Older adults (65+)

What is the initiative and where is it implemented (city or country, for example)?

Basic Literacy Classes for Older Persons is a current programme developed and implemented by a non-governmental organization, Ageing Nepal, that assists in empowering the elderly population by sharing basic literacy skills.

What is the initiative and where is it implemented (city or country, for example)?

The American University of Beirut is a teaching-centred research university founded in 1866 in Beirut, Lebanon. Its approach is based on the American liberal arts model of higher education.

The University of Third Age was first introduced in the second half of the twentieth century in France following legislation that assigned the responsibility of promoting lifelong learning to universities. The initiative gained international recognition, and U3As were established across all continents in more than 60 countries. The target audience of the U3As are people in the third age phase of their life, which is usually considered to be above 60 years of age; however, some universities offer the programme to people aged 50 and above.

The University of the Third Age (U3A) is an initiative targeted at individuals over 60 years of age who are eager to engage in different courses for the sake of personal development. It emerged in the second half of the twentiethth century, beginning in France and spreading, first across Europe and, eventually, Asia (Formosa, 2000). Lebanon became a host to the only U3A in the Arab world – the University for Seniors (UfS) at the American University of Beirut (Chahine and Sibai, 2019).

As Thailand ranks second in having the most rapidly growing ageing population, the Cheongdoi municipality decided to take necessary steps to care for and provide development opportunities for its elderly population. With a very limited time to prepare a response to demographic change, all sectors require economic and social restructuring and enhanced collaboration to address the needs of an elderly society (Punyakaew et al., 2019).