A/RES/54/24 Page 4 6. Also urges Governments to take appropriate action to combat discrimination based on age; 7. Requests the Economic and Social Council and all its appropriate subsidiary bodies, in particular the Commission for Social Development, as well as the Executive Board of the United Nations Development Programme and the legislative and policy-making bodies of the concerned specialized agencies and intergovernmental organizations, to give careful consideration to the issue of ageing; 8. Encourages States Parties to include in their reports to the Committee on Human Rights, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights information on older persons; 9. Welcomes activities in the field of ageing by United Nations funds and programmes, in particular the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Population Fund, as well as specialized agencies, including the World Health Organization, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the International Labour Organization and the Bretton Woods institutions, and encourages them to continue to support activities in the field of ageing; 10. Stresses the importance of national follow-up activities to the International Year of Older Persons through involving older persons and consulting them on their needs; 11. Encourages regional initiatives to follow up on the International Year of Older Persons and to provide inputs into the process of revision of the International Plan of Ac tion on Ageing, given the fact that different regions and countries are at different stages of population ageing and need to identify specific policy responses in order to achieve the goal of “A society for all ages”; 12. Takes note with appreciation of the offer by the Government of Germany to host a regional ministerial conference on ageing under the aegis of the Economic Commission for Europe in 2002; 13. Notes that there is a need for guidelines and recommendations reflecting the current situation of societies and older persons in order to design and support adequate age-related policies; 14. Decides to entrust the Commission for Social Development with the revision of the International Plan of Action on Ageing and the elaboration of a long-term strategy on ageing, based on new developments since 1982 and on the experience of the International Year of Older Persons in 1999, with a view to the adoption of a revised plan of action and of a long-term strategy on ageing in 2002; 15. Requests the Secretary-General to consult Governments, intergovernmental organizations and nongovernmental organizations in the preparation of a draft revised plan of action, including proposals on a review mechanism, to be submitted to the Commission for Social Development in 2001; 16. Endorses the request of the Commission for Social Development in its resolution 37/2, to the Secretariat, to incorporate, as feasible, the experiences, policies and best practices reported by States into a long-term strategy on ageing, encompassing periodic reviews, for the consideration of the General Assembly at its fifty-sixth session in 2001; /...