Summary

This working paper, prepared by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), provides an update to the 2012 Analytical Outcome Paper on the normative standards in international law in relation to older persons submitted by OHCHR to the third working session of the Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing in August 2012. This analytical update further examines the question of the adequacy of the normative framework of the international human rights system and its implementation mechanisms for the promotion and protection of the human rights of older persons. It does so against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic which has had a major impact on the older persons’ enjoyment of their human rights.

In particular, the report takes into account the insights that have been gained during the sessions of the Open-ended Working Group on Ageing held since 2012 (especially at its eighth, ninth and tenth sessions held from 2017 to 2019), from the work of the Independent Expert on the human rights of older persons and other UN and regional human rights mechanisms, and from the voices of older persons and their representative organizations, national human rights institutions and other stakeholders reflected in the documents submitted to the Open-ended Working Group.

The findings of this update accord with the conclusions of the 2012 Analytical Outcome Paper. Since the preparation of that study, there have been significant normative developments relating to the human rights of older persons at the regional level. However, at the international level, the existing human rights framework continues to provide fragmented and inconsistent coverage of the human rights of older persons in law and practice, and the engagement of international human rights mechanisms with the human rights of older persons has not been systematic, coherent or sustained. The lack of a dedicated normative instrument on the subject and the conceptual limitations of existing instruments appear to be a significant factor contributing to these shortcomings. The adoption of such an instrument would be an effective way to bring about major changes in how the human rights of older persons are understood and protected, and thus contribute to changes in law and practice at the national level required to ensure older persons fully enjoy their human rights.