United Nations Documents

A/RES/50/141
97th Plenary Meeting
International Year of Older Persons: Towards a Society for All Ages 21 December 1995

Web Posted on: November 24, 1997

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolution 47/5 of 16 October 1992, the annex to which contains the Proclamation on Ageing, by which the Assembly decided to observe the year 1999 as the International Year of Older Persons,

Recalling also Economic and Social Council resolution 1993/22 of 27 July 1993, in which the Council invited Member States to strengthen their national mechanisms on ageing, inter alia, to enable them to serve as national focal points for the preparations for and observance of the Year,

Recalling further its resolution 45/106 of 14 December 1990, in which it recognized the complexity and rapidity of the ageing of the world's population and the need to have a common basis and frame of reference for the protection and promotion of the rights of older persons, including the contribution that older persons could and should make to society,

Bearing in mind its resolution 49/162 of 23 December 1994 on the integration of older women in development,

1. Takes note of the conceptual framework of a programme for the preparation and observance of the International Year of Older Persons in 1999, as contained in the report of the Secretary-General;
2. Invites Member States to adapt the conceptual framework to national conditions and to consider formulating national programmes for the Year;
3. Invites the United Nations organizations and bodies concerned to examine the conceptual framework and identify areas for expanding upon it in keeping with their mandates;
4. Requests the Secretary-General to monitor activities for the Year and to make appropriate coordinating arrangements, bearing in mind that the Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development of the Secretariat has been designated the United Nations focal point on ageing;
5. 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 by the regular programme budget for the biennium 1998-1999;
6. Invites Member States, United Nations organizations and bodies and non-governmental organizations to assist the global coordinating entity for the Year;
7. Invites the regional commissions, within the existing mandates, to bear in mind the goals of the Year when convening regional meetings in 1998 and 1999 at which to mark the Year and formulate action plans on ageing for the twenty-first century;
8. Encourages relevant United Nations funds and programmes and the specialized agencies to support local, national and international programmes and projects for the Year;
9. Encourages the United Nations Development Programme to continue to ensure that the concerns of older persons are integrated into its development programmes;
10. Invites the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women, the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development and other relevant research institutes to consider preparing studies on the four facets of the conceptual framework, namely, the situation of older persons, lifelong individual development, multigenerational relationships and the relationship between the ageing of populations and development, and requests the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women to continue its research on the situation of older women, including those in the informal sector;
11. Encourages the Department of Public Information of the Secretariat to launch, within existing resources, an information campaign for the Year;
12. Invites the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to continue its work on ageing and the situation of older persons, as described in its reports;
13. Invites non-governmental organizations 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;
14. Decides that henceforth the term 'older persons' should be substituted for the term 'the elderly', in conformity with the United Nations Principles for Older Persons, with the result that the Year and the Day concerned shall be called the International Year of Older Persons and the International Day of Older Persons;
15. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its fifty-second session on the preparations being made by Member States, United Nations organizations and bodies and non-governmental organizations for the observance of the Year.