§ Baroness Greengrossasked Her Majesty's Government:
What plans they have for the United Nations World Assembly on Ageing to be held in Madrid in spring 2002. [HL468]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Baroness Hollis of Heigham)Preparation for the United Nations World Assembly on Ageing to be held in Madrid in spring 2002 is on schedule and is being taken forward in close co-operation with older people's organisations.
The first preparatory committee took place in February and we are preparing for the second meeting to be held in New York in December. The objective of the World Assembly will be the agreement of an International Strategy on Ageing. In early September, we commented on a draft prepared by the UN, consulting with key organisations including Age Concern and HelpAge International. The current draft has been placed in the Library and can be found on www.un.org/esa/socdev/ageing/waa.
This will be an important event and we will be working closely with older people's organisations and older people themselves to finalise our plans.