ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the development of international action plans and policy recommendations on ageing. The First World Assembly on Ageing, held in 1982 in Austria, was co-organised by the United Nations and the Government of Austria, and adopted the Vienna International Plan of Action on Ageing. For 20 years, the Vienna Plan of Action had served as the blueprint for international and national policy actions on ageing. This chapter also discusses the milestones in international ageing since the Vienna Assembly such as the International Day of Older Persons (1990), the United Nations Principles for Older Persons (1991), and the International Year of Older Persons (1999). The concluding part of the chapter is devoted to the preparatory process for the Second World Assembly on Ageing in Madrid, Spain, and the development of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing. The motives that prompted the need to convene the Second World Assembly on Ageing and determined the content of the new international policy frameworks on ageing will be outlined.
