Dignity Has No Expiry Date: UN Moves to Draft Global Treaty on Older Persons' Rights
By Hamu Madzedze
Online Health and Gender Editor
As the global population ages, ensuring that older persons can live with equal rights, dignity, security, and good health has become a compelling human rights imperative. Yet, despite progress in international and regional human rights frameworks, older persons continue to face the onslaught of ageism, intersectional discrimination, poverty, social exclusion and barriers to healthcare, social protection and justice.
The demand for a dedicated legally binding treaty for the protection of older persons' human rights is not new. In 1948, as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was being drafted in Paris, Argentina formally proposed a "Declaration of Old Age Rights." Nearly eight decades later, the UN Human Rights Council has established an Inter-Governmental Working Group (IGWG) with a clear mandate to draft a legally binding treaty which addresses the growing visibility of deep-rooted ageism, and the lived realities of older persons across regions.
The issue took centre stage at a SHE & Rights session held ahead of the IGWG for human rights of older persons, organised by the Global Center for Health Diplomacy and Inclusion (CeHDI) and CNS together with the Global Alliance for the Rights of Older people (GAROP), Global Network of People living with HIV (GNP+), International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW), Asia Pacific Media Alliance for Health, Gender and Development Justice (APCAT Media), and Development Justice for Older Persons (DJ4OP).
Khaled Hassine, Secretary of the Inter-Governmental Working Group at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, emphasised that the existing architecture leaves older persons insufficiently visible in data, statistics and accountability mechanisms. He noted that age discrimination and the broader phenomenon of ageism, encompassing stereotypes, prejudice and exclusionary practices, remain poorly recognised and weakly constrained. Hassine stressed that old age cannot be reduced to chronological years, as experiences of ageing are shaped by social, economic and personal circumstances across the life course. When older persons are under-represented in official statistics and human rights reporting, their needs are systematically overlooked. A dedicated, legally binding instrument is therefore required not merely to restate existing rights but to establish a coherent global framework capable of ensuring their effective enjoyment.
Despite the principle of 'leaving no one behind', older persons remain largely invisible in human rights policies, data and international monitoring mechanisms. This invisibility is particularly pronounced among older women, persons with disabilities, people living with HIV, indigenous peoples, gender diverse people, and other marginalised communities.
Shobha Shukla, CNS Executive Director and SHE & Rights coordinator highlighted this fundamental contradiction, arguing that exclusion is often neither accidental nor unintentional. "Systemic barriers, prejudices and patriarchy can deliberately leave certain groups among older persons outside policy discussions and protection frameworks," she said. She revealed the scale of this exclusion in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), the UN Human Rights Council's mechanism for reviewing human rights records. "Since its establishment in 2008, only 681 of more than 124,539 UPR recommendations have addressed older persons, representing around 0.5% of the total."
Reinforcing this concern was Rachel Rieille, Data Manager at the Global Center for Health Diplomacy and Inclusion (CeHDI), who presented the Health and Rights Observatory, a free, public and interactive platform designed by CeHDI by connecting UPR recommendations with health indicators. "Among approximately 29,000 health-related UPR recommendations, only 144 specifically addressed the health of older persons. Although approximately 92% of these recommendations were supported by the governments, the issue remains significantly underrepresented," she reported. She noted that this invisibility is both a cause and a consequence of ageism, and the Observatory offers a practical tool to track commitments and identify gaps.
A dedicated and legally binding treaty offers an opportunity to address longstanding protection gaps, clarify governments' obligations and strengthen accountability. Rose Gahire, Co-Chair of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Older People (GAROP), said it should build on existing standards while ensuring older persons can enjoy all human rights equally. "Ageing is universal, but ageing with dignity, security and respect is not yet a universal reality," she said. Gahire argued that a treaty must address ageism and discrimination that undermine independence, employment, participation in policymaking and protection during conflicts and natural disasters, and must recognise that older persons are not a homogeneous group. She pointed to existing regional frameworks, including the legally binding Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Older Persons in Africa which came into force in 2024, as valuable foundations. Her guiding principle remains: "Nothing about older persons without older persons."
The diversity of experiences was further highlighted by noted feminist Dr Pam Rajput, who called for civil society to engage actively in shaping the treaty. Drawing on her experience in international law and informal diplomacy, she argued that the instrument should build on existing standards, including the legally binding Inter-American Convention on Protecting the Human Rights of Older Persons (2015), that recognises multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, rather than starting from a blank slate. She stressed that a meaningful framework must recognise older persons as active rights holders, not merely recipients of care or protection.
The experiences of older people living with HIV illustrate why rights-based approaches must extend beyond clinical treatment. Living with HIV for 42 years, Nicoletta Policek, co-Founder and Director of PRISMA, the European community-driven observatory on ageing and HIV, frames ageing with HIV as a question of rights, resources and power. "For me, this also means recognising our right to bodily autonomy, sexual health, freedom from violence and discrimination, and care that respects our dignity. Older women must have power in shaping these rights and holding institutions accountable," she said. "Living longer must also mean living with rights, dignity and the power to shape our own lives."
Tariro Kutadza, Advocacy Lead at the Zimbabwe National Network of People Living with HIV (ZNNP+) and founder-leader of TB People (Zimbabwe) and Daxa Patel, Co-Founder and former President of the National Coalition of People Living with HIV in India (NCPI+), highlighted multiple health conditions, stigma, isolation and treatment challenges, calling for strengthening peer-support networks, integrating HIV care with healthy ageing services, and improving person-centred and gender-responsive services.
Ishwari Swar, Founder-Chairperson of the Senior Citizens Welfare Association Nepal described how youth migration has left many rural communities in remote areas of Nepal populated largely by older people, often without family support, accessible healthcare, and adequate social protection. Indonesia's experience, presented by Dr Imran Pambudi, Director for Vulnerable Groups at the Ministry of Health, offers examples of practical responses including integrated primary healthcare, free health checks, community-based long-term care and disability-inclusive services. "Ageing is a triumph of human development; our responsibility is to ensure that everyone can experience it with dignity, health and meaning," Dr Pambudi said.
A world that values human rights must ensure that age never becomes a justification for discrimination, invisibility or exclusion. As Rose Gahire powerfully concluded: "Human rights do not diminish with age. Dignity has no expiry date."
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