International Day of Older Persons

This event will bring together decision-maker leaders from government, business, NGOs, global institutions, and academia worldwide to contribute to creating solutions that impact all of society through a different perspective on our aging population.

The goal of the interventions on December 3 is to connect the work of the private and public sectors to the advancement of the SDGs in the context of the Decade of Healthy Ageing, recognizing that:

Our societies are already profoundly affected by the mega-trend of aging – where we live well into our 80s, 90s, and even our 100s, and there are more old than young people in society. This means that into the Silver Economy is a pillar of sustainable economies overall. That we must change our thoughts about work and retirement and impact our health system's.

The U.N. Decade of Healthy Ageing allows governments, businesses, and other societal stakeholders to collaborate to add life to years and combat ageism, create age-friendly environments, provide integrated care, and ensure access to long-term care. In doing so, activities undertaken to support the Decade of Healthy Ageing improve the lives of older people worldwide, which also powerfully affects us all at whatever age, thereby contributing to achieving the goals of the SDGs by 2030.

Understanding how the Silver Economy will change our society and adapting business strategies and public policy to deal with the challenges and opportunities of the coming demographic shift is essential to help achieve the goals of the Decade of Healthy Ageing and the SDGs.

Achieving these goals requires close collaboration between the public and private sectors. Success requires all stakeholders to work together to achieve results and create a society where all ages can flourish.

Concept Note

Watch Global Population Aging, the SDGs, and the Needs and Opportunities of the Silver Economy in the Decade of Healthy Ageing!

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Join the panel discussion entitled ''Ageing with Dignity: The Importance of Strengthening Care and Support Systems for Older Persons Worldwide''

UN International Day of Older Persons 2024 (New York Event) 7 October 2024 / Events

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Join the Panel discussion entitled ''Geneva Calls: A Pivotal Moment for Older Persons' Rights''!

UN International Day of Older Persons 2024 (Geneva Event) 1 October 2024 / Events

On the International Day of Older Persons, October 1st, 2024,...More

Join the Panel Discussion entitled "Marginalization of Older Persons in Society: A Significant Health Risk "

UN International Day of Older Persons 2024 (Vienna Event) 30 September 2024 / Events

"Leave no one behind!" is a key principle of the United Nations'...More

Other matters (continued) - Discussion on the way forward

Adoption of the report

Closing of the session (Closing remarks)

The Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing was established by the General Assembly by resolution 65/182 on 21 December 2010. The working group will consider the existing international framework of the human rights of older persons and identify possible gaps and how best to address them, including by considering, as appropriate, the feasibility of further instruments and measures.

Provisional agenda for the 14th Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing:

1. Election of officers. 2. Adoption of the agenda and other organizational matters. 3. Participation of national human rights institutions in the work of the Open ended Working Group on Ageing. 4. Participation of non-governmental organizations in the work of the Open ended Working Group on Ageing. 5. Measures to enhance the promotion and protection of the human rights and dignity of older persons. 6. Follow-up to resolution 78/177: measures to enhance the promotion and protection of the human rights and dignity of older persons: best practices, lessons learned, possible content for a multilateral legal instrument and identification of areas and issues where further protection and action are needed. 7. Other matters. 8. Adoption of the report.

14th Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing for the purpose of strengthening the protection of the human rights of older persons (20, 21, 22 and 24 May 2024).

Watch the (8th meeting) 14th Open-ended Working Group on Ageing - General Assembly, 78th session

This side event to Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing highlights NHRIs' key role in advocating for older persons' rights and linking international norms with national actions.

This side event to the UN Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing (OEWGA) focuses on the critical role of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) in advocating for and protecting the rights of older persons. It is co-organized by GANHRI in partnership with the GANHRI Working Group on Ageing and the Human Rights of Older Persons, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and co-sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Georgia and the Permanent Mission for the Republic of Korea to the UN.

