ABSTRACT

This article is to examine the development process of the International Plan of Action on Aging promoted by the United Nations and the implementation status on the Action Plan of some countries. The UN raised social issues related to population aging relatively early, and its main illustration might be two World Assemblies on Aging held in Vienna in 1982 and Madrid in 2002. All the countries that joined in the Assemblies recognized the seriousness of the population aging phenomena, and agreed to work together to come up with coping strategies. However, the approach to implementation plans highlighted at the Assemblies differed from country to country, and the difference was in particular great between Europe and Asia regions. In addition, there has been scant opportunities so far to properly ascertain the status of the implementation plans of the countries that attended the Madrid Assembly. Since the population aging is progressing in not only specific countries but also globally, it should be a problem that requires efforts to solve together while sharing all of coping strategies among countries.