The EGM is scheduled from
4 August: 09:00 to 12:00, noon, Bangkok time (GMT+7);
5 August: 13:00 to 16:00, Bangkok time (GMT+7)
Introduction
Population ageing is a global and regional megatrend. In 2020, sixty per cent of the world’s older persons resided in the region, or some 630 million persons 60 years or over. By 2050, it is projected that one quarter of the population of Asia and the Pacific will be older, some 1.3 billion people. Population ageing presents challenges and opportunities to older persons and their families and affects all aspects of the societies in which they live. It is an important multidimensional reality of major relevance for sustainable development.
In accordance with ECOSOC resolution 2020/8, ESCAP, along with other regional commissions, reviewed the implementation of the Madrid Plan of Action in Asia and the Pacific for the fourth time in 2022. These regional reviews built on national reviews undertaken in 2021; together, the regional and national reviews will inform the global review to be carried out at the sixty-first session of the Commission for Social Development, to be held in 2023.
Objectives
The Expert Group Meeting is held in follow-up to the Asia-Pacific Intergovernmental Meeting on the Fourth Review and Appraisal of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing which was held from 29 June to 1 July 2022. The Expert Group Meeting aims to: (a) discuss follow-up actions on the outcomes of the intergovernmental meeting and (b) review of a first draft of the Asia-Pacific Report on Population Ageing 2022.
Target audience
The Expert Group Meeting will bring together participants in an expert capacity who work on population ageing. There will also be participants who attended the recently held intergovernmental meeting, including Government and civil society representatives. Members of the Asia-Pacific informal regional network of focal points on ageing will also be invited.
Expected outcome
It is expected that the discussions at the meeting will (a) help identify actionable follow-up to the intergovernmental meeting on the fourth review and appraisal of the Madrid Plan of Action in Asia and the Pacific and (b) guide the final revision of the Asia-Pacific Report on Population Ageing 2022. The report provides an assessment of the situation of older persons in the Asia-Pacific region and related policies and programmes. It will inform the Global Review of the Madrid Plan of Action at the Commission for Social Development in 2023. A report of the expert group meeting will be drafted afterwards and summarize the discussions, conclusions and recommendations.