The event aims to raise awareness about the challenges faced by older individuals, such as discrimination and legislative gaps, promote strategic dialogues among stakeholders, foster multi-stakeholder collaboration to develop effective protection strategies, and showcase NHRI best practices in linking international human rights standards with national policies.

Invitees include members from Permanent Missions in New York, GANHRI members, NHRI regional networks, NGO representatives, and UN partners. The event will offer interpretation services in Arabic, English, Korean, and Spanish to ensure it is accessible to a diverse international audience.

Watch Bridging the Gap: National Human Rights Institutions Protecting and Upholding Older Persons' Rights (Side Event of the 14th Session of the OEWGA)

Other matters (Item 7): Discussion on the way forward

The Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing was established by the General Assembly by resolution 65/182 on 21 December 2010. The working group will consider the existing international framework of the human rights of older persons and identify possible gaps and how best to address them, including by considering, as appropriate, the feasibility of further instruments and measures.

Provisional agenda for the 14th Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing:

1. Election of officers. 2. Adoption of the agenda and other organizational matters. 3. Participation of national human rights institutions in the work of the Open ended Working Group on Ageing. 4. Participation of non-governmental organizations in the work of the Open ended Working Group on Ageing. 5. Measures to enhance the promotion and protection of the human rights and dignity of older persons. 6. Follow-up to resolution 78/177: measures to enhance the promotion and protection of the human rights and dignity of older persons: best practices, lessons learned, possible content for a multilateral legal instrument and identification of areas and issues where further protection and action are needed. 7. Other matters. 8. Adoption of the report.

14th Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing for the purpose of strengthening the protection of the human rights of older persons (20, 21, 22 and 24 May 2024).

Watch the (4th meeting) 14th Open-ended Working Group on Ageing - General Assembly, 78th session!

Through the participation of eminent speakers this event will highlight the right to participation in public life and the right to decision making by older people and a discuss of the need for a UN convention on the rights of older persons.

Watch the The Right to Participation in Public Life and the Right to Decision Making: A Discussion of the Rights and Contributions of Older Persons

The fourteenth session of the UN Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing is poised to address critical issues surrounding accessibility, infrastructure, and habitat for ageing populations. This panel brings together a diverse array of stakeholders from nonprofit organizations, leading corporations, and innovative startups to explore workable strategies and impactful use cases enhancing the lives of older adults worldwide.

Watch Promoting Inclusive Ageing Through Technology: Collaborative Perspectives and Use Cases!

The side event, organised by the Federal Republic of Germany, AGE Platform Europe and BAGSO, the German National Association of Senior Citizens' Organisations, aims to shed light onto the role of the EU to promote the human rights in older age.

Watch The role of the European Union as a global human rights actor: What about the promotion of human rights in older age? (Side Event of the 14th Session of the OEWGA)

This side event aims to present a potential world with a dedicated legally-binding UN convention on the rights of older persons

Watch Imagining a World With a UN Convention On The Rights Of Older Persons (Side Event of the 14th Session of the OEWGA)!

14th Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing for the purpose of strengthening the protection of the human rights of older persons (20, 21, 22 and 24 May 2024).

Opening session

General discussion

The Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing was established by the General Assembly by resolution 65/182 on 21 December 2010. The working group will consider the existing international framework of the human rights of older persons and identify possible gaps and how best to address them, including by considering, as appropriate, the feasibility of further instruments and measures.

- Provisional agenda for the 14th Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing:

1. Election of officers. 2. Adoption of the agenda and other organizational matters. 3. Participation of national human rights institutions in the work of the Open ended Working Group on Ageing. 4. Participation of non-governmental organizations in the work of the Open ended Working Group on Ageing. 5. Measures to enhance the promotion and protection of the human rights and dignity of older persons. 6. Follow-up to resolution 78/177: measures to enhance the promotion and protection of the human rights and dignity of older persons: best practices, lessons learned, possible content for a multilateral legal instrument and identification of areas and issues where further protection and action are needed.

