V Vienna International Plan of Action on Ageing William R. Patterson Independent Scholar, Alexandria, VA, USA Synonyms Vienna plan Definition The Vienna International Plan of Action on Age- ing was the first international agreement on aging adopted by the United Nations (UN). It was drafted during the World Assembly on Ageing (See ▶ “World Assembly on Ageing”) in Vienna, Austria, in 1982 and adopted by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) later that same year. The doc- ument makes more than 60 recommendations regarding a variety of issues associated with aging. Overview The country of Malta first raised the issue of aging as one of international importance at the UN in 1968. In 1978 the UNGA passed resolution 33/52 calling for a World Assembly on Ageing to be held in 1982. That assembly was held from 26 July to 06 August of 1982 in Vienna, Austria, during which 17 plenary sessions were held. One hundred twenty-four UN member states were represented at the Assembly. A variety of UN bodies and regional and international organiza- tions also sent representatives. The Assembly resulted in the drafting of the Vienna International Plan of Action on Ageing and the subsequent adoption of that document by the UNGA. The document makes 62 recommendations regarding research and training about aging as well as some critical issues facing older people as individuals and aging societies around the world. The stated primary aims of the Plan of Action are, “to strengthen the capacities of countries to deal effectively with the aging of their populations and with the special concerns and needs of their elderly, and to promote an appropriate interna- tional response to the issues of aging through action for the establishment of the new interna- tional economic order and increased international technical co-operation, particularly among the developing countries themselves” (UN 1983, 2). In order to achieve those aims, the Plan sets five objectives. These include the enhancement of understanding of the problems associated with the increased aging of societies, the proposal of edu- cational and training initiatives, and the recom- mendation of innovative policy measures designed to protect the social and economic secu- rity of the aged and to enhance their ability to © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 D. Gu, M. E. Dupre (eds.), Encyclopedia of Gerontology and Population Aging, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_246-1