The WHO Global Network of Age friendly Communities and Cities
New Zealand organisations, communities or cities can join the WHO Global Network of Age friendly Communities and Cities.
About the network
In 2010, WHO established a Global Network of Age-friendly Cities and Communities in response to global population ageing and rapid urbanisation.
Global Network of Age-friendly Cities and Communities
The Global Network promotes the development of age friendly cities, sharing resources, and documenting good practice.
The network is growing rapidly and (in August 2020) it includes 1,000 communities across 41 countries, covering more than 240 million people worldwide. New Zealand became an affiliate of the WHO Global Network in 2018.
As part of the Network, the WHO has compiled toolkits and other resources from around the world, including:
Benefits of joining the network
Hamilton and New Plymouth were the first New Zealand cities to join the WHO Global Network and others plan to join in future. If your organisation or group intends to start working towards an age friendly community, you may consider joining the Global Network.
Joining:
- signals your community’s intention to become age friendly
- gives your work visibility
- provides a way of outlining the steps you will take to achieve this goal
- links you with the other members of this international community, providing access to ideas, resources and platforms for sharing information.
Joining the network
There is no fee to join the Global Network and applications to join can be made at any stage of an age friendly journey, whether your work is in the early stages or your programme is well established. The Office for Seniors can help with the application process, which requires:
- a local council letter of commitment
- a description of any age friendly activities to date and an outline of any assessments, strategies, or action plans that have been developed
- a summary of how older people have been engaged in the process and what cross-sectoral collaboration has occurred
- identification of what contribution your membership would add to the network.
There is an expectation that each Global Network member posts at least one new project to their WHO network profile page each year.
Membership to the Global Network
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