Rights of Older Persons at stake: NHRIs at 11th Session of UN Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing
Mariam Tavdgiridze, a representative of the Office of the Public Defender of Georgia, and Anna Chabiera, a representative of the Office of the Polish Commissioner for Human Rights, prepared and published an article “Rights of Older Persons at stake: NHRIs at the 11th Session of UN Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing” for the website of the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI).
The article reviews the role of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) in advancing the rights of older people at the UN level, including the participation in the 11th Session of the UN Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing (UN OEWG on Ageing). By taking part in the session, European NHRIs demonstrated the intention of leading the rallying for a UN Convention on the Rights of Older Persons. Under the very leadership of Polish and Georgian NHRIs, other European NHRIs were also involved in the above session.
The 11th Session of the United Nations Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing took place remotely from 29 March to 1 April 2021, in the wider context of the Covid-19 pandemic, which made violations of the rights of older persons around the globe even more visible and painful. The OEWG on Ageing represents the sole international forum dedicated to voicing concerns regarding the violation of the rights of older persons, and for discussing concrete actions to improve their promotion and protection.
In addition to a High-Level Panel on the pandemic and the rights of older persons, participants provided substantive inputs on the topics of education and life-long learning, social protection and security, the right to work, etc.
A joint statement of NHRIs and CSOs was presented on the need to develop and adopt a new Convention on the Rights of Older Persons. The statement was prepared and advocated by the Polish and Georgian National Human Rights Institutions. The statement is signed by 51 organizations. The statement reads that the process of advocating for the adoption of a binding international instrument should be led by Europe.
Protection and promotion of the rights of older persons is one of the important activities of the Georgian Public Defender’s Office. Accordingly, the Office will continue to be actively involved in advocating for the rights of older people at the UN level and will participate in the 12th Session of the UN Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing.
