LGNI were delighted to join Age NI, The Commissioner for Older People NI and NI Commissioner for Children and Young People to bring together civil society organisations from across NI for a roundtable during GIW25.
The roundtable chaired by the Commissioners for older and younger people took place on the 30th April and last day of Global Intergenerational Week in Queens University Belfast. Civil society organisations from across NI attended to discuss intergenerational approaches to social issues and to contribute to the development of a new set of intergenerational principles for policy making.
The thought provoking discussions focused on a the following topics:
Poverty: Addressing poverty through a lifecycle approach means understanding the different causes of poverty at different ages. How should we design interventions to alleviate and prevent poverty with intergenerational impacts?
Social care: the ageing population means increasing demand for health and social care services, but families and communities contribute to care in intergenerational ways. What can be learned from grandparents providing childcare, sandwich carers, young carers, and intergenerational community efforts to tackle loneliness and isolation?
Education and work: Tackling educational underachievement and economic inactivity are key priorities for the NI Executive, but intergenerational practice is being overlooked. How can mentoring enhance young people’s experience of education, and how can workplaces be adapted to support an increasingly older workforce where everyone’s skills are valued?
Equality and rights: As the public debate on age discrimination is revived with the potential of new legislation on the cards, how can older and young people advocate together for better protection of their rights? How can children, young people and older people have more of a say in making our environments and communities more age-friendly?
Watch this space for more developments!
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