2023 is the European Year of Skills
The aim of the 2023 European Year of Skills is to address skills shortages in the European Union and boost the EU skills strategy, which will help reskill 6 million people and focus on digital and green technology skills. This will require helping people get the right skills for quality jobs and helping companies, in […]
Amnesty new web page on older people’s rights supports a UN Convention
Amnesty International has created a new page on older people’s rights on its website. On this web page, Amnesty argues in favour of a United Nations’ Convention on the rights of older persons as a key step toward protecting rights in old age. While certain groups are protected by international conventions – including children, women, […]
AGE President brings older people’s voice at the EU high-level meeting on Active and Autonomous Ageing
Last February, AGE President Ebbe Johansen participated in a panel discussion of the High-Level meeting on Active and Autonomous Ageing organised by the Swedish Presidency of the European Union. The event discussed the challenges and opportunities of an ageing population, with a focus on longer and sustainable working lives and retaining a skilled workforce in […]
Council Recommendation on Minimum income: ‘Not enough to fight poverty’
The European Anti-Poverty Network, of which AGE is a member, has published its position on the recently adopted Council Recommendation on Minimum Income. AGE fully supports the statement by EAPN, which lauds the step taken by the adoption of the Recommendation but regrets that it is not a binding instrument like a Framework Directive. Across […]
WHO Forum explored ‘Health in the Well-being Economy’
How can a well-being economy approach create healthy, fairer and more resilient societies for today and the next generation? This was the question discussed at a high-level forum of the World Health Organization (WHO) on 1-2 March. Dr. Liz Mestheneos from our Greek member 50+ Hellas moderated a panel discussion which explored the complexity of […]
Towards a resilient future of Europe: FutuRes kicks off
What does resilience in older people mean? How can we strengthen it while ensuring their rights are respected? This is what the new EU-funded project FutuRes, kicked off last March, will explore. As a partner in this project, AGE Platform Europe will address the aspects of human-rights and non-discrimination. From 6 to 7 March 2023, […]
The complex gender face of digital exclusion in old age
Contribution from OWN Europe to International Women’s Day, 8 March 2023 Europe is the most digitally connected region in the world with nearly 90% of the population being online[1]. While most policy makers look proudly at this achievement, this general figure hides huge disparities between countries and population subgroups. Large numbers of people in Europe […]
Strengthening older people’s rights : AGE contribution at United Nations’ level
Ahead of the 13th Session of the United Nations’ Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing (OEWG13), AGE contributed to the call for written submissions and contributed to the global #AgeWithRights Campaign. AGE written contributions for OEWG13 We organized webinars with members to make the voice of older people heard in the Chair’s call for input. Based […]
A comprehensive approach of mental health at EU level: our contribution
The pandemic and the consequences of the war in Ukraine have put the mental health of Europe’s population under strain and brought this issue to the forefront of the EU’s agenda. We took part in an EU consultation on mental health, in which we stressed the need for a human rights-based approach that takes into […]
Advocating for the rights of older people in the context of EU accession for Balkan countries
From 23 to 24 January 2023, our Human Rights and Research Project officer, Apolline Parel, went to Belgrade to deliver training on ‘Engaging with policymakers and advocating for policy change in the process of EU accession’, as part of the COVID resilience project, in which we are a partner. The Covid Resilience project aims to complete […]
AGE Greek member stresses the challenges of age-friendly workplaces at UN event
The United Nations Commission for Social Development held its 61st Session in New York from 6th to 15th February. Mr Vassili Louziotis from AGE Greek organisation 50+ Hellas participated in one of the side events on “Intergenerational Dialogue and participation as a tool to create full and productive employment and decent work for all, overcome […]
Drawing lessons from COVID to safeguard democracy and fundamental rights in the EU
The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered radical and unprecedented measures in Europe and around the world. Some of these measures have been pointed out as violating basic human rights. Three years after the outbreak of the pandemic in Europe, the European Parliament is looking at the impact of EU’s response on democracy and fundamental rights and […]
Future of Social Protection – High-Level Group makes a strong case for social investment, with technical itches
As an outcome of the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan, the European Commission has created a High-Level Group of Experts to reflect on the mega trends impacting social protection and welfare in the EU in the medium term. After more than one year, the group, composed of academics, presented its final report […]
AGE and members involved in mentoring across borders project
MAB project team AGE and two of its members – Hellas 50+ and Cyprus Third Age Observatory – participate in a new EU-funded project on mentoring across borders that was kicked-off in Brussels on 25-27 January 2023. Mentoring Across Borders (MAB) aims to support, through lifelong learning, the educational, professional and personal development of people […]
Contribute to UN consultation on elder abuse
The Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons will focus her 2023 thematic report to the Human Rights Council on violence, neglect and abuse of older persons. This annual report by the Independent Expert is an important way to raise awareness of the rights violations that older people face and […]
2023: Paving the way for a new vision of age
After two years of a pandemic that took a heavy toll on the population and shook the economy in Europe and the world, we were hoping for some respite last year. But the Russian invasion of Ukraine came as a brutal clash with our peaceful reality, and its multiple consequences has put an increasing number […]
Civil society mobilisation for the rights of older people: Join a global survey
The Global Alliance for the Rights of Older People (GAROP) is collaborating with Dr. Caroline Green at Kings College London on a research project entitled ‘Civil Society Mobilisation for the Rights of Older Persons: Facilitators, barriers and support needs.’ The purpose of this research is to understand the facilitators and barriers that older people’s organisations […]
Be part of research: Join a panel of patients for guidelines to reduce insomnia
The EU-funded project BE-SAFE aims to develop and test a multidisciplinary strategy to reduce the use of sleeping pills for older adults with insomnia. The project, led by the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL, Belgium), is recruiting patients to be part of a panel for the developement of guidelines in cooperation with the project partners. […]
