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UN Department of Economic and Social  Affairs  - 
UN Programme on Ageing

Within the UN Secretariat, the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) is responsible for fostering and assisting MIPAA implementation and follow-up. DESA’s Programme on Ageing organizes expert group meetings and promotes awareness of the bottom-up approach through guidelines in order to assist countries in MIPAA follow-up. DESA also receives assessments on the aging situation from regional commissions and makes recommendations to the UN Secretary General for inclusion in a yearly report. With less than four staff professionals, the UN Programme on Ageing is quite understaffed compared with other UN departments and considering the magnitude of population aging.

UN Expert Group Meeting | Documents | Links

UN Expert Group Meeting

Report: World: Report of the Expert Group Meeting “Rights of Older Persons” (May 2009)
(Report also available in Chinese and Spanish)

The Division for Social Policy and Development of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) organized an Expert Group Meeting on “Rights of Older Persons” on 5-7 May 2009, in Bonn, Germany. The purpose of this Expert Group Meeting was to provide the General Assembly with independent expert opinion on questions related to the rights of older persons, as well as inputs into and recommendations for the report of the Secretary-General. The meeting explored how fundamental human rights of older persons could be assured and deepened and how the Madrid Plan of Action on Ageing could be better implemented concerning the rights of older persons. In this context, an analysis of the rights of older persons was discussed as well as approaches and documents of rights enforced in the past, and the overall capacity to further implement policies and laws. One of the ideas explored was the possible adoption by the United Nations of a Human Rights Convention on Ageing. 

World: Report of Susanne Paul from the Expert Group Meeting on “Older Persons’ Rights” in Bonn, Germany (May 4-7, 2009)
(Report also available in Spanish, Russian, French, Arabic,  and Chinese)
Susanne Paul, President of Global Action on Aging, reports on the Expert Group Meeting on “Older Persons’ Rights” in Bonn, Germany. The UN’s Department for Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) invited Susanne and over a dozen other experts to participate in sessions exploring the state of older persons’ rights. The group shared good national practices to protect older people’s rights, tools that would build capacity in governments and organizations to assure human rights, as well as ideas about how to guarantee rights of older people through UN institutions. The experts debated whether a Human Rights Convention or a Special Rapporteur could insure older people’s rights. Susanne also served as a co-rapporteur. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon may draw on the ideas from this meeting in his opening address to the UN General Assembly in September. To see the picture gallery from Bonn, click here


Documents


Kazakhstan: Society Became Mature (August 25, 2008)                                                            (Article in Russian)
This year the delegation from the United Nations Ageing Program visited Kazakhstan in order to review the implementation of the strategies aimed at eliminating negative effects of aging on the country’s development. By 2025, 8% of the Kazakhstan population will be older than 65, which may cause labor force imbalance as well as other economic, political and social issues. The article includes highlights of the interview with Dr. Sidorenko, Coordinator of the UN Program on Ageing.

Report: Guide to the National Implementation of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Aging (May 2008)
This guide provides policy makers suggestions for the effective implementation of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Aging (MIPAA.) MIPAA’s scope is very broad and this guide focuses on practical points to address some critical issues that governments face in meeting MIPAA’s goals. The guide highlights two strategies, mainstreaming and integrating older persons’ issues into broader economic and social development plans and applying an intergenerational approach stressing equity and inclusiveness. 

Report: World: Regional Dimensions of the Ageing Situation (2008)
The Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat has published the Regional Dimensions of the Ageing Situation. This report highlights the priorities, as well as recent trends and policy developments, for older persons in the five UN regions of the world. The report will assist national governments, the international community and the public in assessing the situation of older persons five years after the Second World Assembly on Ageing in Madrid . Implementation of the Madrid Plan is, and will remain, an immediate responsibility of national governments. At the same time, one could argue that without well-coordinated international cooperation, implementation of international policy frameworks on ageing, including the Madrid Plan, will remain uneven and insufficient. The authors urge greater international cooperation, including technical assistance on ageing, to assure proper attention in any future implementation framework.

Report: Towards a “Society for All Ages”: Meeting the Challenge or Missing the Boat (2008)
Sergei Zelenev, Chief of the UN’s Social Integration Branch, explains the provenance, formulation and implementation of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Aging (MIPAA). MIPAA links three themes: older persons and development; advancing health and well-being into old age; and ensuring an enabling and supportive environment for older persons. However, the Madrid Plan is not a “one size fits all” approach towards the issues of global aging. Zelenev explains that the success of MIPAA depends on intergovernmental, national government and partners working together to set national level targets to improve the lives of old people. National policy making must involve old people in order to meet their human rights. Zelenev suggests that to improve older persons’ lives the UN should adopt a comprehensive international convention on the rights and dignity of older persons.

Report: First Review and Appraisal of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing: Preliminary Assessment (November 2007)
Review and appraisal is an essential part of the implementation process of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPPA). The Commission for Social Development reports on the regional activities related to MIPPA’s implementation, describes prevalent aging issues worldwide and provides conclusions and recommendations for further efforts to realize MIPPA’s goals.

Report: World: World Population Aging 2007 (August 2007)
(Report available in Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish)
This report prepared by the UN ‘s Population Division, “provides the demographic foundation for the follow-up activities of the Second World Assembly on Ageing.” It considers the progress of population aging for the world as a whole as well as rich and poor countries, regions and individual countries, declaring that “it is urgent that the Governments of developing countries begin taking steps to face the challenges and make the best of the opportunities that population ageing brings.“ (Click here for a summary of tables)

World Economic and Social Survey 2007 (June 19, 2007)
Authors of a UN report say that governments should raise the participatory rate of the women and older workers in the labor force in order to offset the potential challenges that might arise with an aging population. The World Economic and Social Survey also highlights initiatives undertaken since the adoption of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Aging by the Second World Assembly on Aging in 2002. The report also particularly emphasizes pensions, stating that even pensions as little as one dollar a day would lead to considerable reduction of old age poverty in the developing countries. This would guarantee the absence of extreme poverty in old age when the population over 60 is expected to increase from 670 in 2005 to two billion in 2050. 

