A/CONF.171/13 English Page 39 Objectives 6.17. The objectives are: (a) To enhance, through appropriate mechanisms, the self-reliance of elderly people, and to create conditions that promote quality of life and enable them to work and live independently in their own communities as long as possible or as desired; (b) To develop systems of health care as well as systems of economic and social security in old age, where appropriate, paying special attention to the needs of women; (c) To develop a social support system, both formal and informal, with a view to enhancing the ability of families to take care of elderly people within the family. Actions 6.18. All levels of government in medium- and long-term socio-economic planning should take into account the increasing numbers and proportions of elderly people in the population. Governments should develop social security systems that ensure greater intergenerational and intragenerational equity and solidarity and that provide support to elderly people through the encouragement of multigenerational families, and the provision of long-term support and services for growing numbers of frail older people. 6.19. Governments should seek to enhance the self-reliance of elderly people to facilitate their continued participation in society. In consultation with elderly people, Governments should ensure that the necessary conditions are developed to enable elderly people to lead self-determined, healthy and productive lives and to make full use of the skills and abilities they have acquired in their lives for the benefit of society. The valuable contribution that elderly people make to families and society, especially as volunteers and caregivers, should be given due recognition and encouragement. 6.20. Governments, in collaboration with non-governmental organizations and the private sector, should strengthen formal and informal support systems and safety nets for elderly people and eliminate all forms of violence and discrimination against elderly people in all countries, paying special attention to the needs of elderly women. D. Indigenous people Basis for action 6.21. Indigenous people have a distinct and important perspective on population and development relationships, frequently quite different from those of the populations with which they interrelate within national boundaries. In some regions of the world, indigenous people, after long periods of population loss, are experiencing steady and in some places rapid population growth resulting /...