Rights of Older Persons

LATEST UPDATES

The Human Rights Council (HRC) at its 58^th session, adopted resolution A/HRC/RES/58/13 in which it decided to establish and open-ended intergovernmental working group with the mandate of elaborating and submitting to the Human Rights Council a draft international legally binding instrument on the human rights of older persons with the objective of promoting protecting and ensuring the full enjoyment of human rights by older persons.

The Human Rights Council also decided that the working group will meet for two-five day sessions each year in Geneva and that the organizational session should be held before the end of 2025 and no later than the start of the sixty-first session of the Human Rights Council (in February 2026), for three working days. It also requested the intergovernmental working group to submit a report on progress made to the to the Council at its sixty-third session (September 2026).

* * * * *

The NGO Committee on Ageing is committed to protecting and promoting the rights of older persons everywhere, irrespective of their economic and social situation. It does so by encouraging and facilitating its members to advocate for older persons in a number of ways:

Participating (those that have ECOSOC consultative status) in intergovernmental meetings at the United Nations, by making statements, oral and written, to call attention to the concerns of older persons, ensuring their visibility and inclusion in intergovernmental recommendations for action;
Participating in side and parallel events that are organized during intergovernmental meetings, usually by other NGOs, to ensure that the concerns of older persons are fully recognized and where actions can be taken;
Networking with NGOs that focus on other issues (women, persons with disabilities, youth, migrants, human rights, health, education, employment, social protection, environment, sustainable development, etc. etc.) to ensure that older persons are included in their recommendations for action;
Joining the Stakeholder Group on Ageing (SGA), established for ensuring the inclusion of older persons in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (https://www.stakeholdergrouponageing.org/) The NGO COA is a member of the SGA.
Joining the Global Alliance for the Rights of Older People (GAROP) whose mission is to support and enhance civil society’s engagement at national, regional and international levels on the need for a new international instrument on the rights of older persons: (https://rightsofolderpeople.org/mission-vision-values/). (The NGO COA is an ex officio member of GAROP’s Steering Group.)

* * * * *

The NGO COA has been deeply involved in the work of the United Nations Open-ended Working Group on Ageing (OEWGA) from its establishment in 2010 until 2024 when the General Assembly decided that the OEWGA had completed its work (see above reference to General Assembly resolution 78/324 adopted on 13 August 2024. The NGO COA Subcommittee to Promote a Human Rights Convention for Older Persons, in its advocacy activities, works closely with:

The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs/Programme on Ageing Unit (https://social.un.org/ageing-working-group/)
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/OlderPersons/Pages/OlderPersons/Index.aspx)
The Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons (https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/OlderPersons/IE/Pages/IEOlderPersons.aspx)
Global Alliance for the Rights of Older People (GAROP) (https://rightsofolderpeople.org/mission-vision-values/)
The Group of Friends of Older Persons, comprising 25 Member States that have pledged to support efforts for an international legal instrument to protect the rights of older persons: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Slovenia, South Africa, Trinidad & Tobago, Uruguay.

It is expected that work on protecting the rights of older persons, particularly in the context of the feasibility of an international legally binding instrument, will be shifting to Geneva, where the Human Rights Council is located. At the same time, the NGO-COA will continue its work in New York as listed above, particularly in the context of preparations for the high-level meeting to be convened by the President of the 79th session of the General Assembly.

Open-Ended Working Group On Ageing

The Open-ended Working Group on Ageing (OEWGA), was established by the United Nations General Assembly resolution 65/182 in 2010 to consider “the existing international framework of the human rights of older persons and identifying possible gaps and how best to address them, including by considering, as appropriate, the feasibility of further instruments and measures”. The General Assembly, in its resolution 78/324 adopted on 13 August 2024, decided that the OEWGA has completed its work, in view of OEWGA’s adoption of decision 14/1 (https://undocs.org/A/AC.278/2024/2).

Additional information, United Nations website: https://social.un.org/ageing-working-group/

Background Material - here

Reports of the OEWGA:

2024: https://undocs.org/A/AC.278/2024/2

2023: https://undocs.org/A/AC.278/2023/2

2022: https://undocs.org/A/AC.278/2022/2

2021: https://undocs.org/A/AC.278/2021/2

2019: https://undocs.org/A/AC.278/2019/2

2018: https://undocs.org/A/AC.278/2018/2

2017: http://undocs.org/A/AC.278/2017/2

2016: http://undocs.org/A/AC.278/2016/2

2015: http://undocs.org/A/AC.278/2015/2

2014: http://undocs.org/A/AC.278/2014/2

2013: http://undocs.org/A/AC.278/2013/2

2012: http://undocs.org/A/AC.278/2012/1

2011: http://undocs.org/A/AC.278/2011/4 

2011: http://undocs.org/A/AC.278/2011/5  

Additional information on third session of the OEWGA

Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons

The Human Rights Council, in its resolution A/HRC/RES/24/20 of 27 September 2013 appointed an independent expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons for three years. The first Independent Expert was Ms. Rosa Kornfeld-Matte (Chile), whose term was extended for an additional three years, to 2019 (A/HRC/RES/33/5 of 29 September 2016). The Human Rights Council, in its resolution A/HRC/RES/42/12 of 26 September 2019, extended the mandate with the appointment of Ms. Claudia Mahler (Germany) for three years. Her appointment was extended for another three years by the Human Rights Council in its resolution A/HRC/RES/51/4 of 6 October 2022.

Following the 13th session of the OEWGA (3-6 April 2023) Ms Claudia Mahler provided her reflections at the NGO COA event on 4 May 2023. View video presentation here.

Claudia’s slide presentation is available here.

Reports of the Independent Expert:

Future generations of older persons (https://undocs.org/A/79/167)
Legal capacity and informed consent (https://undocs.org/A/HRC/57/42)
Violence against and abuse and neglect of older persons (https://undocs.org/A/HRC/54/26)
Rights of older persons in the context of climate change-induced disasters and how to build forward more equally (https://undocs.org/A/78/26)
Older persons and the right to adequate housing (https://undocs.org/A/77/239)
Older persons deprived of liberty (https://undocs.org/A/HRC/51/27)
Ageism and age discrimination (https://undocs.org/A/HRC/48/53)
Human rights of older women: the intersection between ageing and gender, 2021 (https:undocs.org/A/76/157)
Impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, 2020 (https://undocs.org/A/75/205)
Human rights of older persons: The Data Gap, 2020 (https://undocs.org/A/HRC/45/14)
Enjoyment of all human rights by older persons – in emergency situations, 2019 (https://undocs.org/A/HRC/42/43)
Social exclusion: concepts, manifestations and the impact of the human rights of older persons, 2018 (https://undocs.org/A/HRC/39/50)
Robots and rights: the impact of automation on the human rights of older persons, 2017 (https://undocs.org/A/HRC/36/48)
Comprehensive report, 2016 (https://undocs.org/A/HRC/27/46)
Autonomy and care of older persons, 2015 (https://undocs.org/A/HRC/30/43)
First report, 2014 (https://undocs.org/A/HRC/27/46)