WHO's work on the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021–2030)
What is WHO's role in the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing?
The United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021–2030) is a global collaboration, aligned with the last ten years of the Sustainable Development Goals, to improve the lives of older people, their families, and the communities in which they live. The World Health Organization was asked to lead the implementation of the Decade in collaboration with the other UN organizations and serves as the Decade Secretariat. Governments, international and regional organizations, civil society, the private sector, academia and the media are encouraged to actively contribute to achieving the Decade’s goals through direct action, partnering with others, and by participating in the Healthy Ageing Collaborative.
Learn more on the Decade Platform: the home of the UN Decade of Healthy AgeingHighlights
WHO's work on the Decade action areas
To foster healthy ageing and improve the lives of older people, their families, and communities, fundamental shifts will be required not only in the actions we take but in how we think about age and ageing.
The Decade will address four areas for action:
Age-friendly environments are better places in which to grow, live, work, play, and age. We can create them by addressing the social determinants of healthy ageing and enabling all people, irrespective of their level of physical or mental capacity, to continue to do the things they value and live dignified lives.
Within this action area, WHO works with its Member States at national and local levels to develop age-friendly cities and communities, including through supporting the Global Network for Age-friendly Cities and Communities.
Ageism is stereotyping (how we think), prejudice (how we feel) and discrimination (how we act) towards people on the basis of their age. It affects people of all ages but has particularly negative effects on the health and well-being of older people.
Within this action area, WHO is working to change how we think, feel, and act towards age and ageing by generating evidence on ageism, building a global coalition to combat ageism, and developing tools and resources that can be used by others to take action.
Older people require a comprehensive set of services to prevent, slow, or reverse declines in their physical and mental capacities. These services need to be delivered to meet the person’s needs (person-centred), coordinated between different health and social care providers, and avoid causing the user financial hardship.
Within this action area, WHO supports its Member States to understand, design, and implement a person-centred, integrated model of care by producing evidence, guidance, and resource packages.
Many older people experience declines in their physical and mental capacity which means they can no longer care for themselves without support and assistance. Access to good-quality long-term care is essential for these people to maintain their functional ability, enjoy basic human rights and live with dignity.
Within this action area, WHO works to provide technical support to countries for conducting national situation analyses of long-term care towards implementing a minimum package of long-term care as part of universal health coverage.
WHO's work on the Decade 'enablers'
The UN Decade of Healthy Ageing requires a whole-of-government and whole-of-society response that seeks to 'do business differently' towards transformative and positive change for older people, their families, and communities.
The Decade calls for four 'enablers' to be integrated in this effort to shift the status quo. The Decade knowledge Platform convenes and supports stakeholders to work through these enablers:
Meaningful engagement with older people themselves will be critical to each of the Decade's action areas, as they are agents of change as well as service beneficiaries. Their voices must be heard, their dignity and autonomy respected, and their human rights promoted and protected.
WHO works to enable voice and meaningful engagement for the Decade by developing and supporting others to use innovative methodologies for amplifying voices, empowering them to influence the implementation of the Decade.
Fostering healthy ageing and reducing inequity require effective governance and leadership across all sectors and at all administrative levels. Capacity building supports different stakeholders develop the relevant competences needed to ensure that older people experience health and well-being and enjoy their human rights.
WHO works to build leadership and capacity for the Decade by developing learning opportunities, mentorship programmes, and other tools that can help create a global community of change agents.
The more stakeholders are brought together across sectors and disciplines, the greater the possibility they have for leveraging resources, sharing learning and experience, supporting diffusion of policy and concrete action.
WHO works to connect diverse stakeholders for the Decade by running the Platform, a digital multilingual collaboration space; convening the Healthy Ageing Collaborative; and connecting with existing and upcoming structures and partnerships that address aspects of ageing and health.
Older people are not a homogeneous group, and data must be produced and disaggregated to better understand issues affecting their health and well-being. Strengthening data and research is a key step towards informing and driving national and local actions that foster healthy ageing.
WHO works to strengthen data, research, and innovation for the Decade by maintaining an Ageing Data Portal, building the evidence base for underprioritised issues, and developing a measurement and monitoring framework for healthy ageing.
WHO's work on cross-cutting issues
Documents and publications
