Knowledge for healthy ageing
Find and share knowledge that can improve the lives of older people, their families, and their communities.
Learn moreLonger lives are one of humanity's greatest achievements. But longer lives are not yet healthier lives for all.
We have an opportunity to change this. It's time to work together to make sure we all have the chance to maximise our later years – for current and future generations, no matter where we live.
It's the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing. Will you join us?
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This year's commemoration, themed "Older Persons Driving Local and Global Action: Our Aspirations, Our Well-Being, Our Rights,” will take place in-person at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City ECOSOC Chamber (tbc), on Wednesday, 1 October 2025 from 10:00 am - 1:00 pm EST.
MoreHalfway through the “Decade of Healthy Ageing”, global experts on ageing will address the central role of the brain in maintaining one’s health and quality of life. The opportunities and challenges for older people for a healthy life across the life span will be explored from various perspectives.
MoreThe official commemoration of UNIDOP 2025 in Geneva, Switzerland takes place at a significant moment in the global effort to advance the human rights of older persons.
MoreThis landmark report from the WHO Commission on Social Connection highlights that social isolation and loneliness are widespread, with serious but under-recognized impacts on health, well-being, and society. Drawing on the latest evidence, the report makes a compelling case for urgent action. It outlines practical, scalable solutions to strengthen social connection – and calls on policy-makers, researchers and all sectors to treat social health with the same urgency as physical and mental health. The Commissioners envision a future where stronger social bonds improve well-being, reduce preventable deaths, boost education and economic resilience, and ease the social and financial burden of disconnection. This report is a call to act – and an invitation to build a more connected, healthier world.
MoreOn the UN International Day of Older Persons 2024, the World Health Organization (WHO) is urgently calling for action to not only strengthen but transform the way countries provide care and support for older people, especially as we approach the halfway point of the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021–2030).
MoreTo mark World Elder Abuse Awareness Day 2024, the World Health Organization (WHO) has released an interactive database of 89 interventions that show promise to prevent and respond to the abuse of older people, also known as elder abuse. This database is the first product of the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing’s Intervention Accelerator initiative on abuse of older people. The Intervention Accelerator is an international network of experts, led by WHO, working to develop a portfolio of effective approaches to address the abuse of older people.
MoreWHO and UN partners have launched the first UN Decade of Healthy Ageing progress report, which charts efforts to improve the lives of older people since 2020, capturing the impact of major challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, during which over 80% of deaths were among over 60-year-olds. The report also highlights activities in support of healthy ageing in nearly 50 countries. The report features results from a survey of 136 countries, conducted between late 2022 and early 2023, and notes the areas of greatest progress, by comparing with a previous survey from 2020. This comparison showed an over 20% increase in the number of countries reporting: legislation against ageism, legislation to support older people’s access to assistive products; national policies on comprehensive assessments of health and social care needs of ageing populations; and national programmes for age-friendly cities and communities.
MoreFifty individuals from around the world have been recognised as part of the first ever Healthy Ageing 50: leaders transforming the world to be a better place to grow older. The individuals were evaluated by an expert panel of reviewers from across international organizations with over 500 nominations received across all Sustainable Development Goal regions.
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The UN Decade of Healthy Ageing is a global collaboration that brings together diverse sectors and stakeholders to improve the lives of older people, their families and communities. In short, that means everyone has something to contribute
– including you!
Ready to get started? We've prepared everything you need to be part of this growing global movement.
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