The American Association of Retired People is the largest organization in the United States with 35 million members. The awards, named in honor of the late Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus, who founded AARP, are presented biennially. According to the organization, they "recognize those individuals whose work and achievements reflect AARP’s vision of bringing lifetimes of experience and leadership to serve all generations."
Inspired and inspiring
"It is an honor for me to receive this award, but the greatest honor for me lies in the fact that I get to receive it together with Dr. Dorothy Height," Dr. Brundtland told News of Norway.
"Hearing about all she has done and all the lives she has touched is a great inspiration for me."
The fact that Dr. Brundtland herself has inspired a lot of people was not left untouched by the AARP in its ten-minute documentary presenting the Norwegian during the formal dinner held in her and Dr. Height's honor.
Dignitaries like UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and former Vice President Al Gore sent their greetings and admiration to Dr. Brundtland in the film, which she humbly described as "unlike any presentation I have ever seen of myself before". The most touching moment of the film, however, came from former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright:
"I salute her for all she has done to inspire women and girls," she said, before turning and looking into the camera.
"I love you, Gro, and I loved working with you."
Celebration and concern
Dr. Brundtland became Norway's first woman Prime Minister in 1981, and she led the Government through several periods until she stepped down in 1996. In 1998, she was elected head of the World Health Organization (WHO), a position she held until last year. Today, she is a Health Policy Forum fellow at the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy at Harvard University. She is also part of a high-level panel established by the UN aimed at proposing collective action to meet new global challenges.
In her acceptance speech, Dr. Brundtland focused on the challenges the world faces as its population is aging at a rapid pace.
"There is cause for both celebration and concern," she said.
"We can celebrate because our life expectancy has increased by 30 years during the last century. But we face challenges in finding a way to deal with this aging population. Here in the West, the population has become more affluent at the same time as life expetancy grew at a steady pace. In the developing countries, life expectancy is growing much more rapidly and it is far outpacing the economic development of these countries. We need to face this challenge."
"Our goal," she concluded, "must be that everybody can enjoy life at an advanced age."