Dr. Alexandre Sidorenko is an expert on national and international policy on ageing. His current assignments and affiliations: Senior Advisor, European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research (Vienna, Austria); International Tutor, International Institute on Ageing (United Nations-Malta); Vice Chair, HelpAge International Board of Trustees (London, United Kingdom); Member, Societal Advisory Board for the Joint Programming Initiative More years, better lives (European Union).

Previously, he served as the Chief of the Population Unit, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (Geneva, Switzerland, 2010); Head of the United Nations Programme on Ageing (Vienna – New York, 1988-2009). Within the United Nations, he acted as Coordinator of the International Year of Older Persons (1999). He also coordinated the substantive preparations of the Second World Assembly on Ageing, including the drafting the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, and the global follow-up activities to the Assembly.

Prof. Rosette Farrugia-Bonello is Deputy Director at the International Institute on Ageing, United Nations-Malta (INIA).  Previously she worked as Co-ordinator at Caritas Malta HelpAge (1996-1999) and as Executive Director of the European Association of Homes and Services for the Ageing (EAHSA), Brussels, Belgium (2012-2015). Rosette graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Communication studies and with a Post-Graduate in Gerontology and Geriatrics from the University of Malta. Part of her undergraduate studies were conducted at Clarion University in Pennsylvania, USA. Rosette also holds a Master of Science in Dementia Studies from the University of Stirling, Scotland, and is a certified Montessori Dementia Care Professional (CMDCP). Over the past years, Rosette has actively engaged with various educational initiatives and human capacity-building training programmes on ageing. Her global reach extends to countries such as China, Dominican Republic, Georgia, India, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Nepal and United Arab Emirates.  Rosette has served as a programme coordinator with the University of the Fourth Age (U4A) in Malta, serves as an honorary member of TATA Institute of Social Sciences, India (TISS); chief editor of INIA’s International Journal on Ageing in Developing Countries and Vice-President of the Maltese Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics (MAGG). Her research interests are in dementia studies, healthy and active ageing and ageism.