The COVID-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on the rights and health of older persons: as of September 2020, nearly 9 out of 10 COVID-19-related deaths reported in the UNECE region have been among adults aged 65 years and older. The region currently hosts more than 30 per cent of the world’s population aged 65 and above.
The theme for the Day this year “Acting together to achieve social and environmental justice for all” addresses the challenge of achieving social and environmental justice for all. The growing recognition of the multi-dimensionality of poverty means that these two issues are inseparably intertwined and that social justice cannot be fully realized without aggressively rectifying environmental injustices at the same time.
The year 2020 marks the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations and the 30th Anniversary of the International Day of Older Persons (UNIDOP). This year has also seen an emergence of COVID-19, that has caused an upheaval across the world. Considering the higher risks confronted by older persons during the outbreak of pandemics such as COVID-19, policy and programmatic interventions must be targeted towards raising awareness of their special needs.
Following OEWG related events? You're invited!
The German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, AGE Platform Europe and BAGSO (German National Association of Senior Citizens’ Organisations) are pleased to invite you to a jointly organised online OEWG inter-sessional conference on “Strengthening Older People’s Rights in Times of Digitalisation – Lessons learned from Covid-19”.
When? 1:30pm - 4:00pm (Berlin/Geneva time), 28 September
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) was adopted by the General Assembly on 13 September 2007, with 144 countries voting in support, 4 voting against and 11 abstaining.
Thirteen years have passed since the UN Declaration was adopted by the General Assembly. Since then, the four countries voting against have reversed their position and now support the Declaration.
The pandemic slump is a crisis that was waiting to happen; it may turn into a pandemic depression. The depth of the crisis reflects the fragility of the economic system that was forged in the four decades of globalization. It made the global economy uniquely fragile to shocks and will make the economic outcomes of the pandemic much worse.
Please join the Division for Inclusive Social Development on 10 September, for a webinar on universal basic incomes with Professor Guy Standing.
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 highlights from this historic fireside chat here.
Watch the full video below:
The Stakeholder Group on Ageing Africa, in collaboration with African Union Commission and DESA hosted a virtual Pan African Webinar on the “United and Coordinated Africa for the Inclusion of Older Persons in COVID-19 Policy Response and Development Agendas.”
Understanding poverty reduction involves a basic fact: changes in poverty are the net result of inflows and outflows of people into and out of such condition. Poverty and its multidimensionality cannot be properly addressed without delving into the opposing concepts of vulnerability and economic security.
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 social and economic dimensions of the pandemic, with a focus on older persons as a priority group.
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