A/RES/45/106
                                           68th plenary meeting
                                           14 December 1990

            Implementation of the International Plan of Action          on
                     Aging and related activities

      The General Assembly,

      Recalling its resolutions 44/67 and 44/76 of 8 December 1989, and
 reaffirming all of their relevant provisions, particularly those which
 endorsed the priorities set and the recommendations made by the Economic and
 Social Council in its resolution 1989/50 of 24 May 1989,

      Noting that the Economic and Social Council recommended in its resolution
 1989/50 the convening of an ad hoc working group of the Commission for Social
 Development at the Commission's thirty-second session to monitor preparatory
 activities for the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the International Plan
 of Action on Aging,

      Noting with concern that, although in its resolution 43/93 of
 8 December 1988 it recommended that aging should be considered a priority
 theme in the medium-term plan for the period 1992-1997, the resources assigned
 to subprogramme 7 (Aging) of section 8 (Activities on global social
 development issues) in the programme budget for the biennium 1990-1991 for the
 Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs of the Secretariat are
 not sufficient to implement the programme adequately and to give it the
 priority recommended,

      Also noting with concern that the contributions to the United Nations
 Trust Fund for Aging have steadily declined since 1982, thereby reducing its
 resource base, and that unless this trend is reversed and the Fund
 strengthened, many priority requests will not be met and the implementation of
 the Plan of Action will be weakened where it is most needed, in developing
 countries,

      Recognizing that the elderly are an asset to society and can contribute
 significantly to the development process,

      Mindful of the need for innovative and effective international
 co-operation in the field of aging if countries are to achieve self-reliance
 in responding to the aging of their populations,

      Recognizing also the complexity and rapidity of the aging of the world's
 population and the need to have a common basis and frame of reference for the
 protection and promotion of the rights of the elderly, including the
 contribution that the elderly can and should make to society,

      Recalling the establishment at Dakar in 1989 of the African Society of
 Gerontology,

      Having considered the report of the Secretary-General on the question of
 aging,

      1.   Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the question of
 aging;

      2.   Endorses the action programme on aging for 1992 and beyond as
 outlined in the report of the Secretary-General;

      3.   Urges Member States, the organs, organizations and bodies of the
 United Nations system and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations
 concerned to participate in the action programme on aging for 1992 and beyond,
 especially in selecting targets in the field of aging, in organizing
 community-wide activities and in launching an information and fund-raising
 campaign to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the
 International Plan of Action on Aging at the local, national, regional and
 global levels;

      4.   Endorses the recommendation of the Economic and Social Council in
 its resolution 1989/50 that an ad hoc working group of the Commission for
 Social Development be convened at the Commission's thirty-second session, in
 1991, to monitor the activities for the tenth anniversary, especially the
 launching of a global information campaign, and the selection of targets that
 might form the basis of the third review and appraisal of the Plan of Action
 to be made by the Commission at its thirty-third session, in 1993;

      5.   Invites Member States, the United Nations and non-governmental
 organizations to consider innovative and effective ways of co-operating on the
 selection of targets in the field of aging during 1991 and 1992;

      6.   Recommends that the Commission for Social Development give
 consideration to the desirability of convening, subject to the availability of
 funds, regional and sectoral meetings on the selection of targets in the field
 of aging during 1991 and 1992 and global consultations in 1993 and 1997, to
 coincide with the third and fourth quadrennial reviews and appraisals of the
 implementation of the Plan of Action;

      7.   Notes with appreciation the work of the recent ad hoc inter-agency
 meetings on aging, and recommends that inter-agency meetings on aging be
 convened biennially;

      8.   Welcomes with appreciation the rapid progress made by the
 International Institute on Aging, in Malta, in establishing, in close
 collaboration and co-operation with the United Nations system, as well as with
 governmental and non-governmental institutions and organizations, programmes
 that promote in a practical manner the implementation of the Plan of Action,
 particularly through curriculum development, training courses, a global survey
 on training and the establishment of an information network, and requests the
 Secretary-General, in reporting on the question of aging to the General
 Assembly at its forty-sixth session, to inform the Assembly of the activities
 of the Institute;

      9.   Takes note with satisfaction of the plans for the establishment of
 training institutes on aging in Argentina and Yugoslavia and in Central
 America and the Caribbean;

      10.  Requests the Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs
 of the Secretariat to provide, within existing resources, technical assistance
 to the African Society of Gerontology;

      11.  Welcomes global fund-raising initiatives for activities in the field
 of aging, particularly the proposed establishment in 1991 of an independent
 foundation on aging under the patronage of the United Nations, to be called
 the Banyan Foundation, the main goal of which will be to empower the elderly
 in all world regions to maintain maximum independence and the ability to
 contribute to society in the context of the Plan of Action, thus serving as a
 much-needed international fund-raising vehicle for programmes for the aging
 world wide;

      12.  Requests the Commission on the Status of Women to consider under the
 priority theme "development" the positive contributions and specific roles of
 elderly women in the development of their societies;

      13.  Notes with appreciation the support given by the United Nations
 Population Fund to the Aging Unit of the Centre for Social Development and
 Humanitarian Affairs, and urges the Fund to maintain this commitment;

      14.  Notes with satisfaction the close collaboration of the Centre for
 Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs, as the United Nations focal point
 on aging, with intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations active in
 the field of aging, and encourages the Centre to continue to strengthen this
 collaboration;

      15.  Designates 1 October as International Day for the Elderly;

      16.  Urges Governments and non-governmental organizations to contribute
 to the Trust Fund for Aging;

      17.  Also urges Governments and non-governmental organizations to
 contribute human and financial resources through the Centre for Social
 Development and Humanitarian Affairs for the co-ordination and implementation
 of the action programme on aging for 1992 and beyond;

      18.  Urges the Secretary-General to consider increasing the human and
 financial resources of the Aging Unit of the Centre for Social Development and
 Humanitarian Affairs in order to enable it to fulfil its mandate as the United
 Nations focal point on aging;

      19.  Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at
 its forty-sixth session on the implementation of the present resolution;

      20.  Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its forty-sixth
 session the item entitled "Question of aging".