The ESCAP Secretariat
provides assistance to governments of the region in developing comprehensive
national policies on ageing and a framework for national policy and programme
development on lifelong preparation for old age. In 1996, ESCAP prepared
and distributed the publication, Lifelong Preparation for Old Age in
Asia and the Pacific (ST/ESCAP/1684). It sheds light on one of the
four dimensions of IYOP as suggested by the Secretary-General.
In 1997, the Secretariat
organized the Regional Seminar on Government-NGO Cooperation for Older Persons
at which both governments and NGOs were well represented. A set of recommendations
on measures to promote cooperation between governments and NGOs on behalf
of older persons were formulated and distributed (ST/ESCAP/1805).
The Secretariat has
also initiated action to prepare and disseminate information materials
for IYOP. These include the publication, in December 1997, of a Source
Book on Ageing which has two volumes: Volume I titled Profiles of
National Coordinating Bodies on Ageing and NGOs for Older Persons (ST/ESCAP/1806)
and Volume II, International and
Regional Mandates on Ageing (ST/ESCAP/1807).
Information materials focusing on regional and national initiatives and
activities in support of IYOP will continue to be compiled and disseminated.
The Secretariat convened a Regional Workshop on Preparations for IYOP at Beijing (26-29
May 1998). Attended by government officials from 18 countries and
representatives of 20 NGOs, the Workshop collected information on national
and regional preparations for IYOP. Furthermore, the workshop prepared inputs
for the draft Regional Plan of Action on Ageing for Asia and the Pacific.
Subsequently, a Regional
Meeting on a Plan of Action on Ageing for Asia and the Pacific was convened
by the ESCAP Secretariat at Macau from 28 September to 1 October 1998. It was attended by over 45 representatives and observers from governments
as well as non-governmental and other organizations. The Meeting adopted
the Macau Declaration and Plan of Action on Ageing for Asia and the Pacific.
To promote the theme
of the IYOP, "A Society for All Ages", a regional Seminar was convened
by ESCAP at Bangkok from 1 to 4 December 1998. Studies on multi-generational
relationships and the interaction between population ageing and development,
two dimensions of the Year, were undertaken.
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