Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing | Division for Inclusive Social Development (DISD)

Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing | Division for Inclusive Social Development (DISD)
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See para 69 of resolution 79/147 adopted by the General Assembly on 17 December 2024
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The
Second World Assembly on Ageing
, held in Spain in 2002, marked a milestone in international efforts on ageing, resulting in the adoption of the
Political Declaration
, which sets out the shared commitments of Member States, and the
Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA)
, which provides a comprehensive framework for action at the national, regional and international levels.
In the context of the
Follow-up to the Second World Assembly on Ageing
, the General Assembly has addressed ageing through a series of resolutions. Within this framework, in resolution 64/132 (December 2009), the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to submit to the Assembly at its sixty-fifth session, taking into consideration the discussions and conclusions of the
Commission for Social Development
at its forty-eighth session, a comprehensive report on the current status of the social situation, well-being, development and rights of older persons at the national and regional levels.
Implementation of MIPAA is reviewed and appraised through an intergovernmental process led by the Commission for Social Development. On the recommendation of the forty-eighth session of the Commission (February 2010), the Economic and Social Council adopted resolution 2010/14 entitled Future implementation of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, 2002. Amongst other decisions, the Commission endorsed the theme
Full implementation of MIPAA: social situation, well-being and dignity, development and the full realization of all human rights for older persons
for the second review and appraisal of progress in  implementation, and encouraged Member States to work on awareness-raising on this theme.
The report of the Secretary-General (A/65/157) informed subsequent deliberations. In this context, the General Assembly in its resolution 65/182 decided to establish the
Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing
to strengthen the protection of the human rights of older persons as part of the ongoing work stemming from the outcomes of the Second World Assembly on Ageing. Alongside the annual consideration of "Follow-up to the Second World Assembly on Ageing" through resolutions and corresponding reports of the Secretary-General, as well as mandated review and appraisal cycles of progress in implementation of MIPAA, the Working Group held fourteen sessions between 2011 and 2024.
In its resolution 78/324, the General Assembly urges relevant United Nations bodies, within their respective mandates, to further consider the recommendations adopted by the Working Group in its decision 14/1. In that decision, the Working Group recommends that Member States, in addressing possible gaps in the protection of the human rights of older persons, consider, in a non-exclusive manner, the following options:
An international legally binding instrument to promote, protect and ensure the recognition and the realization, on an equal basis, of all human rights of older persons;
Optional protocols to existing human rights treaties on the protection and enjoyment of the human rights of older persons;
Enhancement of the implementation of the existing human rights treaties with due regard for special needs and interests of older persons;
To address the human rights of older persons in relevant multilateral forums, with full respect for their mandates, including in the Human Rights Council and its subsidiary bodies, with a view to providing specific and appropriate safeguards at the international level for the rights of older persons;
The feasibility of an update to the international plan of action on ageing;
To strengthen, as appropriate, cooperation with the regional commissions and other relevant stakeholders in promoting discussions on ageing, including through the increase of technical cooperation efforts, data-sharing and developing partnerships in this regard;
To enhance capacity to more effectively collect age-disaggregated data, statistics and qualitative information, disaggregated also, when necessary, by other relevant factors, in order to improve assessment of the situation of older persons;
To address, where appropriate, the situation of the human rights of older persons in their reports to existing international human rights bodies to which they are parties and encourage treaty body monitoring mechanisms and special procedure mandate holders to pay due regard to the situation of the human rights of older persons in their dialogue with Member States, particularly in their concluding observations and reports, respectively;
To pay regard to specific human rights issues faced by older persons in current and future United Nations intergovernmental processes, as appropriate;
To promote effective measures against ageism and to view older persons as active contributors to society and not as passive receivers of care and assistance and an impending burden on welfare systems and economies, while promoting and protecting their human rights;
To promote and support initiatives to advance a positive public image of older persons and their multiple contributions to their families, communities and societies;
In resolution 79/147 on the
Follow-up to the Second World Assembly on Ageing
(December 2024), the General Assembly decided to formally conclude the mandate of the Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing.
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