Because of the long-term decline in fertility and an improvement in mortality, the population of Asian and Pacific region continues to age. In the region as a whole, currently 10 per cent of the population or nearly 0.4 million are aged 60 years or over. Rapid aging presents countries in the region with a variety of challenges in providing for the needs for an increasing proportion of older persons in their population.

In response to the growing regional interest in ageing, ESCAP held the “Regional Review Seminar on the Implementation of the Shanghai Implementation Strategy for the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA) and the Macao Plan of Action in Ageing in Asia and the Pacific” in October 2004, in Macao, China. Participating countries were concerned with various aspects of ageing, from social security to health care, and from living arrangements and employment to education, inclusion and empowerment of old persons. The Seminar succeeded in broadening policy and programme relevant information sources to review MIPAA and consequently, asked ESCAP to organize a follow-up High-level Meeting (HLM) a year before the anticipated five-year global review of MIPAA.

In 2006, two years after ESCAP’s Seminar, the Commission for Social Development of the United Nations decided to conduct the first five-year review of MIPAA in February 2008. To better align the review process with the activities and efforts of members and associate members of ESCAP, it was decided subsequently that the above-mentioned High-level Meeting (HLM) on the Regional Review of the Implementation of Shanghai Implementation Strategy for the Madrid and Macao Plans of Action on Ageing be organized in Macao in October 2007.

To that end, ESCAP developed a road map and carried out two preparatory expert group meetings; one on ageing health and long-term care needs in Jakarta in August 2005 and another on setting the agenda of the HLM in Shanghai in June 2006. Each of these meetings was underpinned by the latest research related to the two out of three priority directions of MIPAA – i.e., older persons and development, and health and well-being into old age.

Building upon the outcomes of two previous meetings, ESCAP will organize the third expert group meeting on aging, focusing primarily on the topics addressed under the third pillar of MIPAA, i.e. enabling and supportive environments. The central objective of this meeting is to provide a forum for experts to review and appraise the progress made in implementing proposed actions to ensure enabling and supportive environments for older persons. More specifically, the meeting will discuss, from a regional perspective, the critical issues and recent policy developments related to social support for older persons, social and health security, housing and enabling environments for older persons, care support for caregivers, and integration of ageing issues in development agenda. The outcome of this expert group meeting will serve as input for the High-level Meeting (HLM) on the Regional Review of the Implementation of Shanghai Implementation Strategy for the Madrid and Macao Plans of Action on Ageing which is scheduled to be held in Macau in October 2007.

Date : 27 to 29 March 2007
Venue: United Nations Conference Centre, Bangkok.
Provisional agenda:

1. Opening of the meeting
2. MIPAA and the first five year cycle: overview and objectives of the meeting
3. Changing environments and older persons in the context of Asia and the Pacific
4. Social support for older persons: the role family, community and state
5. Social and health security
6. Housing and enabling environments for older persons
7. Care and support for caregivers
8. Integration of ageing issues in development agenda
9. Agenda of the High-level Meeting on Regional Review of the Implementation of the Shanghai Implementation Strategy for the Madrid and Macao Plans of Action on Ageing
10. Closing

Introductory statements and presentations will be made on the substantive agenda items, either by the participating experts or by the secretariat. Each participant is expected to make a presentation on a topic(s) related to their work focus or area. Electronic media will be used extensively. Each presentation will be followed by a short discussion to collect immediate reactions and recommendations for consideration. At the end of the meeting, a set of recommendations will be reviewed and adopted.

Following documents will be made available at the EGM:

1. MIPAA and the Shanghai Implementation Strategy
2. Provisional agenda
3. Tentative programme
4. Background papers related to the items in the agenda:
   1. Report of the “EGM on setting the Agenda for the High-level Meeting of the Regional Review of the Implementation of the Shanghai Implementation Strategy for the Madrid and Macao Plans of Action on Ageing”, 30 June – 1 July 2006, Shanghai, China.
   2. 2005 ESCAP survey of the ageing situation in the region.
   3. UN Guidelines for the Review and Appraisal of MIPAA.
   4. Resource mobilization for population ageing efforts and activities.
5. Participants’ papers.

1. Report of the meeting
2. Recommendations for action.

Eminent ageing experts from academia or the Government sector will be invited. Representatives from the UN system, other international organizations, and civil society may be invited as well. It is expected that about 8 to 10 experts will attend the meeting.

English will be the working language of the meeting.

Mr. Osama Rajkhan
Social Affairs Officer
Population and Social Integration Section
Emerging Social Issues Division, UNESCAP
E-mail: rajkhan.unescap@un.org

1. Provisional Agenda
2. Annotated Agenda
3. The Elderly Policy Development of Thailand
   Mr Opas Pimolvitayakit, Director, Measure and Mechanism Development Group and Ms Siriwan Aruntippaitune, Senior Social Workers, Bureau of Empowerment for Older Persons, Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, Bangkok
4. A New Perspective on Ageing: Social Quality and its Potential Role for Public Policy Making in Asia and the Pacific
   Mr Tetsuo Ogawa, Faculty of Law and Economics, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan
5. Population Ageing: A challenge to the Social Welfare Organizations in Macao
   Mr Steve Leuang, Technical Consultant, Social Service Bureau, Government of Macao Special Administrative Region, Macao, China
6. Care and support for care givers In Indonesia
   Ms Eva A.J. Sabdono, Executive Director, Yayasan Emong Lansia, HelpAge Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia
7. Ageing in the Asia Pacific: Trends and Priorities with reference to the Chinese Communities
   Mr Alfred CHAN Cheung Ming, Director, Asia Pacific Institute of Ageing Studies, Lingnan University, Hong Kong, China; Mr David Phillips, Chair for the Management Board of Asia Pacific Institute of Ageing Studies, Lingnan University, Hong Kong, China; and Mr Sheung-Tak CHENG, Associate Professor, Department of Applied Social Studies, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
8. Demand and training support for caregivers in Asia-Pacific Region: Policy Trend in Hong Kong
   Mr Alfred CHAN Cheung Ming, Director, Asia Pacific Institute of Ageing Studies, Lingnan University, Hong Kong, China, and Vice-chair, Elderly Commission, Hong Kong Government of Special Administrative Region, China; Mr Lam Fat LO, Project Manager, Asia Pacific Institute of Ageing Studies, Lingnan University, Hong Kong, China; and Mr Sheung-Tak CHENG, Associate Professor, Department of Applied Social Studies, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
9. Social support for older persons: the role of family, community and state in selected Asian countries
   Mr Ik Ki Kim, Department of Sociology, Seoul, Republic of Korea
10. Changing Environment and the Older Persons of Macao
    Mr Steve Leuang, Technical Consultant, Social Service Bureau, Government of Macao Special Administrative Region, Macao, China
11. Income Security in Old Age and the MIPAA review for Asia/Pacific
    Mr Eduardo Klien, Regional Representative, HelpAge International Asia/Pacific, Chiang Mai, Thailand
12. Changing Environments and Older Persons in Asia
    Mr Du Peng, Institute of Population Research Renmin University of China, Beijing, Republic of China
13. Ensuring and Enabling and supportive Environments for Older Persons: Healthcare and care support for caregivers
    Mr K.R. Gangadharan, Director, Heritage Hospital India, Vice President-Asia, Board of Directors, International Federation on Ageing, Montreal, Canada