UN move to draft a convention on rights of older people ‘a major step forward’

4 April 2025

Responding to today's resolution by the UN Human Rights Council to establish a working group tasked with drafting an international treaty on the human rights of older people, Elena Sergi, Amnesty International's Crisis Response Programme Campaigner, said:

"The UN Human Rights Council has taken a major step forward. Today represents a milestone in the fight for the protection of older peoples' rights.

"Despite the growing number of older people in the world, their rights often remain overlooked. The need to properly recognize and protect human rights in older age is greater now than ever before."

Elena Sergi, Amnesty International's Crisis Response Programme Campaigner

"A comprehensive legal framework to combat age-based discrimination is long overdue. Now, the full and meaningful participation of civil society and organizations representing older people is essential in ensuring the next steps are effective."

Background

Existing international human rights treaties do not explicitly prohibit age-based discrimination, nor do they specifically highlight state obligations towards older people.

For years, Amnesty International and other organizations have highlighted human rights abuses against older people, and advocated for a legally binding instrument to strengthen and promote their rights.

Assessments from the UN Open Ended Working Group on Ageing, the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and other organizations representing older people all show that the current international human rights system is failing older people.

Amnesty International has documented older people's experiences in conflict and crisis situations, exposing the weak or non-existent protections of their rights, and also launched the Age Loud! campaign to call for change.

A dedicated UN convention will improve the understanding of older people's rights and articulate a clear set of obligations for their protection at the national level.

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