Ageing
The rapid growth of the world's ageing population requires strategies to ensure that this issue is adequately addressed by the regular programmes of United Nations organizations and bodies.
Two international conferences on ageing
The first World Assembly on Aging (A/RES/36/30) in Vienna in 1982 adopted the Vienna International Plan of Action on Ageing.
The second World Assembly on Ageing was held in Madrid on the 20th anniversary of the Vienna Assembly. The resulting document, the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing 2002 calls for changes in attitudes towards and policies concerning the enormous implications of ageing. The Commission for Social Development (CSocD) reviews the implementation of the Plan of Action.
Important resolution and plan of action
In 1991 the General Assembly adopted the United Nations Principles for Older Person (A/RES/50/141). They address older persons:
- independence
- participation
- care
- self-fulfillment
- dignity
In 1995, at the World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen a Programme of Action was adopted based on the promotion and protection of all human rights in society and the participation of all people, including disadvantaged and vulnerable groups and persons.
Ageing in the UN calender
Since 1998, October 1st, the International Day of Older Persons is recognized every year (A/RES/45/106).
In 1999 the United Nations International Year of Older Persons (A/RES/50/141).
Since 2012 the World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) happens each year on June 15th.
More on UN and ageing
- An overview of the United Nations work in the field of ageing with full text reports and documents, data and statistics is posted at the website of Department of Economic and Social Affairs DESA), Social Policy and Development Division, Ageing.
- SDGs and Social Development Issues. Ageing (pdf) Illustration of which SDGs cover ageing and older persons.
- A portal to information on Global Issues. Ageing is found on the UN website.
- UN Pulse #ageing. The blog of UN Dag Hammarskjöld Library, New York.
Key UN documents
- UN Charter in Swedish | in English
- UN System Chart
- Yearbook of the United Nations
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Swedish | in English
- Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action
- Statue of the International Court of Justice
UN documents and publications in catalogues and databases
- United Nations Digital Library offers UN documents and open access publications, UN voting data and speeches, UN maps, Content in 6+ languages. Replaces the traditional online catalogue UNBISnet.
- UN iLibrary UN publications online covering different topics.
- ODS full-text UN documents published from 1993 onward and scanned documents published between 1946 and 1993 in the official languages of the UN.
- Daily list of documents (ODS). Documents published for the day, with full text links, can be found in the United Nations full text database ODS.
- UNBIS Thesaurus a multilingual database of the controlled vocabulary used to describe UN documents.
- Index to proceedings is an annual bibliographic guide to the proceedings and documentation of the major UN organs. The index includes:
- a list of all documents
- a comprehensive subject index
- an index to speeches
- a voting chart of resolutions
- United Nations Documents Index (United Nations Digital Library) References to all documents by subject area are published. A collection of indexes is held by the Dag Hammarskjöld and Law Library, Uppsala, and the Libraries at UN Headquarters in New York and Geneva.