News

26 August 2020
In the first-ever interview with AARP CEO Jo Ann Jenkins, António Guterres Secretary-General of the United Nations answers the question: “What are the implications for older people as we see this COVID-19 spreading all across the world?” Watch…
18 August 2020
A checklist of potential actions, tools and resources, issued by the Inter-Agency Group on Ageing, was designed in line with the UN Secretary General’s policy brief The Impact of COVID-19 on Older Persons, to help countries tackle the devastating…
30 July 2020
Highlighting the importance of older persons, the World Summit on the Information Society Forum in 2020, for the first time, has dedicated a special track to older persons and ICTs. Technological advances are becoming entrenched in many aspects of…
21 July 2020
The focus of this event is on how the United Nations, together with civil society partners, can support Member States at global, regional and country level to collectively step up action for older persons to preserve their rights and dignity at all…
26 June 2020
COVID-19 is exposing and deepening the inequalities, discrimination and ageism that older persons and persons with disabilities experience every day. We need inclusive programmes and policies that address the rights of people of all ages to ensure…
08 June 2020
The UN General Assembly designated 15 June as World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (res. A/RES/66/127).  According to WHO estimates, 1 in 6 people aged over 60 suffers from abuse. That means nearly 141 million people globally. This number might be much…
05 June 2020
The Stakeholder Group on Ageing (SGA) Africa, in collaboration with UN DESA and other partners, held a regional webinar on the impact of COVID-19 in the context of the rights of older persons, on 5 June 2020. The purpose of the webinar was to signal…
08 May 2020
The COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan, produced by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), prioritizes the needs of the the most vulnerable including older persons. Given that the pandemic has already…
08 May 2020
As the world grapples with an unparalleled health crisis, older persons have become one of its more visible victims. The pandemic spreads among persons of all ages and conditions, yet available evidence indicates that older persons and those with…
01 May 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic is causing untold fear and suffering for older people across the world. As of 26 April, the virus itself has already taken the lives of some 193,710 people, and fatality rates for those over 80 years of age is five times the…
06 April 2020
As the world grapples with an unparalleled health crisis, older persons have become one of its more visible victims. The pandemic spreads among persons of all ages and conditions, yet available evidence indicates that older persons and those with…
27 March 2020
GENEVA (27 March 2020) – Society has a duty to exercise solidarity and better protect older persons who are bearing the lion's share of the COVID-19 pandemic, a UN human rights expert said. "Reports of abandoned older persons in care homes or of…