The Pension and Unemployment Fund (AFP) Avenir, in its task of accompanying Colombians at every stage of their lives, especially older adults, has worked hard in recent years to understand and meet the needs of this population that is of great importance to society, with the aim of offering this population group a better quality of life in their old age.
In 2020, the Cauca Valley reported a figure of 716,819 over the age of 60, people who, for the most part, no longer play an active and productive role in society due to compulsory retirement due to their age. With this in mind and in order to change this paradigm and strengthen its interest in this population group, Avenir will launch the ‘Observatory of the Elderly’ in alliance with the University of the Rosary, which is estimated to be operating in the last quarter of 2021. in this way it becomes the first Pension Fund to create an observatory focused on promoting employability and entrepreneurship in people over 50 years of age.
This observatory will be leveraged into three pillars: research, training and dissemination. In this place, which will be accompanied by expert professors from the Center for Entrepreneurship of the University of Rosario-UR Emprèn, will offer a virtual training program in entrepreneurship with national coverage, strengthening the skills and abilities of those enrolled, so that their life experiences serve for the creation of innovative businesses.
In many cases society only values the active person who is able to produce and generate income, but with this new observatory this thought will take a turn, as retirees will have the opportunity to continue exploring and contributing to the world. with their ideas and thoughts. The Observatory’s research contribution will be provided by the Faculty of Economics of the University of the Rosary, UR Emprèn and the Avenir Fund.
What this fund seeks is to provide its affiliates with knowledge in employability and entrepreneurship so that they can develop different business ideas.
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Needs of the older adult
In order to know the needs of the elderly in order to find better solutions for their well-being, the Avenir Fund, in alliance with the academy, conducted a study in 2019 where they found that 48% of pensioners respondents longed to learn and not feel unproductive.
In 2020, in alliance with the Raddar firm, they advanced a survey to find out the welfare situation of the elderly in Colombia. There they showed that the pension largely helps the quality of life of these people, but for those who do not have this benefit the situation becomes more complex, being the economic factor the main aspect to improve, one of the most challenging large of this pension fund, as this generation wants to continue its productive stage and generate more value in their families, in their territories and in the country.
“Our commitment as a Pension Fund is to provide comprehensive support to those who, after many years of work, reach their retirement stage, so that they can enjoy this moment to the fullest. For this reason, at Porvenir we have the responsibility to monitor the general situation of older adults in the country to understand their needs and offer initiatives that improve their quality of life, “said Bernardo Sánchez, marketing manager of Porvenir.
Thanks to the ‘Enjoying Your Future’ program, 51 pensioners graduated and a total of 11 business ideas were generated, of which the fund supported the three best for its development.
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Initiatives to encourage entrepreneurship in older adults
In 2019, the AFP in alliance with the University of the Rosary, designed the entrepreneurship program ‘Enjoying your future’, an initiative that seeks to provide academic and practical tools for this population to materialize a business idea, based on the their needs to generate income at the end of their working stage. Thanks to this, 51 pensioners graduated and a total of 11 business ideas were generated, of which the fund supported the top three for their development.
Another of the benefits offered by the Avenir Fund to its users is the ‘Retirement Community’, an initiative that promotes the well-being of the elderly, seeking to keep these people active. There, the pensioners, month by month participate in events developed by Avenir, which have a constant participation that allows the strengthening of this community. There are already more than 5,000 retirees who have participated over the years.
Among the fundamental axes carried out by this company within its strategy of accompanying pensioners are: training, where they offer workshops to undertake digitally and support in the early stages of the entrepreneurship process; entertainment, with learning workshops, concerts, dance classes, cooking class and yoga; special celebrations, accompanied by celebratory activities, the month of retirement and the end of the year; campaign act pension service, information and health. With all these elements, this fund offers alternatives for the well-being of its entire community.
Every year, during the month of August, the AFP celebrates the month of the pensioner and the elderly, a tribute to this population in order to remind them that they are still an active part of society, so in this opportunity they carried out activities of well-being, fun and entrepreneurship, thus recognizing the role of these people who, with their experience and legacy, build country.
To learn more about this content strategy for older adults, where there is a digital space with cooking and entrepreneurship courses, health information and a full range of specialized content for this community go to https: // www. porvenir.com.co/web/disfrutando/comunidad-del-pensionado.
In addition, the Porvenir website www.porvenir.com.co is also available, where older adults can find financial education content and a section for downloading certificates.
Every year, during the month of August, AFP celebrates the month of the pensioner and the elderly, a tribute to this population in order to remind them that they are still an active part of society.
Special for El País