"Growing old without a pension is like walking on a tightrope

without a safety net. If you fall, there's no one to catch you," said United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Escap) executive secretary Kim Hak-su.

The vast majority of older people in Asia live in poverty, which is exacerbated by old age, he said.

The three-day seminar "Ensur-ing Social Protection and Social Pensions in Old Age in the Context of Rapid Ageing in Asia" ends tomorrow at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok.

The event, organised by Escap and HelpAge International, with support from the Japan Foundation, draws policy-makers' attention to the pressing need for social protection mechanisms for the older poor. Comparisons of approaches and policy suggestions for pension delivery will be examined.

Participants include experts on the issues of social protection and social pensions and representatives of governments and civil-society organisations from more than 10 countries in the region.

They will review Asia's existing pension policies and practices, comparing current schemes like widows' pensions, a national food allowance, a charity allowance and basic pension provisions. Escap member states will take away concrete policy options for dealing with their ageing demographics and preventing large-scale poverty.

The rapid increase in the elderly means that national poverty-reduction targets in developing Asian countries and the international targets spelled out in the UN Millennium Development Goals will be unattainable unless old-age poverty is addressed effectively.