General Assembly

Distr. GENERAL  

8 December 1989

ORIGINAL:
ENGLISH

                                                        A/RES/44/67
                                                        78th plenary meeting
                                                        8 December 1989
 
              Implementation of the International Plan of
              Action on Aging and related activities
 
      The General Assembly,
 
      Recalling its resolution 43/93 of 8 December 1988,
 
      Having considered the report of the Secretary-General on the second
 review and appraisal of the implementation of the International Plan of Action
 on Aging conducted by the Commission for Social Development at its
 thirty-first session,
 
      Taking note with interest of the priorities identified and
 recommendations made in the second review and appraisal of the implementation
 of the Plan of Action,
 
      Noting with appreciation the renewed momentum of the United Nations
 programme on aging but deeply regretting the proposed cut in the resources
 under section 8, subprogramme 7 (Aging), of the proposed programme budget for
 the biennium 1990-1991,
 
      Aware of the need of the developing countries for technical assistance
 and expert advice in the field of aging,
 
      Reiterating the appeal made to the Secretary-General in its resolution
 43/93 to maintain and strengthen the existing programmes on aging and to
 strengthen the United Nations system-wide co-ordination of policies and
 programmes on aging, with the Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian
 Affairs of the Secretariat continuing in its role as focal point in the United
 Nations system for activities relating to aging,
 
      1.   Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the question of
 aging;
 
      2.   Endorses Economic and Social Council resolution 1989/50 of
 24 May 1989;
 
      3.   Also endorses the draft programme of United Nations activities
 relating to the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the International Plan of
 Action on Aging, in 1992, as contained in annex II to Economic and Social
 Council resolution 1989/50;
 
      4.   Notes with interest that aging is being considered as a priority
 theme of the international development strategy for the fourth United Nations
 development decade and the medium-term plan for the period 1992-1997;
 
      5.   Calls upon Member States, the specialized agencies and
 non-governmental organizations to assist the Centre for Social Development and
 Humanitarian Affairs of the Secretariat in elaborating for the consideration
 of the General Assembly at its forty-fifth session a detailed global programme
 of activities for 1992 on the basis of the draft programme endorsed by the
 Economic and Social Council, which would simultaneously serve as a guide for
 parallel national and regional programmes;
 
      6.   Also calls upon Member States that have special expertise or an
 interest in aging to consider giving direct staff or extrabudgetary support to
 the Centre in its preparatory activities for 1992;
 
      7.   Decides that the priorities identified and recommendations made in
 the second review and appraisal of the implementation of the Plan of Action
 should be included as an annex in future publications of the Plan of Action;
 
      8.   Requests the Secretary-General to consider the feasibility of
 preparing a system-wide medium-term plan on aging in order to ensure that all
 concerned organizations of the United Nations system address the question of
 aging in a coherent and effective manner, bearing in mind that the Centre is
 the duly mandated focal point in all matters related to aging;
 
      9.   Invites the Statistical Office of the Secretariat to increase the
 availability and use of national statistics on aging for the formulation and
 implementation of national policies and programmes and to consider the
 possibility of dedicating the 1992 Demographic Yearbook to the question of
 aging;
 
      10.  Invites the major international non-governmental organizations and
 donor countries to join the United Nations system in establishing a technical
 co-operation network that would design and support the implementation of a
 series of straightforward self-help projects by the elderly in order to bridge
 the gap between major funding entities and local self-help initiatives, as
 well as the gap between globally espoused standards and the real living
 conditions of the elderly;
 
      11.  Requests the Commission on the Status of Women to pay particular
 attention to the specific problems faced by elderly women and to the
 discrimination suffered by these women because of their gender and age;
 
      12.  Urges all the relevant agencies of the United Nations system dealing
 with refugees to pay special attention to the plight of all elderly refugees;
 
      13.  Urges the Department of Public Information of the Secretariat to
 co-operate with the Centre in the preparation of a report on the status and
 highlights of the global aging of populations for distribution to the media
 and the general public in 1992;
 
      14.  Calls upon the United Nations Population Fund to consider seconding
 a demographer to the Centre to assist in producing demographic profiles of the
 global, regional and selected national aging populations;
 
      15.  Calls upon the United Nations Postal Administration to produce in
 1992 commemorative United Nations stamps to mark the tenth anniversary of the
 adoption of the Plan of Action;
 
      16.  Recommends that in view of the rapid expansion of activities and
 infrastructure for aging, the participants in the United Nations programme on
 aging give careful attention to its mandate with a view to avoiding
 duplication of the activities of other programmes and continuing in the 1990s
 the unified approach to implementing the Plan of Action that has been a
 distinguishing mark of the programme to date;
 
      17.  Takes note with appreciation of the progress report submitted by the
 Secretary-General on the training programmes and activities of the
 International Institute on Aging in Malta, welcomes the unique contribution of
 the Institute to the implementation of the Plan of Action and requests the
 Secretary-General, in reporting on the question of aging to the General
 Assembly at its forty-fifth session, to inform the Assembly of the activities,
 plans and programmes of the Institute;
 
      18.  Notes with appreciation the establishment, with the assistance of
 the United Nations Office at Vienna, of an African Society of Gerontology at
 Dakar;
 
      19.  Notes with satisfaction the offer of the Governments of Yugoslavia
 and Argentina to establish institutes on aging at Belgrade and Buenos Aires,
 respectively;
 
      20.  Also notes with satisfaction the convening of the meeting of eminent
 persons to develop an international fund-raising strategy for policies and
 programmes on population aging, at United Nations Headquarters on 18 and
 19 September 1989, takes note of the adoption at that meeting of a declaration
 on the desirability and urgency of establishing an independent international
 foundation on aging under the patronage of the United Nations that would
 encourage the public and private sectors as well as non-governmental
 organizations to support the work of the United Nations system in the field of
 aging, and in this regard invites Member States, non-governmental
 organizations and the private sector to support this initiative;
 
      21.  Further notes with satisfaction the success achieved at the
 XIVth International Congress of Gerontology, held at Acapulco, Mexico, from 18
 to 23 June 1989;
 
      22.  Strongly appeals to Governments and intergovernmental and
 non-governmental organizations to contribute generously to the United Nations
 Trust Fund for Aging, bearing in mind that the Fund is particularly well
 placed to act as a catalyst for resource mobilization;
 
      23.  Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at
 its forty-fifth session on the implementation of the present resolution;
 
      24.  Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its forty-fifth
 session the item entitled "Question of aging".