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IFA's 9th Global Conference on Ageing Update - Introducing but a few of the speakers you will meet in Montreal
Dr Robert Butler - Leading the International Longevity Center USA, Dr. Butler is the ILC-USA's President and CEO. Dr. Butler has worked tirelessly for decades to push population-aging issues into the public discourse. A Pulitzer Prize Winning Author, a gerontologist and psychiatrist, Dr. Butler recognized discrimination against the elderly as early as 1968, coining the term "ageism".
Ms Valerie Fletcher - Executive Director of the Institute for Human Centered Design, an international educational non-profit organization based in Boston, Massachusetts. A former Deputy Commissioner of Mental Health in Massachusetts, she oversaw the participatory planning process that redirected $74m from institutional care to community support systems.
Ms Enid Borden - President and Chief Executive Officer of the Meals On Wheels Association of America (MOWAA), the oldest and largest organization in the United States representing those who provide meal services to people in need.
Ms Ann Soden - A Montreal lawyer developing the growing field of Elder Law in Canada, Ann Soden is the Founding Chair of the National Elder Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association (CBA), Chair of the Quebec Elder Law Section of the CBA, a founding Director of the Canadian and Quebec Networks for the Prevention of Elder Abuse.
Mr Yoshinobu Ishikawa - Governor of Shizuoka Prefecture since 1993, Yoshinobu Ishikawa conducted Japan's first administrative restructuring of Prefectural management and in the course doing so, Universal Design was positioned as a primary concept of the prefectural administration.
Ms Ruth Marks - The newly appointed Commissioner for Older People in Wales, a first for a position of this type in Europe and perhaps across the globe. As well as looking at the interests of older people as a whole, the commissioner will be able to look at the effects that public bodies, such as the Welsh Assembly and NHS, have on them, and may publish reports on recommendations for change. The government of is setting an example for others to follow.
Other Conference News: Senior Government Officials Meeting: Up to 70 senior government officials and Ministers with responsibility for ageing will meet in Montreal on 4 September 2008. In the face of increasing population ageing the IFA will host a facilitated workshop and forum to examine current trends in policy and practice as they relate to Ageing-in-Place. The meeting programme will be based on mutual interest of delegates designed to promote dialogue and interaction among delegates some of whom may represent countries who are well advanced to those countries who have not yet been able to tackle the problem. Governments are creating livable communities through a range of ageing-in-place initiatives.
The planned Senior Government Officials meeting will provide the opportunity for government officials to showcase ageing-in-place best practice and to hear first hand how other governments are responding to the same issue.
Governments who have not yet expressed interest in attending the meeting should contact Mr Greg Shaw at gshaw@ifa-fiv.org or by telephone on +1 514 396 3358.
Abstract deadlines have now been extended to 30 May 2008 - Share what you are doing to improve the quality of life of our older citizens. Visit the website for the latest information and developments: www.ageingdesignmontreal.ca | 
International Federation on Ageing 
The workshop, arranged by The Public Health Agency of Canada through the Division of Ageing and Seniors' and the Provence of Nova Scotia Health Agency, was the second workshop to be held, the first being in Winnipeg in 2007. 
Over the past few decades, many diverse documents concerning the rights and status of the aged have been prepared at the international level.
The editors of this collection of documents are active and known international elder law scholars. Dr Israel Doron teaches elder law at Haifa University and has published and presented various papers regarding international dimensions of elder law and older persons' rights.