The Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) was among the first United Nations bodies to
recognize the importance of population ageing as a social, economic and demographic phenomenon.
It has been involved in the field since the early 1980s and has implemented, or coordinated various
research and data collection activities aimed at providing an information and knowledge base for
well-informed and effective policy-making.
An important element of UNECE's programme
on ageing is the work performed by the Population Activities
Unit (PAU), within the framework of several successive
projects, which resulted in the assembly of a collection
of microdata samples from the 1990-round of population
and housing censuses in 15 countries, as well as a survey
of ageing research in Europe, and a
series of other activities.
Various issues related to population ageing and the social and economic
status of older persons are also central to the programme entitled "Generations
and Gender: A Study of the Dynamics of Families and Family Relationships",
which the PAU is coordinating.