Total: 405 good practice(s). Download
A national policy frameworkthat defines older persons and sets objectives to support a dignified, secure, and healthier life for older people, guiding government action across welfare, health, and social inclusion.
Older persons in Bangladesh
It was developed as a national policy and referenced/embedded in later sector plans and national social protection strategy documents, which are used to operationalise policy commitments through programmes and implementation plans.
It provides a national, cross-sector framework for ageing, helping coordinate action beyond one-off projects. It supports policy coherence and creates a platform for expanding measurable programmes.
The National Policy in India, implemented by the Government of India and the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, prioritizes older persons by addressing their concerns and ensuring they are living with dignity, purpose and peace. The policy focuses on financial security, healthcare, shelter, welfare, protection from abuse and opportunities for personal growth. The policy emphasises an age-integrated society, adopts a life-cycle approach and highlights the importance of expanding accessible community services (particulaly for older women and rural populations) to remove socio-cultural, economic and physical barriers.
All Indian citizens aged 60 and above, especially those facing poverty, ill‑health, or living in rural areas; the policy also emphasized support for vulnerable subgroups such as older women and the chronically ill.
The programme introduced state support for income security (e.g., pensions), healthcare access (geriatric wards, mobile clinics, caregiver training), and shelter and welfare services.
NPOP was formulated in line with both constitutional mandates and the UN‑declared International Year of Older Persons (1999) Implementation involved multiple ministries coordinating measures in health, transport, rural development, information, and urban planning. Mechanisms included setting up an autonomous National Council for Older Persons to ensure coordination.
It institutionalized a multi-sectoral, rights-based framework for elder welfare, introducing structured state support across diverse domains and establishing a coordinating council—setting a scalable benchmark for integrated aging policy.
The National Silver-Age Teacher Action Plan was introduced in 2023 to mobilize qualified retired teachers and other experienced retired professionals to continue contributing to education. The Plan covers five areas: higher education, vocational education, basic education, lifelong education and private education. Silver-age teachers provide teaching, mentoring, research guidance, teacher development and institutional support through flexible online and offline arrangements. Particular attention is given to institutions and regions with shortages of qualified teachers, including less-developed, ethnic minority, border and rural areas. The initiative also promotes intergenerational learning and enables older professionals to continue using their knowledge and experience in socially productive roles.
Retired teachers willing and qualified to continue teaching; schools and education institutions facing shortages of qualified teachers, particularly institutions in less-developed, ethnic minority, border and rural areas; young teachers and students benefiting from mentoring and teaching support.
The Plan builds on earlier initiatives, including the Silver-Age Lecturing Plan for primary and secondary schools launched in 2018 and the Silver-Age Teacher Support Programme for Western Universities launched in 2020. Before the national plan was introduced, these programmes had recruited more than 20,000 retired primary and secondary school teachers and nearly 1,000 retired university teachers to provide teaching and research support. The 2023 Plan aims to expand and integrate these efforts, with a target of approximately 120,000 silver-age teachers nationwide within about three years.
The Plan turns population ageing into an opportunity for continued social and economic participation by systematically mobilizing the expertise of retired educators. It is potentially replicable because it combines national coordination with demand-based local implementation and flexible online and offline participation, while building on existing programmes rather than creating an entirely new delivery system.
The National Social Protection Policy Framework (2016-2025), implemented by the National and Local Cambodian Governments, is a long-term roadmap focused on social assistance and social security. This framework includes the Elderly People Protection Programme, under which the government asseses possibilities to support older individuals who reside in poor households.
Beneficiaries included all Cambodian citizens, with a focus on vulnerable groups not yet covered by social protection—such as children, women, pregnant mothers, persons with disabilities, and the elderly. The UN Joint Programme specifically reached about 200,000 poor pregnant women and children under 2 years old.
The programme supports around 200,000 vulnerable pregnant women and children under 2, extending social protection coverage, promoting inclusive assistance, and improving early childhood well-being through integrative cash transfers and institutional capacity building (mptf.undp.org†source). By 2024, Cambodia’s social protection system had reached 7.5 million people nationwide.
The framework was grounded in the National Strategic Development Plan and Rectangular Strategy Phase III, developed through collaboration between multiple ministries and development partners (ILO, UNICEF, EU, GIZ, USAID, JICA, etc.)，It was implemented through the National Social Protection Council (NSPC), supported by legal frameworks, monitoring and evaluation systems, and UN Joint Programme assistance in training, institutional strengthening, and programme integration.
