August 2026

Join IFA for the International Day of Older Persons (IDOP)

The world has entered an age of longevity. As people live longer, preparing for the future requires coordinated action across health and care, employment, social protection, infrastructure, technology, financing and beyond.

As highlighted in UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ report to the 81st session of the General Assembly, longevity is not confined to a single sector. It is a cross-cutting governance issue that calls for coherent, whole-of-government approaches to address both the opportunities and challenges of longer lives.

To mark the International Day of Older Persons on 1 October 2026, IFA will host a global virtual dialogue bringing together colleagues from the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations, and countries around the world to explore progress, persistent gaps and priorities for action.

The discussion will spotlight multisectoral action and innovation, considering how the policies, partnerships and investments we make today can help build longevity-ready societies for decades to come.

IDOP Events Across the IFA Network

The 2026 International Day of Older Persons, “The Age of Longevity: Rethinking Systems for Longer Lives,” is an opportunity to connect ageing and longevity with the wider rights, systems and development agendas shaping our shared future. Across October, IFA will engage through a series of connected global moments.

Watch here

Watch on UN WebTV

Together, these engagements will help carry IFA network perspectives into Convention discussions, HLPF 2027 and the wider post-2030 agenda.

Help Shape the Future of Long-Term Care!

Join IFA for a Workshop on Engaging in the WHO Global Long-Term Care Standards Consultation

The World Health Organization has developed draft Global Standards for Long-term Care — an important opportunity to strengthen accessible, equitable, person-centred and high-quality long-term care systems around the world.

The success and relevance of these standards will depend on meaningful engagement from a diverse range of stakeholders, including older persons, caregivers, civil society organisations, providers, workforce representatives and community organisations.

Sharing lived experience, expertise and understanding of local contexts will help ensure the standards are practical, relevant and responsive to the realities of long-term care.

The International Federation on Ageing is hosting a virtual workshop to support our network and members in understanding the draft standards, sharing perspectives and engaging meaningfully in the WHO consultation.

The workshop will:

Explore the key domains and recommendations in the draft Global Standards for Long-Term Care.
Hear directly from WHO technical experts and ask questions about the standards and consultation process.
Provide initial feedback and perspectives on the draft standards.
Plan consultations within your own organisation, network or community.
Identify opportunities to bring diverse perspectives and experiences into the WHO consultation.

The session will move beyond understanding the draft standards to consider how organisations can engage their own networks and communities and bring their perspectives into the consultation process.

Join IFA and help ensure a broad range of voices contribute to shaping quality long-term care.

Learn more about the consultation here.

WHO ICOPE Implementation Webinar Series

The WHO Collaborating Centre for Frailty, Clinical & Geroscience Research, and Geriatric Training at IHU HealthAge Toulouse is launching a bilingual webinar series to support international exchange on the implementation of WHO’s Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) approach.

The first session, “Implementing the WHO ICOPE Programme,” will share lessons from France on national scale-up, rural and semi-rural implementation, and integration with Age-Friendly Cities and Communities:

The International Federation on Ageing (IFA), in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), invites you to join a global learning community committed to creating more inclusive, accessible and age-friendly environments.

Running from 28 September to 23 November 2026, the 4th AFE ECHO Programme brings together practitioners, policymakers, researchers, civil society organizations and community leaders from around the world to exchange knowledge, learn from real-world experiences and strengthen action on age-friendly environments.

Across five interactive sessions, participants will hear from subject matter experts and community case presenters, explore practical approaches and challenges, and engage in facilitated discussions with peers working across different regions and sectors.

*Participation is free and open to all, with AI assisted language translation services available.

Meet our Hub Team Experts:

Dr. Suzanne Garon, University of Sherbrooke and IFA Board of Directors
Dr. Kathleen Brasher, John Richards Centre for Rural Ageing Research in the La Trobe Rural Health School.
Natalie Turner, Centre for Ageing Better
Charlotte Lewis, Centre for Ageing Better
David McKinney, Older People's Commissioner for Wales

Advancing Pain Management in Later Life

Pain in later life is not solely a clinical issue. It intersects with healthy ageing, functional ability, social participation, workforce engagement, and the sustainability of health and care systems. Yet pain remains under-recognized and insufficiently prioritized within policy, research, and care delivery.

To advance dialogue and action, IFA convened the expert meeting Pain Management in Later Life: Aligning Evidence, Policy, and Action, bringing together cross-disciplinary stakeholders to identify shared challenges and opportunities for action.

Across the meeting, five key priority areas emerged:

Fragmented pain care across the life course
Workforce capacity and education on pain and ageing
Access to pain management for ageing populations
Equity, inclusion, and age-disaggregated data
Prevention across the life course of ageing

Together, these priorities provide a foundation for continued collaboration and evidence-informed action to strengthen pain management in the context of healthy ageing and longevity.

Read the Full Meeting Summary

Advancing Global Action on Healthy Ageing

From 31 August to 4 September, the Global Week for Action on NCDs calls for stronger leadership to turn global commitments on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) into action, investment and measurable progress.

As the world’s leading cause of death and disability, NCDs - including cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases and mental health conditions - have a significant impact on older people, making their inclusion in NCD prevention, policy and action essential.

Following the 2025 UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs and mental health, the coming years will be critical. For IFA, this includes ensuring older people and healthy ageing are firmly reflected in the global NCD agenda, with prevention and coordinated approaches central to progress.

This work is being advanced through initiatives including Elevating Older Persons and Healthy Ageing in the Global NCD Agenda and NCDs and Immunisation : Advancing Coordinated Advocacy and Action –supporting greater attention to older people, prevention and healthy ageing as global NCD commitments are translated into action.

Climate Resilience Has an Age Blind Spot

In this latest LinkedIn article, IFA Secretary, Mr. General Gregor Sneddon explores a critical gap in the climate conversation: the intersection between climate change and population ageing. As both trends reshape societies around the world, he calls for greater attention to the realities of longer lives when designing climate adaptation strategies, infrastructure, health and care systems, and emergency responses.

The article highlights the need to move beyond age-blind approaches and ensure that older people are considered not only in terms of vulnerability, but as active contributors to building more resilient communities.

Read the full article on LinkedIn.

Connecting the IFA Network

As IFA enters a busy period of member engagement and global influencing, members can expect more opportunities to connect, contribute expertise, and engage with colleagues across the network.

IFA will be sharing more regular member communications highlighting opportunities to participate in global policy processes, contribute perspectives and evidence, connect with others working on shared priorities, and help shape IFA’s work.

IFA members are encouraged to keep an eye on their inbox for upcoming member updates and invitations to engage.

For membership questions or to connect with the IFA team, contact membership@ifa.ngo

IFA Global Café New Series

This September, IFA launches Longevity Around the World: Regional Conversations on Becoming Longevity-Ready, a new Global Café series exploring how different regions are preparing for longer lives.

The series begins in South-East Asia on 18 September, with Dr Prakash Tyagi and Philip O’Keefe, examining how systems, communities and services can adapt to population ageing and longevity.

Each 60-minute public Café will be followed by a 30-minute networking session for IFA members.

Coming next:

22 October – Europe, with Siobhan Casey
11/12 November – Oceania, with Tom Symondson

Further regional conversations will continue through May 2027.

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