International Year of Older Persons Towards a Society for All Ages

Encourages all States, the United Nations system and all other actors, in reaching out for a future society for all ages, to take advantage of the International Year of Older Persons to increase awareness of the challenge of the demographic ageing of societies, the individual and social needs of older persons, the contribution of older persons to societies and the need for a change in attitudes towards older persons;

Invites States to take account of the increasing number, in absolute figures and in percentages, of older persons in need of help;

Also invites States to develop comprehensive strategies at the national, regional and local levels to meet the increase in demand for care and support for older persons as individuals, within their families and communities and within institutions, bearing in mind the changing socio-economic, technological and cultural environment;

Encourages States, with the support of United Nations organizations, bodies and programmes and of non-governmental organizations, to formulate policies and programmes on ageing with a view to offering older persons opportunities to utilize their experience and knowledge to promote a society for all ages based on solidarity between generations, so that they can contribute to and benefit from full participation in society;

Also encourages States to establish a national focal point and formulate national programmes for the Year, bearing in mind the conceptual framework referred to in its resolution 50/141 of 21 December 1995;

Calls upon States to include a gender dimension in their national programmes for the Year;

Encourages States to consider establishing ad hoc, broad-based national coordinating mechanisms for the Year in order to enhance, inter alia, collaboration with representatives of civil society;

Invites States to consider convening high-level and other meetings at the regional level to discuss the theme "A society for all ages";

Invites non-governmental organizations, including those specialized in the question of older persons, to develop programmes and projects for the Year, particularly at the local level, in cooperation, inter alia, with local authorities, community leaders, enterprises, the media and schools, and encourages them to support and participate in the appropriate national coordinating mechanisms;

Encourages relevant United Nations funds and programmes and the specialized agencies, non-governmental organizations and the private sector to support local, national and international programmes and projects for the Year, and also encourages them, in particular the United Nations Development Programme, as well as international financial institutions, to ensure that the concerns and contributions of older persons are integrated into their development programmes;

Invites national and international development agencies, bodies and international financial institutions to explore feasible approaches to improving the access of older persons to credit training and appropriate technologies for income generation and the participation of older persons in family enterprises, community enterprises and microenterprises;

Encourages the Secretary-General to allocate sufficient resources for promoting and coordinating activities for the Year, bearing in mind its resolution 47/5, in which it was decided that observance of the Year would be supported from resources of the regular budget for the biennium 1998-1999 and from voluntary contributions;

Invites States to consider actively supporting the Secretariat in the preparation and implementation of the projects for the Year, inter alia, through voluntary financial or personnel contributions;

Invites the Office of Communications and Public Information of the Secretariat to consider producing a logo and a press kit as well as an exhibit for the Year, and invites the United Nations Postal Administration to consider producing stamps on the theme "A society for all ages";

Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its fifty-third session on the system-wide implementation of the present resolution;

Also requests the Secretary-General to officially launch the International Year for Older Persons in 1998, on the occasion of the International Day of Older Persons;