Mainstreaming population ageing into policy frameworks in countries in Asia and the Pacific

Overview

The project supports countries in analyzing country specific challenges and opportunities on population ageing as well as country-specific policy gaps. Moreover, it highlights existing living arrangements of older persons and related care needs, employment of older persons and models of community-based care.

As the Asia-Pacific region as a whole, the North and Central Asia subregion the pace of the demographic transition differs in each country. While in Armenia, Georgia and the Russian Federation, more than one fifth of the population is already 60 years old or over, in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, less than 10 per cent of the population were in that age group in 2025. However, the number of older persons was increasing in all countries of the subregion and projected to more than double between 2024 and 2050 in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Mongolia. Resulting from changing living arrangements as well as migration abroad, many older persons are living along without caregivers. Loneliness has been identified as a rising issue faced by older persons in the subregion.

Several countries in the subregion have already designed policies as well as action plans on ageing. Several countries are currently seeking to update their action plan. The project promotes subregional cooperation and exchange of experience on policies on population ageing.

The project is aligned with the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA), the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Global Digital Compact adopted as part of the Pact for the Future.