Spanish senior organisation calls for promoting solidarity between generations as a response to COVID-19

Photo from UDP website

UDP Mayores seizes the momentum of the EU Day to recall the key role of intergenerational interaction and cooperation to fight age discrimination and ageism and promote a society for all ages that is truly inclusive.

In a press statement published on the occasion of the European Day of UDP Mayores, AGE member in Spain, welcomes the many initiatives of intergenerational solidarity that have been taken since the beginning of the pandemic in Spain, where confinement measures have aggravated the situations of vulnerability, isolation and loneliness of many older persons living alone or in a situation of dependency.

While acknowleding the fact that older persons are one of the groups most at risk of COVID19 and that home confinement is necessary to prevent and stop contagion, many older adults and seniors’ associations remain active and connected with the rest of society.

‘We do not want to live isolated from the rest of society, we want to participate and have our voice heard along with that of the rest of the citizens, without paternalism or stigma, just with dignity and generosity, and also valuing the contribution of older people, also at this time’ (of COVID-19), states UDP Mayores in its press release.

The organisation also refers the Agenda 2030 and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which recognize that development can only be achieved if it includes all ages. Empowering older people in all areas of development, including their participation in social, economic and political life, helps both to ensure their inclusion and reduce the inequalities that many people face.

‘Societies that are committed to solidarity between generations contribute to their general well-being’, insists UDP.

Read UDP press release (in Spanish)