The General Assembly,
 
      Recalling its resolution 47/5 of 16 October 1992, the annex to which
contains the Proclamation on Ageing, by which the Assembly decided to observe
the year 1999 as the International Year of Older Persons,
 
      Recalling also Economic and Social Council resolution 1993/22 of 27 July
1993, in which the Council invited Member States to strengthen their national
mechanisms on ageing, inter alia, to enable them to serve as national focal
points for the preparations for and observance of the Year,
 
      Recalling further its resolution 45/106 of 14 December 1990, in which it
recognized the complexity and rapidity of the ageing of the world's population
and the need to have a common basis and frame of reference for the protection
and promotion of the rights of older persons, including the contribution that
older persons could and should make to society,
 
      Bearing in mind its resolution 49/162 of 23 December 1994 on the
integration of older women in development,
 
      1.    Takes note of the conceptual framework of a programme for the
preparation and observance of the International Year of Older Persons in 1999,
as contained in the report of the Secretary-General;
 
      2.    Invites Member States to adapt the conceptual framework to
national conditions and to consider formulating national programmes for the
Year;
 
      3.    Invites the United Nations organizations and bodies concerned to
examine the conceptual framework and identify areas for expanding upon it in
keeping with their mandates;
 
      4.    Requests the Secretary-General to monitor activities for the Year
and to make appropriate coordinating arrangements, bearing in mind that the
Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development of the
Secretariat has been designated the United Nations focal point on ageing;
 
      5.    Encourages the Secretary-General to allocate sufficient resources
for promoting and coordinating activities for the Year, bearing in mind its
resolution 47/5, in which it was decided that observance of the Year would be
supported by the regular programme budget for the biennium 1998-1999;
 
      6.    Invites Member States, United Nations organizations and bodies and
non-governmental organizations to assist the global coordinating entity for
the Year;
 
      7.    Invites the regional commissions, within the existing mandates, to
bear in mind the goals of the Year when convening regional meetings in 1998
and 1999 at which to mark the Year and formulate action plans on ageing for
the twenty-first century;
 
      8.    Encourages relevant United Nations funds and programmes and the
specialized agencies to support local, national and international programmes
and projects for the Year;
 
      9.    Encourages the United Nations Development Programme to continue to
ensure that the concerns of older persons are integrated into its development
programmes;
 
      10.   Invites the International Research and Training Institute for the
Advancement of Women, the United Nations Research Institute for Social
Development and other relevant research institutes to consider preparing
studies on the four facets of the conceptual framework, namely, the situation
of older persons, lifelong individual development, multigenerational
relationships and the relationship between the ageing of populations and
development, and requests the International Research and Training Institute
for the Advancement of Women to continue its research on the situation of
older women, including those in the informal sector;
 
      11.   Encourages the Department of Public Information of the Secretariat
to launch, within existing resources, an information campaign for the Year;
 
      12.   Invites the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to
continue its work on ageing and the situation of older persons, as described
in its reports;
 
      13.   Invites non-governmental organizations to develop programmes and
projects for the Year, particularly at the local level, in cooperation, inter
alia, with local authorities, community leaders, enterprises, the media and
schools; 
 
      14.   Decides that henceforth the term "older persons" should be
substituted for the term "the elderly", in conformity with the United Nations
Principles for Older Persons, with the result that the Year and the Day
concerned shall be called the International Year of Older Persons and the
International Day of Older Persons;
 
      15.   Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly
at its fifty-second session on the preparations being made by Member States,
United Nations organizations and bodies and non-governmental organizations for
the observance of the Year.