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Standing Working Group on Ageing

The Standing Working Group on Ageing (SWGA) is an intergovernmental body which is subsidiary to the Executive Committee of UNECE. First convened in 2008, its membership consists of national focal points on ageing representing the member States of the UNECE region. Representatives of NGOs, academia, and international organizations participate as observers. 

SWGA aims to help all countries in the UNECE region to mainstream the population ageing in their policy and regulatory framework, adjust to demographic change and create an environment that is conducive to the full realization of the individual and societal potential of longevity.

The Standing Working Group on Ageing supports the realization of the policy principles set out in the 2002 Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA) and its Regional Implementation Strategy (RIS), and the subsequent Ministerial Declarations on Ageing among the UNECE member States. It strives for synergies in the activities linked to the implementation and monitoring of MIPAA/RIS and those addressing the regional/national follow-up on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and other population-related international frameworks such as the ICPD Programme of Action and its follow up beyond 2014 and the WHO Global Strategy on Ageing and Health and the United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021-2030).

The Standing Working Group

  • promotes international cooperation, exchange of experience and policy discussion on ageing and intergenerational relations, taking into account the situation and different needs of individual countries;
  • develops guidelines and policy recommendations for governments on population ageing issues;
  • supports MIPAA/RIS monitoring activities and coordinates the five-year review and appraisal exercises of MIPAA/RIS implementation;
  • provides demand-driven policy advisory services and other capacity-building activities;
  • raises awareness of population ageing and its implications throughout the UNECE region;
  • creates synergies with related policy agendas and collaboration within and outside UNECE.

The Standing Working Group on Ageing meets annually in November in Geneva, where it reviews the achievements and developments of the past year and sets the agenda of work for the year to come.

Terms of reference of the Standing Working Group on Ageing