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Get your Age-friendly City Moving Forward!
If you are involved in an Age-friendly City and Community (AFCC) initiative and want to better understand how to engage decision-makers, you have come to the right place!
On 1 April 2015, at 11am EDT, the IFA in collaboration with Grantmakers in Aging (GIA) is convening a webinar on decision-maker engagement for a more sustainable AFCC. Don’t miss this opportunity to translate knowledge into action — sign up here today!
Learn about the webinar and the presenter, Mr Rodd Bond here.
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A Chance For Your Voice To Be heard TODAY!
 Don’t discard your right to help save someone’s sight. If you are an adult with diabetes, a diabetes patient organization or a health care practitioner, spare 30 minutes and take the Diabetic Retinopathy Barometer survey now!
Chile, Costa Rica, France, Lebanon, Venezuela and Uganda — make sure your views are included by helping to increase response rates!
Go above and beyond to not only completing the survey. Posts on social media can emphasize the impact that this ground breaking study has on improving awareness and policy development in vision impairment and loss associated with diabetes.
Patient survey
Provider survey
To learn more about the study, click here.
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IFA 13th Global Conference in Brisbane, Australia
 This Conference follows the recent 3rd World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, 14-18 March 2015 where a new person-centered disaster risk reduction strategy was agreed upon. Abstracts corresponding with one or more of the thematic tracks listed on the Conference website are being called for now. The knowledge platform for decision-makers, practitioners, researchers, service providers and community members is developed to help share expertise and experiences to support and empower the rapidly ageing populations worldwide.
Don’t miss your chance to be part of this conference and submit your abstract today!
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IFA Announces Two Priorities
The IFA priorities «Action in Global Advocacy» and the «Copenhagen Summit» are profiled now in separate yet connected websites.
The IFA Copenhagen Summit and the Global Think Tank on Ageing are international platforms specifically convened to stimulate discussions with key decision-makers in government, business and civil society as a means to influence policy change. The aim of the 2015 overall theme challenges the current dialogue to view reablement as an enabler of economic growth by maintaining and improving the functional capacity of older individuals.
 Vision impairment and blindness does not have to be a presumed condition of ageing. Action in Global Advocacy is a coherent strategy that unites research, policy, and practice by linking vision and ageing organizations together to build strong advocacy campaigns addressing vision loss and impairment amongst older people.
The AGA website is a centralized hub of knowledge exemplifying effective advocacy strategies and ideas.
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 Immunization is one of the most effective public health interventions, reducing or eliminating the burden of many infectious diseases. Despite the evidence of positive effects of a life course approach to vaccination, such as cost savings and potential economic growth, adult vaccinations are not a public health priority. Prevention through immunization is a lifelong journey and as people age, their immune systems decline, resulting in an increased risk of infection in older adults. The IFA is holding the Adult Immunization Advocacy Summit to increase awareness and immunization rates for older people. This will be done by building the capability and capacity of sectors servicing and representing older people, to effectively advocate and represent the interests of citizens globally.
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 Globally, age-friendly cities, communities, and practices have become synonymous with building communities that help enable older people to reach and sustain their functional ability. In January 2014, Grantmakers in Aging (GIA) collaborated with the IFA to help build and strengthen the capacity of five Community AGEnda Sites: Atlanta, Georgia; Miami, Florida; Phoenix, Arizona; Kansas City, Missouri; and Indiana.
The Manual has links connected to a range of resources in the categories of — Positive Economic Impact of Age-friendly Communities; Toolkits, Guidelines and Resource Manuals; Promoting your Age-friendly Project; and Tools to Evaluate the Age-friendly Process.
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The IFA at the United Nations in New York
 The IFA helps ensure that the voices of older people are always heard at the UN Headquarters in New York through IFA representatives, Ms. Helen Hamlin, Ms. Mary Mayer, Ms. Valerie Levy, and Dr. Cynthia Stuen. The IFA was recently represented at two important United Nations Sessions namely:
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The consultation and subsequent report has significant implications for the current debate at the UN on how to better protect and promote the human rights of older people.
The deep-rooted ageism and denial of rights across all aspects of life in older age described in the report clearly suggests that a comprehensive and systematic approach to protecting and promoting the rights of older people is required.
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Ms. Hamlin received her Master’s degree from Columbia University School of Social Work. She has been a social worker for over 70 years, specializing in gerontology for the past 45 years. She has held positions in a variety of agencies, including Director of Social Services in a multi-service community-based agency and a 900 bed nursing home.
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Ms. Hamlin has represented the International Federation on Ageing at the United Nations since 1992.
Ms. Hamlin, along with additional representatives Ms. Mary Mayer, Ms. Valerie Levy and Dr. Cynthia Stuen, ensures that the IFA’s voice is conveyed at the United Nations. A limited number of NGOS were heard, IFA being one of them, at the 53rd Session of the United Nations Commission on Social Development convened from 4 — 13 February 2015 at the United Nations headquarters. The overarching theme «Rethinking and Strengthening Social Development in the Contemporary World» focused on poverty, disability, ageing and youth.
Read Ms. Hamlin’s full biography and contribution to the IFA here. |
Dear Readers,If you wish to make comments or recommendations on how we might improve this publication or would like to get involved in one of the projects please email Greg Shaw ( gshaw@ifa-fiv.org) or Izabella Kaczmarek ( ikaczmarek@ifa-fiv.org). You can contact us by telephone at +1 416 342 1655.
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