A study conducted by the Latin American and Caribbean Demographic Centre (CELADE) - Population Division of ECLAC in 2010 and 2011 identified 16 criteria for institutionalizing the issue of ageing, which served as parameters for analysis. These were examined by experts and assessed according to their level of importance (Huenchuan, 2011).
The hierarchy established by these experts sees political commitment, representative political structure, existence of a plan and availability of resources as must-haves for the whole process and drivers for the rest of the elements (see diagram VI.3).
Diagram VI.3
WEB OF INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF ISSUES RELATED TO OLDER PERSONS
Pressure of political
constituencies political structureRepresentative
Participation of interested parties
Political
commitment Policy/plan
Resources Inter-agency coordination
Procedures Appropriate staff Methodology Development of programmes and projects
Research Theory building
Source: Sandra Huenchuan, “Desafíos de la institucionalidad pública y el abordaje del envejecimiento”, presentation at the International meeting to monitor implementation of the Brasilia Declaration and promotion of the rights of older persons, 9-10 November 2011.
Setting up a public institution on the basis of a legal requirement provides stability, a clear mandate and a medium- and long-term development perspective. It should come with a budget allocation that is sufficient for starting up and meeting its objectives. At the same time, a policy or plan is essential for coordinating the institution’s operations. This tool must be designed as an operational response for enforcing the guarantees set out in the law establishing the institution.
Inter-agency coordination, stakeholder participation and procedures are next in line of importance. The first is seen as a tool which facilitates public action by providing common criteria and furthering the mutual reinforcement of institutions and the achievement of better results to the direct benefit of the target population. Participation is equally important. It is a right whose exercise requires creating mechanisms and formulas to make it viable. Clear and relevant procedures are also important, in particular the rules for operating programmes and the terms of access to services, benefits and assistance. While procedures must be transparent, if they are overregulated they can become too complicated and, sometimes, not leave enough to the discretion of the people who perform the public service.
Among the experts surveyed there was no consensus on appropriate staff, programme and project development or methodology. Some of them consider that institutions need trained public servants with experience in the area being dealt with in order to maintain and further learning to improve practices. Others think that, although it is vital to have a well- qualified core team with different levels of specialization, it is more important to have a continual qualification and training programme. They value innovation and public service vocation more than experience gained within the State apparatus. And because programme and project development is related to intervention per se (and methodology), it is regarded as a step that comes later in the process of institutionalization –at the consolidation stage.
Lastly, a number of experts consider that research —which is linked to mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation, information systems and records— is important. However, others think that it is a subsequent step in the institutionalization of an issue. Some believe that all of these elements must be part of the preliminary stages of the process of institutionalization, while others think that they should be part of the final steps, in other words, when the institution has already established itself within the governmental apparatus. Only some experts believe that practice-based theory-building is meaningful and that it should contribute to the process of institutionalization and help bring about the implementation of the rights approach in issues on older persons.
Box VI.2
MAINSTREAMING AGEING
The issue of mainstreaming or integrating ageing is a recent development compared with other social issues such as gender. It is therefore defined in only a few sources, such as the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), Age Platform Europe and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
These sources tend to define mainstreaming of ageing as the systematic inclusion of ageing into all areas of social, political, economic and cultural sectors (ECE, 2008 and 2011). This is achieved by making the issue an integral part of national development strategies and plans (Sidorenko, 2003b; AGE, 2007). Mainstreaming the issue of ageing is also carried out using policy instruments (ECE, 2008 and 2011) such as laws, standards and regulations, and programmes.
Robert Venne (no date) defines six techniques for mainstreaming ageing: • data collection;
• awareness raising, advocacy and education; • performance indicators;
• reflection of ageing in the social budget;
• evaluation of current laws and mainstreaming of concerns into new legislation and policies, and
• national coordination and international cooperation.
Although it is a recent concept, mainstreaming ageing is appearing on action programmes in a number of countries and international organizations, particularly in the developed world.
Source: Latin American and Caribbean Demographics Centre (CELADE) – Population Division of ECLAC, on the basis of AGE, “Towards a European Society for All Ages: Age Statement for the European Year of Equal Opportunities for all 2007”, 2007; Alexandre Sidorenko, “Mainstreaming ageing”, Mainstreaming Ageing: Forging Links between the
Madrid Plan of Action on Ageing and the Millennium Development Goals. Proceedings,
New York, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2003; Robert Venne, “Mainstreaming the concerns of older persons into the social development agenda”, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs [online] http://www.un.org/ageing/ documents/positionpaper.pdf; Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) “Implementation of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing in the UNECE region: Review of the first five years”, A Society for All Ages: Challenges and Opportunities, New York, 2008 and “Annex IV: Strategy on ageing”, Road Map for Mainstreaming Ageing in Armenia (ECE/ WG.1/12), New York, 2011. United Nations Publication, Sales No. 11.II.E.2.