UNECE, a review of Madrid's International Plan of Action on Ageing
UNECE’s Working Group on Ageing held its third annual meeting on November 22nd and 23rd to discuss issues surrounding ageing in the region. Delegates gave their support to the continued work of UNECE in capacity building, indicator development, production of policy briefs, and analysis of intergenerational relationships via a growing series of surveys in the Generations and Gender Programme.
At present the share of the world’s population aged 65 or more is only 7.6%, but as people around the world stave off illness to live longer, United Nations projections suggest this proportion could rise to 16.2% by 2050. The phenomenon of demographic ageing is particularly pronounced in the UNECE region where already people aged 65+ make up 14.1% of the population. In many of the countries of Western and Northern Europe and North America around 25% of all people are aged 65 or above, whilst in the countries of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia the figures are lower but climbing rapidly, in contexts of limited political and economic capacity to deal with the changes. In all countries of the region, population ageing presents new challenges; not only economic but social, cultural and political. Recognising these diverse and complex challenges, as well as the potential for benefits if harnessed appropriately is important.
The Working Group discussed two new issues in its series
of ‘Policy Briefs on Ageing’. One of these, ‘Tapping the
Potential of Volunteering’, calls for greater recognition of and
support for the role played by volunteers, especially those who
volunteer formally or informally for the support of older
people. It also draws attention to the positive benefits of
volunteering by older people: offering opportunities for their
continued integration in society as they age, and the chance for
them to share with others the knowledge and skills they have gained
over a lifetime of experience. The group agreed two new
topics for future policy briefs: ‘regional co-operation on ageing
policies’ and ‘images of older persons’.
The Working Group on Ageing also approved publication of a report
detailing the outcomes of the first in an ongoing series of
projects entitled ‘Road Maps for Mainstreaming Ageing’. These
collaborative endeavours with national governments aim to devise
concrete steps for ensuring that matters relating to ageing and
older persons are considered in all policy areas, a concept known
as ‘mainstreaming ageing’. The project has been completed in
Armenia, and is now underway in the Republic of Moldova. The
Working Group’s plan for the coming two years includes evaluating
the impact of this project in Armenia one year after its adoption,
as well as expanding the project to other countries.
In addition, the Working Group agreed to organise a
Regional Ministerial Conference on Ageing, to be held in Vienna in
September 2012, on the tenth anniversary of the Madrid
International Plan of Action on Ageing and the adoption of its
regional implementation strategy in Berlin. The conference
will allow ministers to review progress and decide on future
directions for making and implementing policies on ageing.
Click here
for detailed information, including documents and
presentations from the meeting.
Publication date
30 November 2010
Source
UNECE (
(United Nations Economic Commission for Europe)
Contact information
Ms Vitalija Gaucaite Wittich
Chief, Population Activities Unit
Phone: +41 (0) 22 917 1462
E-mail: ageing@unece.org
Website: http://www.unece.org/pau/