International Day of Older Persons, 1 October 1998

 

Launching of the International Year of Olders Persons International Day of Older Persons, 1 October 1998

The International Year of Older Persons 1999 was launched on 1 October 1998, the International Day of Older Persons.

At the United Nations Headquarters in New York, the launching was celebrated with an all-day event, with the theme “Towards A Society for All Ages”.  The event was organized by the UN/NGO Committee on Ageing in collaboration with the UN Department of Public Information and the UN Programme on Ageing.  The speakers included United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and Dr. Gunhild O. Hagestad of the University of Oslo, Norway and Northwestern University.

The celebration of the International Day of Older Persons on 1 October 1998 was also planned for in many countries such as Albania, Belguim, Ireland, Japan, Norway, Panama and Slovenia.   International Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO’s) on Ageing also planned to celebrate, such as Geneva International Network On Ageing (GINA), HelpAge International (HAI), International Association of Gerontology (IAG), International Immigrants Foundation (IIF) and the Non-Governmental Organization Committee on Ageing, United Nations/Vienna.