elderly women from Kucura and a representative of a retired woman from Vračar.
“Elderly people in Serbia mostly live alone. Of the approximately 450,000 households with elderly people, an elderly person lives alone in more than half of them. Only a third of the elderly lives in the same household as their children. We must not forget this information and we must not forget that loneliness is a problem that the elderly often face,” Suzana Paunović, Director of the Office for Human and Minority Rights of the Government of Serbia, said on marking the International Day of Older Persons.
The “oldest” area in Serbia is its southern and eastern parts, where as much as 25% of the population is over 60 years of age, Paunović said, adding that analyses show that, by 2080, 28.7% of the EU population will be elderly.
She also said that the trend of the growing number of elderly people was noticed in our country as well – it is estimated that, by 2040, the elderly will make between 23.6% and 25.2% of Serbia’s population.
According to her, the care of the elderly people is a priority of the whole Government which will continue to actively support the elderly and improve their financial position.
“Financial support for pensioners is one of the Government’s priorities, as we want our country to be a country for all generations, as reflected in the slogan of today’s event,” Suzana Paunović added.
The event was attended by senior cities and municipalities from all over Serbia – Novi Pazar, Uba, Trstenik, Bor, Kragujevac, Sremska Mitrovica and Kucura – as well as elderly people from Belgrade municipalities. The Smilje Choir, from the Bežanijska Kosa home for the elderly, sang Serbian anthem “Bože Pravde” on the occasion.