It adopts a lifecycle and inclusive approach, institutionalizes coordination across government and partners, and ensures sustainability by embedding social protection in Cambodia’s long-term development strategy.
NASPAL is a comprehensive action plan developed to promote healthy and active lifestyles among Malaysians. It aims to reduce sedentary behavior and encourage physical activity through community-based programs, infrastructure improvements, health education, and inter-agency collaboration. The plan serves as a blueprint for creating a national culture that supports physical activity and contributes to reducing the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
Entire Malaysian population, with a focus on individuals, families, and communities across all age groups
The plan has strengthened multi-sectoral collaboration and raised awareness about the importance of physical activity in healthy human development. It has guided interventions to reduce insufficient physical activity by 10% by 2025, contributing to Malaysia’s efforts to meet global NCD targets. NASPAL has also influenced policy reforms in urban planning and workplace health promotion to create environments conducive to active living.
NASPAL was developed using a population health approach, involving collaboration between government and non-government sectors, as well as key areas such as education, urban planning, transportation, and communication. Implementation includes evidence-based strategies such as integrating health promotion into workplaces and healthcare facilities, improving built environments to encourage physical activity, and conducting community programs to foster active lifestyles.
NASPAL adopts a holistic, multi-sectoral approach to promoting physical activity, addressing both individual behavior and environmental factors. It is evidence-based, scalable, and aligned with global health targets, making it an exemplary model for reducing NCDs and improving the well-being of older persons through active living.
It establishes a comprehensive, rights‑based framework to respond to rapid population ageing. The strategy recognizes older persons as an important human resource for national development and aims to both protect their rights and promote their active contribution to society. It sets the overarching goal of building a modern, inclusive, and sustainable system of policies for older persons, ensuring improved material and spiritual well‑being, equitable access to basic social services—particularly health care, rehabilitation, and social assistance—and stronger protection against abuse and neglect. Key strategic directions include promoting healthy and active ageing, expanding employment and income‑generation opportunities for older persons who are willing and able to work, strengthening pension coverage and social protection, developing age‑friendly communities and long‑term care systems, and scaling up community‑based models such as Intergenerational Self‑Help Clubs. The strategy defines specific national targets for 2025–2030, including universal health insurance coverage for older persons, expanded access to employment and vocational support, and wider availability of cultural, sports, and social participation activities at the local level. Implementation follows a whole‑of‑government approach, with ministries and local authorities responsible for sector‑specific action plans, monitoring progress, and mobilizing social resources, setting the foundation for long‑term adaptation to population ageing in Việt Nam.
Primary beneficiaries are all older persons in Viet Nam with special emphasis given to vulnerable older persons.
Việt Nam’s National Strategy on Older Persons to 2035, with a vision to 2045 was developed through a formal and inter‑ministerial policy process led by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), based on its legal mandate under the Law on the Elderly (2009). The strategy was prepared in response to Communist Party Resolution No. 42‑NQ/TW (2023) and Government Resolution No. 68/NQ‑CP (2024), which called for renewed and higher‑quality social policies to address rapid population ageing. Drafting was informed by national demographic evidence, assessments of previous ageing programmes, and accumulated implementation experience, and involved coordination with line ministries, provincial authorities, and institutional stakeholders such as the Viet Nam Association of the Elderly. The strategy was aligned with international commitments including the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021–2030), and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and was formally adopted through Prime Ministerial Decision No. 383/QĐ‑TTg on 21 February 2025, providing the national framework for subsequent ministerial and provincial implementation plans.
It is a good practice because it adapts the earlier policy to new developments and considers older persons as agents of development.
Việt Nam repositions older citizens as economic asset under long-term ageing strategy
The New Part-Time Re-Employment Grant (PTRG), implemented by Workforce Singapore, Singapore Government Agency and Ministry of Manpower, provides funding support of up to $125,000 per company who offers part-time re-employment opportunities, flexible work arrangements and structured career planning to older workers. Employers recieve funding support to implement the part-time re-employment policy for older workers and encourages them to remain in the workforce by offering flexible working opportunities.
The grant benefits senior workers aged 60 and above by incentivizing employers to offer part-time re-employment, flexible work arrangements (FWAs), and structured career planning (SCP)—thus aiding retention and sustained workforce participation.
Employers can receive up to S$2,500 per resident senior worker, capped at S$125,000 per company—enabling them to adopt age-friendly workplace practices and offer greater employment flexibility to seniors.
Developed by Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower and Workforce Singapore, PTRG is delivered through the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF). Employers apply via formal channels and must adopt specific HR policies while attending workshops to qualify.
