12th Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing, 11 to 14 April 2022

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.

This year, as the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing approaches its 20-year milestone, there is an opportunity to generate renewed momentum for action to ensure that persons everywhere are able to age with security and dignity and to continue to participate in their societies as citizens with full rights.

The UN Secretary-General noted that the COVID-19 pandemic should be viewed as a stress test measuring how prepared Member States are for an ageing society. The consequences of the pandemic and responses to it have shown that existing normative frameworks at the international and national level have serious flaws and that the effective protection of the human rights of older persons is still a long way off.

This underlines the urgency of improving the international human rights framework. The Secretary-General has called upon the General Assembly open-ended working group on ageing to accelerate efforts to develop proposals for an international legal instrument to promote and protect the rights and dignity of older persons.

Many older persons around the world agree. In the run-up to the twelfth session of the working group, over 200 organizations signed an open letter calling for clear action on older persons’ rights.

The 12^th Session of the Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing (OEWG) will take place in conference room 1 (General Assembly Building) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 11 to 14 April 2022. The opening will be held at the General Assembly Hall.

This year, we will focus on the contribution of older persons to sustainable development as well as economic security. Learn more here and follow via social media using the hashtags: #OEWG #OEWG12 #AgeWithRights. 

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For more information, please visit https://bit.ly/un-oewg12ageing.