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Overview
Global Action on Aging
advocates at the United Nations (UN) in New York to build a better
society for older people across the globe. Older persons’ numbers are
increasing rapidly. One out of every ten persons is now 60 years or above;
by 2050, one out of five will be 60 years or older. UN Member States
correctly see this growth among the elderly as a tremendous economic and
social challenge for their countries and the world. At the same time,
governments agree with Global Action on Aging that the world’s elderly
offer great talent and energy to their nations and our world.
In April 2002, delegates of 160 governments, intergovernmental institutions
and NGOs came together at the United Nations Second
World Assembly on Ageing in Madrid, Spain, in order to revise the 1982
Vienna Plan on Ageing which had established a global long-term
strategy for the aging population.
The 2002 Assembly’s outcome document, the Madrid
International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA) , commits governments
to integrate the rights and needs of older persons into national, as well as
international, economic and social development policies.
However, this MIPAA document is non-binding and UN Member States may choose
to implement the Plan or not. Many millions of vulnerable old people, in
both the developed and developing world, still experience abuse, poverty and
social exclusion today. The rights of older people need to be better defined
and protected. Global Action on Aging believes that an Aging Human Rights
Convention (or Treaty), if adopted, promises a better world for older
persons.
This Aging Watch section monitors reports and decisions of the UN system,
with regard to the follow-up of MIPAA and the process toward the adoption of
a UN Convention protecting the rights of older persons.
To read some background documents on aging at the United Nations,
click here.
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Newest Updates
Third Committee Urges UN Member States to Protect the Rights of Older Women in Rural Areas (November 2009)
The UN General Assembly Third Committee recently urged Member States to protect the rights of older women living in rural areas. The 2009 draft resolution focuses on improving the situation of rural women, highlighting the vulnerability of indigenous older women. Many older women in rural areas do not enjoy the right to health care, freedom from violence, property and inheritance, water, food, and political participation.
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Follow-up to the Second World Assembly on Ageing (October 22, 2009)
After many debates, the Third Committee adopted its resolution A/C.3/64/L.6 on aging. In it, Member States request the Secretary-General to “submit to the General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session, […], a comprehensive report on the current status of the social situation, wellbeing, development and rights of older persons at the national and regional levels.” Committee members re-affirmed the importance of the UN, its Regional Commissions, as well as national and international non-governmental organizations in assuring the rights of older persons.
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Report on Third Follow Up to the Brasilia Declaration of 2007 Calling for a UN Convention or a Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Older Person (October 6, 2009)
Susanne Paul, GAA President, was invited to join government experts and NGOs from Latin America to discuss the possibility of a regional convention for older persons. Susanne Paul described to the participants the world-wide NGO aging movement and gave special attention to the NY NGO Committee in Ageing’s Subcommittee to Promote a Human Rights Convention. She described the intent of the Subcommittee to educate its constituencies about the history of human rights activism as well as offer basic education around what a convention can accomplish, to describe the processes leading to adoption and to involve world citizens in the debate.
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General Assembly
Secretariat
ECOSOC
UN Funds and Programs
Conventions
NGOs
Focal
Points on Aging
The
UN Secretariat Building
in New York, US
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