Statement by the Steering Group of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Older People (GAROP) for the United Nations International Day of Older Persons 2025 (UNIDOP 2025)
On the United Nations International Day of Older Persons 2025, we celebrate the tireless efforts of campaigners who advocate for the human rights of older persons. Their work in local communities around the world has driven action at the global level resulting in the United Nations Human Rights Council agreeing in April to start drafting a UN convention on the rights of older persons. This historic milestone is a testament to the power of collective advocacy and the recognition of the urgent need for stronger protections.
However, our work is far from over. We remain deeply concerned by ongoing reports of discrimination and abuse. Older persons continue to face systematic barriers in claiming their human rights. Intersecting forms of discrimination, based on age, gender, disability, and other characteristics, can leave many older individuals disproportionately marginalized. The international human rights framework is fragmented and conceptually deficient, failing to address the unique challenges faced by older persons worldwide. Our collaboration at local, national, regional and global levels is more important than ever to address these challenges.
We therefore call on governments to include older persons as equal partners in the drafting and negotiation of the new UN convention. The full and meaningful participation of older persons and civil society in this process is essential to ensure that this new legally binding instrument reflects the realities and aspirations of those whose rights it seeks to protect.
The Steering Group of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Older People and our network of over 400 member organizations stand ready to engage actively and constructively with governments and all stakeholders. Together, we can turn this historic opportunity into a UN convention that transforms the lives of older persons worldwide and ensures that we all age with rights.
We also call on governments to give their full support to the resolution to renew the mandate of the United Nations Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons at the Human Rights Council next week. Over the last 12 years since the mandate was created, the UN mandate holders have visited 20 countries, produced 18 thematic reports and issued or supported more than 150 press releases. The mandate has succeeded in raising the visibility of older persons’ rights in the United Nations human rights system and strengthening the evidence on the urgent need for a new UN convention.
“The renewal of the mandate of the Independent Expert will ensure that the voices of older persons around the world continue to be heard by international decision-makers. The recommendations from the Independent Expert’s reports have helped civil society to hold governments to account for ongoing abuses of older persons’ rights.” said Rose Gahire, Co-chair of GAROP.
Ina Voelcker, Co-Chair of GAROP, said at the commemoration of UNIDOP 2025 at the United Nations in Geneva, “We urge the UN and all Member States to uphold their commitments and to ensure that the upcoming UN convention drafting process is truly inclusive, transparent, and participatory. Older persons’ voices must be at the heart of the negotiations from the beginning”.