The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights recently published a critical Report of the Independent Expert on the Enjoyment of All Human Rights by Older Persons.

Among the Independent Expert’s key conclusions are:

Older persons face a number of particular challenges in the enjoyment of their human rights that need to be addressed urgently.

The Madrid Plan (MIPAA) is not sufficient to ensure older persons’ full enjoyment of their human rights.

The Independent Expert calls on States to step up their efforts to strengthen the protection of older persons’ human rights and to consider the various proposals that have made, notably the elaboration of a convention on the rights of older persons.

It is hoped that the Working Group will, in due course, present to the General Assembly a proposal containing the main elements of an international legal instrument to promote and protect the rights and dignity of older persons, which are currently not addressed sufficiently by existing mechanisms and, therefore, require further international protection, as requested by the General Assembly.

Considering that there is unanimity about the need to strengthen the protection of the human rights of older persons, existing divergences must urgently be overcome, given the millions of older persons waiting for their human rights to become reality.