7. Other matters. 8. Adoption of the report.

Related Sites and Documents

OEWG on Ageing

Proposed organization of work

Watch the (Opening) 14th Open-ended Working Group on Ageing - General Assembly, 78th session

The Delegation of the Holy See is grateful to Your Excellency and the Bureau of the Open-ended Working Group on Ageing for the preparation of its 13th Session. Pope Francis during one of his catechesis said that “The elderly are the messengers of the future, the elderly are the messengers of tenderness, the elderly are the messengers of the wisdom of lived experience.” However, in our throwaway culture, elderly people are often cast aside. Challenging this, any society which cherishes its older persons and seeks to include them fully, should creatively shape domestic law in order to strengthen accessible and affordable social protection, home-based assistance, and quality healthcare. Moreover, Governments should favor an inclusive approach which ensures care for the poorest and frailest among us. At the same time, policies which support the wellbeing of the family should actively be strengthened, since the family provides the primary support for grandparents and elderly family members. Communities should also recognize the value of advanced age as a unique stage of life for the transmission of wisdom and the growth of the elderly, their families and society. Pope Francis explained that “A society truly welcomes life when it recognizes that it is also precious in old age.” The call to solidarity with older persons includes meeting their needs, such as by promoting their right to health, which helps enable them to live their life to the full, in every dimension, physical, mental, social and spiritual, regardless of growing impairment. The promotion of human rights also implies a call to greater responsibility and includes the duty of care. In this regard, the complex medical needs of an ageing population require not only strong healthcare systems and care directed toward the good of the person, but also a strong societal commitment to support and accompany the elderly, in all the stagesof life.  Madam Chair, The number of jurisdictions in which the practices of physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia are permitted has more than doubled since the establishment of this Working Group. Shrouded in an impoverished understanding of dignity and autonomy, these practices are the ultimate form of social exclusion and a perversion of the medical profession. Indeed, any action aimed at ending a human life is never a medical treatment, as found clearly in the Hippocratic Oath where medical doctors agreed to “save a life and save wherever possible”. More and more, a sense of abandonment, a lack of effective support and even the refusal of treatment by insurance companies, drive the elderly and frail to despair and therefore to desire to hasten the end of their life. When, instead of compassionate accompaniment, society offers suicide, it affirms that it only values people insofar as they do not ask anything of us. As Pope Francis has said, “poor health and disability are never a good reason for excluding or, worse, eliminating a person; and the most serious privation that elderly persons undergo is not the weakening of the body and the disability that may ensue, but abandonment and exclusion, the privation of love.”  The Holy See affirms the equal dignity of all people “in every phase of human life, until natural death” and encourages efforts that make “each feel accompanied and cared for, even in the most delicate moments of his or her life.”

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Statement at The 13th Session Of The Open-Ended Working Group On Ageing, By H. E. Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, Apostolic Nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations

Livestream of the International Day of older Persons 2022. UN WEBTV

Responding to climate disaster, conflict, or pandemic,

The overall umbrella theme for the United Nations International Day of Older Persons in 2022 is “Resilience of Older Persons in a Changing World.” This theme will be celebrated by the NGO Committees on Ageing in New York, Geneva and Vienna – each with a unique and complementary approach to the overall theme. See below for more information.

When Maria Ramires was growing up in Portugal, she admired her grandmother – one of the first women in the country who went to college, and eventually became a professor dedicated to helping others.  Inspired by this example, Maria started 'Vela Mais' or 'Sailing +' which includes Seawoman, a programme that enables older persons to learn to sail for free.  "When I'm in the boat, I'm feeling so happy," said Seawoman member Rosária Lopes. "They smile from the beginning until the end," said Maria. "And that makes my big smile even bigger." 

Seawoman, the Association for the Promotion of Women through Sports and Nautical Activities, is a non-profit association created in 2014 that aims to develop, publicize and promote the presence of women in sport through nautical activities, with an emphasis on sailing. 

In 2014, the Seawoman project was transformed into a non-profit association, maintaining its mission and objectives, and focusing its activity in three core areas: training, competition and social intervention projects.