Global Action on Aging (GAA), based in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 at the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

, reports on older people's needs and potential within the global economy. Its mission states the organization "advocates by, with and for older persons worldwide."

Basic Facts

Global Action on Aging, a non-profit organization with special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council

United Nations Economic and Social Council

The Economic and Social Council of the United Nations constitutes one of the six principal organs of the United Nations and it is responsible for the coordination of the economic, social and related work of 14 UN specialized agencies, its functional commissions and five regional commissions...

, was founded in 1994 by Susanne Paul.

GAA carries out research on critical emerging topics and publishes the results on its website http://www.globalaging.org/. GAA staff and interns research aging policy and programs, both in the US and worldwide: income support http://www.globalaging.org/pension/index.htm, health access http://www.globalaging.org/health/index.htm, and human rights http://www.globalaging.org/elderrights/index.htm. Interns post their research daily to our website, http://www.globalaging.org, one of the largest in the aging field, with a monthly average of over 1.5 million hits.

GAA posts materials in all six UN official languages: Arabic http://www.globalaging.org/foreignlang/arabic.htm Chinese http://www.globalaging.org/foreignlang/chinese.htm English, French http://www.globalaging.org/foreignlang/french.htm, Russian http://www.globalaging.org/foreignlang/russian.htm and Spanish http://www.globalaging.org/foreignlang/spanish.htm. It monitors UN activities on aging through the "Aging Watch at the UN" web-section and documents the situation of older persons caught in armed conflict.

Global Action on Aging advocates at the United Nations (UN) in New York to build a better society for older people across the globe. Older persons’ numbers are increasing rapidly. One out of every ten persons is now 60 years or above; by 2050, one out of five will be 60 years or older. UN Member States see this growth among the elderly as a tremendous economic and social challenge for their countries and the world.

In April 2002, delegates of 160 governments, intergovernmental institutions and NGOs came together at the United Nations Second World Assembly on Ageing in Madrid, Spain http://www.globalaging.org/waa2/index.htm, in order to revise the 1982 Vienna Plan on Ageing http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/ageing/vienna_intlplanofaction.html which had established a global long-term strategy for the aging population.

The 2002 Assembly’s outcome document, the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA)http://www.globalaging.org/agingwatch/docs/mipaa.pdf , commits governments to integrate the rights and needs of older persons into national, as well as international, economic and social development policies.

However, this MIPAA document is non-binding and UN Member States may choose to implement the Plan or not. Many millions of vulnerable old people, in both the developed and developing world, still experience abuse, poverty and social exclusion today. The rights of older people need to be better defined and protected. Global Action on Aging believes that an Aging Human Rights Convention (or Treaty), if adopted, promises a better world for older persons.

The Aging Watch section monitors reports and decisions of the UN system, with regard to the follow-up of MIPAA and the process toward the adoption of a UN Convention protecting the rights of older persons.

Staff

President:
Susanne S. Paul, formerly chaired the Non-Governmental Organizations on Ageing Committee at the UN. Author of many publications including a book titled, Humanity Comes of Age, she writes and speaks widely about challenges to older persons worldwide.