In its 7th session, which took place in December 2016, the Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing (OEWG) of the United Nations (UN) decided to discuss during its next meeting scheduled for July 2017 the topics of age discrimination and elder abuse. Member States, NGOs and National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) were asked to reply to list of questions discussing elements that could be included in a new UN convention on the rights of older persons. Although the UN has not reached a consensus about the need to draft such a new treaty, it is believed that this debate on the potential content of a new convention will allow stakeholders have a better view of the issues at stake.
AGE replied to the call for input that will feed into the next session of the UN Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing. Together with its members and through consultations of the different task forces AGE has prepared two short documents based on the guidelines provided by the UN. In preparation for our participation to the 8th session, we also intend to prepare two additional documents, which will be based on the discussions we will have on the issues of elder abuse and discrimination in the frame of our Annual Conference and General Assembly.
You may find AGE’s contributions in the links below:
AGE also participated in an informal group of experts which submitted separate views on the two themes:
- Positions of informal groups of experts (supported by AGE) on discrimination
- Position of informal groups of experts (supported by AGE) on elder abuse
In these papers AGE highlights some of the achievements across the EU but also existing discrepancies among Member States in terms of protection and information on older people’s rights.
The input provided by governments and civil society will be used as background for the debate in July.
More information:
- To learn more about the outcomes of the 2017 OEWG session and the way forward you may read this articles published in January and Special Briefing (January 2017).
- To access all the contributions sent to the OEWG: https://social.un.org/ageing-working-group/eighthsession.shtml
For further information, you may also contact Nena Georgantzi or Borja Arrue