It uses targeted incentives to embed structured flexibility and age-friendly policies in workplaces, enabling senior workers to remain active contributors in an adaptable, inclusive employment model.
The New Zealand Framework for Dementia Care, implemented by the New Zealand Government and Ministry of Health, is a framework that provides district health boards (DHBs) and the health and social suppor sector with a guide for developing dementia care pathways. This framework provides a guide that DHBs can use to develop clear, consistent, well-resourced and easily accessible dementia care pathways, whilst promoting national consistency in dementia care.
Primarily people living with dementia and their family/whānau carers across New Zealand—benefiting from structured, community-oriented, primary care among DHBs.
The programme supports improved diagnosis and care coordination, easing pressure on specialist services. It enabled primary-care-led, standardized dementia pathways with clearer referral routes, education for providers, and routine carer respite. This structure has been noted as a promising, transferable model for enhancing dementia management. The approach has also mitigated long-term residential care costs by promoting earlier, community-based intervention that delays entry into aged residential care with potential savings estimated up to NZ$22 million per month.
Developed centrally by the Ministry of Health, the framework was funded for roll‑out through DHBs. It adopted a primary-care‑led model, offering education to primary providers, structured referral mechanisms, and consistent support tools for carers, all delivered via the DHB network.
It is a nationally implemented, primary-care-led, evidence-based model that standardizes dementia care pathways, enhances early diagnosis, supports carers, and reduces reliance on costly institutional care—demonstrating both cost-effectiveness and improved patient outcomes.
The Cook Islands’ social pension scheme is a universal, non-contributory benefit for all residents aged 60 and over, designed to ensure financial security in old age. Administered by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it requires residency of at least 10 years for Cook Islanders and 20 years for non-Cook Islanders, plus continuous residence for 12 months before applying. Payments are made twice monthly, with those aged 60–69 receiving NZ$250 per payment (NZ$500/month) and those 70+ receiving NZ$350 per payment (NZ$700/month). This long-standing program, in place since the 1960s, provides nearly universal coverage and promotes social inclusion and dignity for older persons.
The beneficiaries are older persons in the Cook Islands.
The non-contributory pensions provides basic income security to older persons in the Cook Islands.
The Cook Islands’ universal social pension was developed as part of a long-standing commitment to social protection and inclusion for older persons. Introduced in the mid-1960s, it aimed to provide a basic income for all residents aged 60 and over, regardless of employment history or income, to reduce poverty and promote dignity in old age.
It is a good practice because it provides basic income security to older persons in the Cook Islands. It is a universal scheme. With clear residency rules, it is simple to administer and easy to access.
Social Protection in the Cook Islands: A Case Study - P4SP
The Nonthaburi Municipality Older Persons Quality of Life Development Centre is a municipal initiative established to promote active ageing, lifelong learning, health and social participation among older persons. Opened in 2012, the centre provides a dedicated space where older persons can engage in physical exercise, recreation, educational activities and social interaction. The municipality regularly engages volunteer instructors and specialists to provide training and learning opportunities. Activities include fitness and rehabilitation exercises, dance, music, arts, language learning and cultural programmes. The centre aims to strengthen physical and mental well-being, encourage social inclusion and support older persons to remain active contributors to their communities.
Adults aged 45 years and above eligible for membership programmes in Nonthaburi Province
The centre has become a focal point for older persons in Nonthaburi Municipality and a platform for exchanging experiences and developing skills.
Recognizing the growing number of older persons and the need to support their well-being, Nonthaburi Municipality designated the promotion of older persons' quality of life as a policy priority. The municipality constructed a dedicated centre and established a programme of daily activities designed around health promotion, recreation, lifelong learning and social engagement. The centre collaborates with volunteer experts, instructors and community resource persons who provide training and activities in diverse fields. Implementation is municipality-led and enables older persons to choose activities according to their interests, abilities and needs.
The practice demonstrates how local governments can create an integrated community-based environment for active ageing. Rather than focusing solely on care services, the centre promotes health, lifelong learning, recreation and social participation in a single facility. The broad range of activities allows older persons with different interests and capacities to remain engaged in community life. Municipal leadership, dedicated infrastructure and the use of volunteer experts contribute to sustainability. The model supports several dimensions of active ageing, including health promotion, social inclusion, continued learning and opportunities for meaningful participation.
ศูนย์พัฒนาคุณภาพชีวิตผู้สูงอายุเทศบาลนครนนทบุรี
