Jean Lambert, London’s Green MEP, will address the AGE UK event at the UK European Parliament office on Friday 1 February to explore why the 2009 elections will be important for the well-being of older people.
Many organizations representing older people are intending to attend the event including Age Concern England, The Greater London Forum for Older People, Help the Aged, the National Pensioner’s Convention, the Civil Service Pensioner’s Alliance, Age Concern Northern Ireland, British Society of Gerontology, National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE), Third Age Employment Network, Policy Research Institute on Ageing and Ethnicity (PRIAE), BEGOP, Veterans in Europe and UNITE .
Jean Lambert was the keynote speaker at a previous AGE UK event in October 2006. This year she will highlight key pieces of European legislation affecting older people, particularly those looking at discrimination and access to health services. The European Commission is currently assessing a new proposed directive to combat discrimination, including age discrimination, in access to goods and services which should be debated and voted on by MEPs later this year.
Jean Lambert, who is a co-president of the Intergroup on Ageing in the European Parliament, said:
"I am honoured to be taking part in this event which has gathered so many organizations representing older people. It will be a real challenge to achieve further progress on legislation, and all the groups here today have an important role to play.
"We need to turn around the prevailing attitude in our culture to ensure that older citizens are treated with the respect they deserve. I hope that new legislation and steps towards active inclusion will help to do this."
Jean Lambert’s talk, "Older people and their organisations – why the June 2009 European Parliament election matters", will take place at 1.45pm and will be followed by a Question and Answer session.