UNECE and the European Centre Vienna agree on cooperation in developing policy responses to population ageing

Geneva

Ján Kubiš, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission of Europe (UNECE), and Bernd Marin, Executive Director of the European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research (European Centre Vienna, ECV), signed today a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that marks a new stage in the collaboration of the two organizations on population ageing.

This collaboration supports Governments in implementing the UNECE Regional Strategy for the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, which is the key internationally agreed programme document in this area. The particular contribution of the European Centre Vienna lies in the methodological work towards developing and selecting indicators that measure the implementation of the commitments of the Strategy, and disseminating this and other information related to the implementation of the UNECE Strategy through a specialized website (www.monitoringRIS.org).

These activities are included in the programme of the UNECE Working Group on Ageing, which also covers development of capacities for ageing-related policymaking in countries in transition, exchange of good policy practices and facilitation of the use of new research findings in evidence-based policymaking on ageing.

“Over the recent years, UNECE member States have increasingly understood the importance of policy responses to ageing, which is going to be one of the great challenges of this century”, confirmed Ján Kubiš during the ceremony. “A coordinated response to population ageing clearly has an international dimension, which has been recognized in the context of the United Nations worldwide and in our region in particular”.

This MoU builds upon a longstanding successful collaboration between UNECE and ECV with financial support from Austria. The Austrian Ambassador to international organizations in Geneva attended the signing ceremony.

The Memorandum of Understanding is concluded for the period from March 2009 to February 2014, after which the parties will undertake to review the results of the cooperation and decide upon its continuation

For further information, please contact:

The European Centre Vienna is a UN-affiliated intergovernmental organization concerned with all aspects of social welfare policy and research,

www.euro.centre.org.

Ref: ECE/PAU/09/P01