From: Lisa WARTH [mailto:Lisa.WARTH@unece.org] On Behalf Of Ageing
Sent: 01 June, 2017 18:44
To: Ageing
Subject: Draft Ministerial Declaration on Ageing - first intergovernmental consultation round ends on 7 June 2017

Message sent on behalf of Ms Vitalija Gaucaite Wittich, Chief, Population Unit, UNECE

Dear National Focal Points on Ageing

I would like to draw your attention to the 7 June deadline  for expressing your country's position and providing suggestions for changes or comments on the draft Ministerial Declaration.

I am copying below, for easy reference, the message that I sent you at the end of April outlining the consultation process in the run up to the conference.

Do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions.

We look forward to hearing from you.

With best regards,

Vitalija

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Dear National Focal Points on Ageing

We are pleased to launch the formal intergovernmental consultation on the draft text of the Ministerial Declaration. 

The attached declaration draft was cleared for consultation by the WGA Bureau at its meeting on 3-4 April 2017. It was prepared taking into account the comments received on draft zero of the declaration, which was discussed extensively at the ninth meeting of the Working Group on Ageing in November 2016.

This week we have sent a note to UNECE member states through the permanent missions in Geneva outlining the intergovernmental consultation process as follows:

Intergovernmental consultation process

First round: 25 April - 7 June 2017
The secretariat invites national focal points/representatives of all UNECE member States to carefully review the revised document and to coordinate their country's position on it. At this stage it is crucial for the secretariat to learn whether the respective ministries/offices are able to consent to the specific formulations of the attached text. The deadline for expressing your country’s position and providing suggestions for changes or comments for improvement is 7 June 2017. After this date the secretariat together with the Declaration Drafting Group will incorporate all suggestions as appropriate and will finalize the draft text of the Ministerial Declaration.

Second round: 21 June - 10 July 2017
The secretariat will send out the finalized text of the Ministerial Declaration indicating the revised elements for further approval by member States if necessary.

Final text of the Ministerial Declaration - ready by 24 July 2017
(last amendments, if needed, on 19 September 2017)
The secretariat, together with the Declaration Drafting Group, envisages finalizing the text of the declaration by 24 July. This final draft of the declaration will be presented for adoption at the UNECE Ministerial Conference on Ageing in Lisbon on 22 September 2017.

Ministerial Conference on Ageing, 20-22 September 2017 in Lisbon, Portugal

Member State Delegations – nominations by 3 July 2017

We also attach the latest draft of the programme for the Ministerial Conference. Please note that all member States are invited to inform UNECE about the nomination of their delegations by 3 July 2017. We would appreciate it if you could also inform us about the possible attendance of your respective ministers and indicate the ministerial roundtable in which they would like to actively participate. Please note that the first and second ministerial roundtables on 22 September will be reserved for ministers/heads of delegations only, while civil society representatives will take part in the high-level panel on "Recognizing the Potential of older persons: Intergenerational perspective".

Kindly contact me with your comments and information about participation by sending an email to vitalia.gaucaite@unece.org with a copy to ageing@unece.org.

(See attached file: Draft Ministerial Declaration on Ageing-April 2017.docx)(See attached file: Provisional programme (with potential speakers) rev.pdf)

Kind regards,

Vitalija