Progress in the Implementation of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (February 7-9, 2007)
This paper for an AARP Briefing Series, explains the implementation process of MIPAA as well as its review and appraisal during the 2007 and 2008 Commission for Social Development. Acknowledging certain limitations to the participatory or “bottom-up” assessment, the authors underline the need for catalysts and facilitators – governments and civil society – to ensure its success. 

Guidelines for the Review and Appraisal for the MIPAA-Bottom-up Approach (December 2006)
The professional staff in the Ageing Programme of the UN Department on Economic and Social Affairs developed these guidelines for governments and focal points on aging in national ministries, to help them take a step-by-step approach to the bottom-up review of MIPAA. This participatory approach to implementation sees older persons and their organizations at the center of activity. NGOs and other stakeholders can also use the guide as a tool to involve older persons directly in the process. 

Thailand: Consultative Meeting on Implementation of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing at the National Level (November 28 – December 1, 2006) 
In December 2003, an Interregional Consultative Meeting took place in Austria to “identify key issues and measures necessary to promote the implementation of the Madrid Plan of Action on Ageing at the national level through mainstreaming of ageing into development agendas and policies.” In line with the meeting’s conclusion, the UN General Assembly in 2005 approved a technical assistance project to build the national capacity of Member States under the UN Development Account. The first meeting of the four-year project took place in Thailand and drew participants from government agencies and non-governmental organization. Participants planned future capacity building technical assistance activities and exchanged experience and ideas on ageing policy initiatives in their countries. 

Population Ageing 2006 (June 2006)
The United Nations Department of Social and Economic Affairs, Population Division, just published the wall chart, Population Ageing 2006, as a contribution to the 5 year follow up to the 2002 World Assembly on Ageing.  The
detailed wall chart provides updated statistics about ageing population for 228 countries or areas, regions and the world. It presents data about persons over 60 years of age by country in 2006 along with a forecast for 2050. It shows percentages of elderly men and women currently married, living alone and in the labor force; sex ratio of elderly aged over 60 and 80; ratio of population aged 15 to 64 years to the population aged over 65; the statutory retirement age and the life expectancy at age 60 for 2005-2010.  Significantly, the Division has disaggregated the data by age and sex, one of the major data collection goals in the 2002 Madrid International Plan on Action on Ageing.

Living Arrangements of Older Persons Around the World (October 2005)
The number of older adults 60 years or over has increased in both developed and developing countries. Worldwide, the number of older adults has tripled in the past 50 years, and will more than triple again in the coming 50 years. The Madrid Plan of Action on Ageing, 2002, adopted in 2002 at the Second World Assembly on Ageing, called for the study of living arrangements of older adults around the world. Its purpose was to measure 1) how sociobiological factors affect the living arrangements of older adults, and to understand 2) how different living arrangements in various settings and cultures affect the well-being of older persons and the whole families differently. This important United Nations report also points out that living arrangements of older adults have significant impacts on macroeconomics and the infrastructure of society (click here to read the the document). 

Interregional Consultation on the Review and Appraisal of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (September 26-28, 2005)
Experts, observers, and a small group of representatives from the five UN Regional Commissions attended this meeting to review MIPPA. The meeting had four main objectives: define the format and process of regional review of MIPPA, identify good practices for technical cooperation, formulate recommendations on how to best apply the findings of national data on a regional level, and identify cooperation opportunities between governments, inter-governmental organizations, NGOs, and academia. Among other things, participants agreed that MIPPA implementation thus far acks public awareness and widespread advocacy efforts. They also agreed that aging issues are not mainstreamed into government ministries and related agencies. 

The Framework for Monitoring, Review and Appraisal of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (July 29, 2005)
DESA has been actively involved in the bottom-up approach to review MIPAA implementation since the Commission on Social Development endorsed this process in 2003. In this paper, DESA attempts to shed some light onto this fairly new approach that “intends to help governmental officials and their national partners… to choose the most suitable methods and establish the most appropriate procedure for the monitoring, review and appraisal exercises.”

Interregional Consultative Meeting on National Implementation of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (December 9-11, 2003)
NGOs, observers, UN secretariat staff and participants from nine governments, met in December, 2003, to discuss MIPAA implementation and expand their knowledge in working groups. The meeting aimed at contributing to the implementation of MIPAA by identifying regional obstacles, enhancing interregional cooperation and assistance, and formulating guidelines to mainstream aging issues into national development agendas.  

Expert Group Meeting on Modalities for Review and Appraisal of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (November 10-12, 2003)
In 2003, the Commission on Social Development decided on a bottom-up approach to review and assess MIPAA. The bottom-up approach is an “open-ended, participatory process that seeks to incorporate and link local and national activities to UN regional intergovernmental bodies and up to global level of the review and appraisal.” A few months later, experts from all regions of the world, as well as representatives from governments and the UN, came together in Malta to define the priorities and content of the approach. Participants acknowledged that the bottom-up approach depends largely on the “degree of commitment of authorities.” 

Links

DESA- UN Program on Aging
This page provides information on DESA's MIPAA follow-up activities and links to presentations and major UN documents on the topic. 

 


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