The Seminar

April 18-19, 2004, the conference room in the Batory Foundation in Warsaw
Along with experienced organizations addressing the needs of the aged in Great Britain (Help the Aged), Belgium (AGE - the European Older People`s Platform) and France (les petits freres des Pauvres) we organized a two days` seminar devoted to issues connected with the European Union:
- History and functioning of the EU,
- EU policy towards the aged,
- Age discrimination in respect to UE legal acts,
- Activities undertaken by the UE countries in order to increase seniors` participation in the public sphere,
- Voluntary work for the aged.

In the seminar almost 70 people took part. The seminar`s participants gained sufficient knowledge to make their attempts at influencing the local, national and European policy towards the aged more efficient.

The presentation of foreign experiences inspired seminar participants to launch new activities aiming at the integration of Polish senior organisations. The organisations expressed their willingness to establish a forum of senior organisations.

They wanted the forum to represent the needs of the elderly to central authorities and raise the living conditions of the elderly.
Finally an informal cooperative group was established composed of around 15 senior organisations from all over Poland. Members of the forum meet regularly. Currently they are working on a campaign against age discrimination, which will be launched in 2005.

[open Seminar`s Programme - Acrobat PDF file]