Note No. 5681

                                                            3 October 2001

Note to Correspondents

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF OLDER PERSONS TO FOCUS ON 2002 WORLD ASSEMBLY ON AGEING

The New York observance of the eleventh International Day of Older Persons, 4 October, will review preparations for the United Nations Second World Assembly on Ageing, to be held in Madrid, Spain, from 8 to12 April 2002.

Due to security restrictions, the observance will be held outside the United Nations Headquarters, at the auditorium of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), 780 Third Avenue, New York.

The first segment of the event, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., is to review governmental expectations and outcomes for the Second World Assembly on Ageing.  The opening message by Secretary-General Kofi Annan is to be read by Thérèse Gastaut, Director, Public Affairs Division, United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI), who will serve as moderator.

Other scheduled speakers include Dieter Kastrup, Permanent Representative of Germany; Ambassador Bagher Asadi, Permanent Mission of Iran and Chair of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China; Madina B. Jarbussynova, Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan; Inocencio F. Arias, Permanent Representative of Spain to the United Nations; and the world-renowned artist Marcel Marceau, who was appointed Goodwill Ambassador for the World Assembly last April.

The second segment, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., will focus on "Fulfilling the Goals of the Second World Assembly on Ageing".  Nitin Desai, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, is to serve as moderator.  The Chair of the Preparatory Committee for the Second World Assembly, Mr. Felipe Paolillo, Permanent Representative of Uruguay, will review the preparatory process for the World Assembly.

Alexandre Sidorenko, Chief, United Nations Programme on Ageing, is to speak about the International Strategy for Action on Ageing.  Lila Bezrukov, Director, Latin American Network of Gerontology, Uruguay, is to review expectations and outcomes of the World Assembly.  Afaf Mahfouz, Focal Point of the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the Economic and Social Council, is to focus on the NGO Forum at the World Assembly.  Helene Hamlin, Chair, NGO Committee on Ageing/New York, will address the role of civil society in implementing the outcomes of the Assembly.

                              - 2 -                   Note No. 5681

                                                      3 October 2001

The Second World Assembly on Ageing will take place 20 years after the first World Assembly, held in Vienna in 1982.  The meeting is expected to adopt an International Strategy for Action on Ageing, intended to be a practical tool to assist policy makers in developing responses to changing demographic structures of their societies.

For further information, please contact Laufey Love, Development and Human Rights Section, DPI, Tel:  (212) 963-3507. 

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