MA:IMI - Mainstreaming Ageing: Indicators to Monitor Implementation
Follow-up phase of the "Monitoring RIS for the MIPAA"
 


2003 - 2008

Contact: Asghar Zaidi

Preparatory and Conference Phase: 2001 - 2002

2003 - 2008
In this first follow-up phase, the MA:IMI (Mainstreaming Ageing: Indicators to Monitor Implementation) project, an institutionalized collaboration between the European Centre and the UNECE, under the auspices of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Social Security, Generations and Consumer Protection, was laid down in January 2004 in form of a “Memorandum of Understanding”.
Besides the specific mandate given to the European Centre, the Memorandum of Understanding also foresees the establishment by the Austrian Government and the UNECE of a Task Force in order to offer guidance and advice with respect to the contents and priorities of the follow-up phase. The European Centre reports on the actual and expected outcome of the project to each of the Task Force meetings.
During the first follow-up phase (5-years):
  • The first priority is to promote an exchange of experiences in the field of ageing-related policies.
  • The second priority is to carry out and foster data collection, research and analysis, including in collaboration with other organizations (in particular UN agencies, ISSA, the European Commission, OECD), national authorities, other concerned bodies and individuals.
  • The third priority is to maintain a network of organizations, national authorities, and other concerned bodies and individuals, active in the field of ageing.

The European Centre also offers support to the follow-up work by developing and monitoring a set of agreed-upon “indicators of achievement”. In this context, Technical Workshops have been organized, in order to discuss and formulate a meaningful and feasible set of indicators.
Each workshop has dealt with various age-related topics, as addressed in the UNECE / RIS. Expert Meetings have also been also organized to discuss further the outcome of these workshops, in order to propose a finalised list of indicators.
The Government of Spain hosted the Conference on Ageing in the UNECE region in Autumn 2007, and this conference concluded the first five-year cycle of review and appraisal of MIPAA within the UNECE region. Thus, the 2007 UNECE Conference on Ageing will be an important milestone in reviewing the progress since the World Assembly in Madrid and the Ministerial Conference in Berlin. The progress achieved so far was evaluated with respect to the policy measures adopted by the UNECE Member States and the effect, which these measures have in improving the quality of life of older people.


Timeline
January 2003
Geneva, Switzerland
UN ECE Informal Consultations on the Follow-up to the Berlin Conference

April 2004
Madrid, Spain
First Technical Workshop on “Sustainable Ageing Societies: Indicators for Effective Policy-Making”
hosted by IMSERSO

November 2004
Madrid, Spain
WAA II Follow-up Meeting “Moving Forwards Implementation of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing – Training of Professionals on Ageing Matters”
organized by IMSERSO

November 2004
Madrid, Spain
WAA II Follow-up Meeting
“The Contribution of Older Persons to the Social and Economic Development”
organized by IMSERSO

May 2005
Malta
Second Technical Workshop on “Care Provision in Ageing Societies: What Are the Policy Challenges and How to Address Them”, co-organized by the UNECE an INIA,
in cooperation with IMSERSO

February 2006
Vienna, Austria
Expert Meeting on “Madrid Indicators“
hosted by the European Centre

May 2006
Jaén, Spain
International Meeting on “The Situation of Ageing 2005 until 2006. Challenges and Good Practices in Numbers”
hosted by IMSERSO

June 2006
Vienna, Austria
closed Expert Meeting on Care Indicators
hosted by the European Centre

November 2006
Segovia, Spain
UNECE – Focal Point Meeting hosted by IMSERSO

February 2007
Vienna, Austria
Meeting of the Expert Group for the UNECE Conference on Ageing
(joint meeting with the Task Force)

July 2007
Geneva
Meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the UNECE Conference on Ageing

November 2007
León, Spain
UNECE Conference on Ageing

Task Force
The Task Force is composed of independent international experts in different sub-fields of ageing, working for various governmental institutions, non-governmental international organisations, academic and research institutions as well as from specialised agencies of the United Nations. It is expected to advise the Monitoring Unit with regard to the work programme during the whole period of its activity. All members of the Task Force serve in their personal capacity and offer their services on a pro bono basis. They will be called upon inter alia to offer guidance and advice on the content and priorities of the follow-up and in drawing up plans for future work.

Timeline
April 2004
Madrid, Spain
Task Force Meeting

November 2004
Vienna, Austria
Task Force Meeting

May 2005
Malta
Task Force Meeting

May 2006
Copenhagen, Denmark
Task Force Meeting

February 2007
Vienna, Austria
Task Force Meeting, jointly with the Expert Group for the UNECE Conference on Ageing

Indicators to Monitor Implementation
A central task assigned to the European Centre in this project is to develop “indicators of achievement”. In this regard, technical workshops were held with key partners, in order to initiate debates and indicators related to different RIS Commitments – or topics. more

Related Website
The Monitoring RIS Website, launched in February 2006, is dedicated to the knowledge and information about the follow-up process to the RIS. It supports and facilitates all the tasks attributed to the European Centre in this project. In a first step, the website informs the audience about the political process regarding Mainstreaming Ageing and Monitoring RIS, offering access to the main documents related to the RIS, but also on the main partners and actors in the process, be it Task Force Member, NGO or Focal Point. Furthermore, the site aims at giving an overview of tools for analysis, figures and indicators, instruments and activities. Our target is that all interested actors, from governmental to local authorities, as well as NGOs partners will be able to find information catering to their needs: www.MonitoringRis.org


RIS relevant Network and NGO

Publication
In 2007, we published the book “Mainstreaming Ageing. Indicators to Monitor Sustainable Policies”.

Project partners / co-organizers: United Nations ­ Economic Commission for Europe (UN-ECE), Task Force on Monitoring RIS
Project directors EC: Asghar Zaidi, Bernd Marin
Barbara Lipszyc was Project Director and Website Content Manager (Monitoring RIS Website) from February 2004 till April 2007.
Project team EC: Silvia Fässler, Michael Fuchs, Mercedes Gonzalez-Quijano, Annette Hexelschneider, Andrea Hovenier, Manfred Huber, Kai Leichsenring, Orsolya Lelkes, Jason Allman, Fabian Bahr, Marius Rummel, Eszter Zolyomi
External project consultants: Abdur Chowdhury (UNECE), Andres Vikat (UNECE)
Financed / sponsored by: Federal Ministry of Social Affairs and Consumer Protection, Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs