Upon the establishment of the International Institute on Ageing, United Nations-Malta (INIA), it was immediately envisaged and planned that the organisational experience acquired from the Malta-based training programmes should be transplanted overseas as ‘in-situ’ programmes. These were modelled on the same pattern with a complement of local staff in addition to INIA’s international lecturers and other invited lecturers.

The obvious advantage of the ‘in-situ’ programmes is that the training can be specifically tailored as appropriate to, and rooted in, local socio-economic conditions and needs. The participants are generally involved in similar tasks and responsibilities and more familiar with the national, regional and local cultural situations. This enables policy discussions throughout the training programme to be more focused and culturally sensitive than INIA’s customary training programmes. Furthermore, the ‘in-situ’ programmes are more varied and interdisciplinary in nature, and dealing with a range of various issues. It is also expected that in each locality the programme will be regularly repeated and even further developed through local initiative and resources, so that the numbers of both trainees and trainers will rapidly multiply.

The first ‘in-situ’ training programme was held in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1995. Over the years, the number of ‘in-situ’ training programmes has increased beyond expectation. To date, INIA held 96 ‘in-situ’ training programmes in 27 developing countries, which included as much as 3,009 participants.

In the past two decades, INIA held regional or national training programmes in the following countries: Azerbaijan, Barbados, Belarus, Federative Republic of Brazil, People’s Republic of China, Czech Republic, Egypt, Republic of Ghana, Republic of India, Kazakhstan, State of Kuwait, Republic of Macedonia, Malaysia, United Mexican States, Republic of Moldova, Republic of Panama, Republic of the Philippines, State of Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Republic of Singapore, Republic of South Africa, Kingdom of Thailand, Tunisian Republic, Republic of Turkey, Ukraine and United Arab Emirates. This extraordinary list of countries showcases INIA’s positive impact and influence on global, regional and local policies on ageing welfare.

Bona fide organisations are to contact INIA to explore the possibility of collaborative ventures in the organisation of ‘in-situ’ programmes in their respective country.