E
UNITED
NATIONS
Distr.
Economic and Social
Council
GENERAL
ECE/AC.23/2002/2/Rev.6
11 September 2002
Original: ENGLISH
ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR EUROPE
UNECE Ministerial Conference on Ageing
Berlin (Germany), 11-13 September 2002
REGIONAL IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY FOR THE
MADRID INTERNATIONAL PLAN OF ACTION ON AGEING
2002
GE.02-70134
ECE/AC.23/2002/2/Rev.6
Page 1
COMMITMENTS
COMMITMENT 1
TO MAINSTREAM AGEING IN ALL POLICY FIELDS WITH THE AIM OF BRINGING
SOCIETIES AND ECONOMIES INTO HARMONY WITH DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE TO
ACHIEVE A SOCIETY FOR ALL AGES
1.
In line with the goals, objectives and commitments of the Madrid International Plan of
Action on Ageing 2002, the overarching aim of this Regional Implementation Strategy (RIS) for
the UNECE region is to provide a framework of commitments to support member states in their
endeavours to respond adequately to the challenges and opportunities of population ageing in
order to achieve a society for all ages.
2.
Our global commitment is to mainstream ageing concerns in all policy fields with the aim
of securing gender-sensitive and evidence-based co-ordinated and integrated policies to bring
societies and economies into harmony with demographic change. This applies equally to the
health, economic, labour market, social protection and education sectors.
3.
To be effective, policies in response to population ageing should have a holistic approach
and be pursued in a co-ordinated way over a wide range of policy areas. Account must be taken of
the multifaceted and intertwined challenges and opportunities arising from population ageing in
order to devise a framework from which effective policy responses can flow. The approach also
rests on the premise that the right policies in the various domains – if properly co-ordinated and
consistently applied – would be able to successfully meet the challenges arising from these
demographic changes and release the unused potenti