Trends and Priorities of Ageing Policies in the UN-European Region

Compared to other world regions, the region under the auspices of the UN Economic Commission for Europe is undoubtedly the most diversified and most heterogeneous one. It currently spans over 56 countries in three continents – Europe, North America, and Asia – reflecting a great variety in political and socioeconomic contexts as well as in demographic trends and in coping capacities of the countries involved to implement policies designed to address the challenges of population ageing. The critical question is what are the most important specificities of demographic transition processes of the UN-European region, their pace and social impact? Does rapid ageing not take place everywhere on the globe, in developed and developing countries alike, apart from the well known observation that rich countries age after having become rich while poor countries will age before they become rich. The UN-European region presents us with an example of both these scenarios, since it not only comprises very rich countries of northwestern Europe and North America but also poorer Eastern and Southeastern European, Central Asian and Cau-casian countries. The extent and nature of the challenge is such that even countries among the richest nations are seemingly unable to build sufficient capacity and political will to cope with the most acute ageing challenges, and this is despite the fact that demographic challenges they face have been well known for decades and most countries do have the resources, including the knowledge and tools available to solve them. It is alarming that, as