The Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA), adopted at the Second World Assembly on Ageing, is the first international agreement that specifically recognises the potential of older people to contribute to the development of their societies.

It commits more than 160 governments to include ageing in all social and economic development policies, and to halve old-age poverty by 2015, in line with Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The Plan:

• specifies that ageing should be incorporated into global development agendas
• calls for the right of older people to an equal share of development resources
• urges governments to include older people in national-development and social-policy processes (such as poverty-reduction strategies and national development plans)
• contains detailed sections on growing areas of concern for older people and their families, including poverty, HIV/AIDS, violence and abuse, access to health services and social protection
• calls for effective collaboration and partnership between governments, civil society, international agencies and the private sector with older people and their organisations to achieve the Plan's objectives.

A key part of the accompanying Political Declaration reads:

"We commit ourselves to eliminate all forms of discrimination, including age discrimination. We also recognise that persons, as they age, should enjoy a life of fulfilment, health, security and active participation in the economic, social, cultural and political life of their societies.

"We are determined to enhance the recognition of the dignity of older persons, and to eliminate all forms of neglect, abuse and violence."

Implementation

The challenge now is to ensure that governments meet the commitments made in Madrid. Regional UN commissions are responsible for developing implementation strategies in their regions, and the UN Commission for Social Development will monitor how governments implement the Plan.

The Plan does not commit governments or the international community to providing additional resources for implementation. This means ensuring that resources are made available from poverty-reduction programmes within individual countries.

A five-year review of implementation of MIPAA in February 2008 culminated in a call for more resources and a stronger UN system to realise older people's rights.

Older people's participation

Older people and their organisations have a vital role to play in ensuring that their governments act on the recommendations set out in the Plan, and in monitoring their progress.

In particular, they need to press for ageing to be integrated into national poverty-reduction programmes and related initiatives, in order to achieve the MDGs. HelpAge International's older citizens' monitoring project aims to support this process.