Elderly Care System Development Forum – A Case Study of Yichang City and International Experience Exchange
Asian Development Bank | 26 September, 2022
Description
Asia and the Pacific are aging rapidly. In 2022, population aged 65 and older is around 373 million (UNFPA, 2022), while it is projected that by 2050 it will increase to 954 million (UN, 2019). In many countries, aging is occurring faster than increases in per capita income of the population, resulting in major implications for the welfare of the elderly and significant social-economic challenges. The People's Republic of China (PRC) is one of them, which has the largest elderly population globally aging at fast pace. It is estimated that the proportion of people aged 60 and above is expected to increase from 18.7% in 2020 to 35.0% by 2050. Rapid urbanization and the previous one-child policy have weakened the traditional family support systems. Developing comprehensive elderly care system has been a prioritized step taken by PRC to address these challenges in past two decades.
Asian Development Bank (ADB) has been supporting PRC’s elderly care system development through structural and non-structural interventions. Particularly in Yichang City, ADB has provided one knowledge sharing technical assistance (KSTA) and two loan projects since 2014 to support the elderly care system strategic planning, elderly and geriatric care facilities construction and operationalization, human resource development, institutional strengthening and capacity building. Great amount of operational knowledge and lessons have been harvested from the long-term partnership, including innovative practices, such as Public-private partnership. Strong demonstration effect of the partnership is observed as Yichang was listed the first batch of National Focal Contact Cities for actively responding to aging population.
ADB, and Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) and Yichang City Government (YMG) of PRC, will jointly host an online international forum on elderly care system development to encourage dialogue, knowledge exchange from policy and specific program implementation, and discussion of future opportunities and challenges. The conference will consist of several keynote speeches, a case study of Yichang City, a south-south knowledge sharing workshop and thematic workshops attended by high profile sector speakers, sharing international practices.
Objectives
The objectives of this forum are as follows:
(i) To enhance knowledge exchange from ADB’s elderly care projects for possible replication of innovative practices, particularly a detailed case study of ADB and YMG’s long-term partnership in elderly-case system development.
(ii) To strengthen capacity of developing member countries to better plan, design, implement, and monitor programs for elderly care system and other aging strategic plans.
(iii) To trigger dialogues and develop future partnership on elderly-care and adaptation to aging demographics.
Target participants
Government officials, academics, industry practitioners, policymakers, and international organizations
How to register
All inquiries may be directed to Jie Bai, Urban Development Specialist, East Asia Department.
Costs
Free event.
Event organizers / partners
- Hosting entities: ADB, Asian Development Bank Institute, Yichang Municipal Government of People’s republic of China
- Partners providing technical support: ADB–PRC Regional Knowledge Sharing Initiative, Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Institute, Asia-Pacific Finance and Development Institute, Chinese University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen, Harvard Social Technology for Global Aging Research Initiative, and Social Technology Innovation Center for Aging of Jiangsu Industrial Technology Research Institute
