DATE: 26 May 2022 (Thursday)
TIME: 9:00 - 10:40 EDT (New York) / 15:00 - 16:40 CEST (Geneva)
Ageing is a natural process. If we are lucky enough, sooner or later we may all experience later life firsthand, or because one of our relatives, friends or colleagues are already or getting closer to this stage of life.
Faced with this reality, the promotion and protection of the rights of older persons involve individuals and societies as a whole. This endeavour should be addressed in a comprehensive manner at local, national, regional, and international levels.
The interlinkages between ageing and frontier issues, understood as those matters that are not usually associated to a certain topic but indeed are significantly correlated, should also be understood to move forward from theory to practice.
In this regard, in this first event, UN entities will be sharing some information from their respective fields on existing initiatives and standards on the demographic worldwide scenario, gender data, human mobility, digital divide, and climate change as frontier issues to the rights of older persons. This space is envisaged as an opportunity to learn from ongoing efforts coming from multilateral scenarios, as well as the feasibility of its development.
Programme
- Welcoming remarks: UNITAR
- Keynote speaker: OHCHR
- Speakers
- UNFPA: Demographic worldwide scenario/trends, and its link with age based discrimination
- UN Women: Gender and data
- IOM: Human Mobility
- ITU: Digital divide
- WHO: Climate Change & Health
- Wrap-up message: INPEA, ILC GA, & NGO Committee on Ageing - Geneva
Background to the Virtual Roundtable Series
Throughout the years, different stakeholders have struggled for the effective promotion and protection of the human rights of older persons. As a result, landmark steps have been taken at international level to strengthen the protection of this group, including the UN Principles for older persons (1991), the adoption of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing in 2002, the creation of the Open-Ended Working Group for the purpose of strengthening the protection of the human rights of older persons (2010), the creation of the mandate for the UN Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons (2013), and the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021-2030), as well as the adoption of specific Resolutions in the framework of the UN General Assembly and the UN Human Rights Council.
While remarkable progresses in particular mechanisms, programs, projects, plans and campaigns have been developed to implement and follow up the commitments undertaken at local, national, regional, and international level, several challenges remain towards the full enjoyment of the rights of older persons.
Problems of ageism, together with gender and other causes of discrimination, as well as the intergenerational gap have increased due to different frontier issues, in particular new technologies, human mobility, and climate change.
In addition, there are still pending tasks to ensure the dignity and human rights of this group, particularly in accessing health and long-term care, life-long learning, the labour market as well as the prevention of abuse and violence.
In this regard, an integral approach is needed to maximize synergies and identify interlinkages across existing and future initiatives. A better understanding of missing elements can be useful to provide the necessary attention, resources, information, options for integration, and services for older persons, including those who are migrants or refugees. The experience coming from ageing place elderly people in a strategic position for supporting this endeavor.
In order to support this aspiration, UNITAR and its 24 International Training Centers for Authorities and Leaders, CIFAL Global Network, UNDESA, UNFPA, IOM, UNWOMEN, UNHCR, WHO, ITU, and OHCHR together with the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuses; the International Longevity Centre; and the Global Initiative on Ageing Foundation, GIA, have joined efforts to put together these Virtual Roundtable Series as a contribution to inclusive learning through enriching dialogues with and different stakeholders.
The first event will take place on the 26th of May, the 2nd one in June, the third one in September, the fourth one in October and the fifth one in December. Each event will take max 1 hour and 40 minutes.