Daejeon City Certified for Joining WHO Age-friendly Cities International Network

Establishment of a 3-Year Implementation Plan with 4 Major Goals, 12 Strategies, and 59 Detailed Projects

Age-Friendly City Certification / Daejeon City

Daejeon City announced that it has been certified for membership in the Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities & Communities (GNAFCC) by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The city submitted its application in March and was recognized for its commitment and efforts to create an age-friendly environment in the community through WHO's evaluation across eight key domains.

As of May, there are over 1,540 cities from 52 countries registered as WHO age-friendly cities. To be certified for membership in the international network, cities must meet 84 guideline items across eight domains: outdoor environment, transportation, housing, leisure, employment, social respect, communication, and community support. The certification period is three years.

From April to November last year, the city conducted research including a survey on the elderly and Focus Group Interviews (FGI) to assess Daejeon's age-friendly conditions. Based on WHO's eight domains, it established a three-year implementation plan with four major goals, 12 strategies, and 59 detailed projects to promote an age-friendly city.

Mayor Lee Jang-woo of Daejeon said, "Joining the age-friendly city network is very meaningful as Daejeon's population aged 65 and over has exceeded 17%, approaching a super-aged society. We will do our best to discover and implement age-friendly policies that meet WHO standards and reflect local conditions so that seniors can enjoy a vibrant old age."

Meanwhile, as of the end of April, the elderly population in Daejeon is 249,778, accounting for 17.33% of the total population of 1,441,272.