Media advisories Special Procedures

Dominican Republic: UN expert to assess human rights of older persons

28 February 2023

GENEVA (28 February 2023) – The UN Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, Claudia Mahler, will visit the Dominican Republic from 28 February to 10 March 2023.

“The population of the Dominican Republic is increasingly reaching an older age, due to positive developments such as better health care. As of 2021, almost 800,000 persons were aged over 65, representing 7% of the national population,” the expert said.

During her visit, Mahler will assess areas of concern such as social security and protection, age discrimination and ageism, abuse and violence against older persons, their living conditions, including housing arrangements and access to adequate health services, and their meaningful participation in the labour force and in public and political space. She will also focus on older persons’ rights in specific contexts, including emergency situations related to climate change and forced displacement.

She will visit the Dominican Republic at the invitation of the Government, and will hold discussions in Santo Domingo, Elías Piña, and San José de Ocoa with government representatives, UN presences, civil society organisations working with older persons, academics, and older persons.

The expert will hold a press conference on Friday 10 March at the UN House in Santo Domingo, to share her preliminary observations. Access will be strictly limited to journalists.

Mahler will present a full report of her country visit to the Human Rights Council in September 2023.

ENDS

Ms. Claudia Mahler (Austria) was appointed by the UN Human Rights Council as Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons in May 2020. She has been working for the German Institute for Human Rights as a senior researcher in the field of economic, social and cultural rights since 2010. She was also a visiting professor at the Alice Salomon Hochschule in 2020-2021. From 2001 to 2009, Ms. Mahler conducted research at the Human Rights Centre of the University of Potsdam where her main fields were in human rights education, minority rights and the law of asylum. In 2000, she received her doctoral degree and was appointed as Vice President of the Human Rights Commission for Tyrol and Vorarlberg. Her mandate covers all countries and has most recently been renewed by Human Rights Council resolution 51/4.

The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

UN Human Rights country page: Dominican Republic

For more information and media requests please contact: Ms. Manon BEURY (+ 41 22 917 11 85) or write to hrc-ie-olderpersons@un.org

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts, please contact Maya Derouaz (maya.derouaz@un.org) or Dharisha Indraguptha (dharisha.indraguptha@un.org)

Follow news related to the UN’s independent human rights experts on Twitter @UN_SPExperts

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