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 on our members’ experiences and views, we contributed to the call on the two new focus areas, on the “Right to Health and Access to Health Services” and “Social Inclusion“. We also proposed normative content for the development of a new convention as it relates to “Economic Security” and the “Contribution of Older Persons to Sustainable Development.”
In our answer on the right to health, we highlighted gaps in public health care systems and how the absence of a comprehensive legal framework against age discrimination makes it difficult to address ageism in health care settings.
Our input on social inclusion focused on inequalities faced by groups of older people experiencing multiple discrimination and marginalization as well as on age limits in policy and law that impede full participation in society.
In our contribution on normative content, we made proposals on measures and special considerations that need to be undertaken by states to protect and fulfill the rights to economic security and participation in old age.
Read our positions on the OEWG13 website.
AGE participation in #AgeWithRights campaign
From 27th February to 5th March 2023, the Global Alliance for the Rights of Older People launched its Global Rally to call for better protection of the rights of older people. The objective of this campaign was to mobilise older people’s human rights defenders around the world and call on governments to take action ahead of the upcoming OEWG13.
As a member of the Global Alliance, we participated in this campaign, bringing the voices of some of our members on social media and arguing in favour of a UN Convention for the rights of older people.
More specifically, we have shown how the UN Convention would help to fill the gaps in existing legislation and better protect the human rights of older people in practice. In all areas of daily life, ageism and age discrimination hinder the implementation of existing rights, with negative consequences for each of us in old age and for society as a whole.
Using the hashtag: #AgeWithRights, to follow the campaign on Twitter or Facebook.
AGE will follow closely the sessions of the OEWG13 and we will report back to members in an internal debrief on the 18th April. In case you want to learn more about this meeting, you may contact Nena Georgantzi: nena.georgantzi@age-platform.eu.
More information
- Discover what would be the added-value of a UN convention
- Learn about the UN Open-Ended Working Group and how NGOs can get involved
- #AgeWithRights campaign
