The Human Rights of Older Persons

A/HRC/RES/24/20View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, under agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, published in 2013.

What other versions does this mandate have?

6 versions · 2012–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/HRC/RES/60/11

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2025	A/HRC/RES/60/11	The human rights of older persons	761	75%Compare
2022	A/HRC/RES/51/4	The human rights of older persons	692	88%Compare
2019	A/HRC/RES/42/12	The human rights of older persons	619	34%Compare
2016	A/HRC/RES/33/5	The human rights of older persons	1,276	31%Compare
2013	A/HRC/RES/24/20	The human rights of older persons	1,054	49%Compare

What subjects does this mandate have?

4 subjects

Ageing Persons Anti-Discrimination Measures Experts Human Rights

What’s in this document?

16 operative paragraphs

Recognizes the challenges related to the enjoyment of all human rights that older persons face in areas such as prevention of and protection against violence and abuse, social protection, food and housing, employment, legal capacity, access to justice, health support, long-term and palliative care, and that those challenges require in-depth analysis and action to address protection gaps;

Acknowledges the report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the consultation on the promotion and protection of the human rights of older persons,⁵ which summarizes the issues discussed at the consultation, including age discrimination, access by older persons to work, adequate health services and social protection, protection from abuse, violence and neglect, long-term care and the situation of older prisoners;

⁵A/HRC/24/25.

Calls upon all States to promote and ensure the full realization of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for older persons, including by taking measures to combat age discrimination, neglect, abuse and violence, and to address issues related to social integration and adequate health care, bearing in mind the crucial importance of family intergenerational interdependence, solidarity and reciprocity for social development;

Encourages all States to conduct their age-related policies through inclusive and participatory consultations with relevant stakeholders and social development partners in the interest of developing effective policies creating national policy ownership and consensus-building;

Decides to appoint, for a period of three years, an Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, with the following mandate:

To assess the implementation of existing international instruments with regard to older persons while identifying both best practices in the implementation of existing law related to the promotion and protection of the rights of older persons and gaps in the implementation of existing law;

To take into account the views of stakeholders, including States, relevant regional human rights mechanisms, national human rights institutions, civil society organizations and academic institutions;

To raise awareness of the challenges faced in the realization of all human rights by older persons, and to ensure that older persons receive information about those rights;

To work in cooperation with States in order to foster the implementation of measures that contribute to the promotion and protection of the rights of older persons;

To integrate a gender and disability perspective into his/her work, and to pay particular attention to older women, persons with disabilities, persons of African descent, individuals belonging to indigenous peoples, persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, rural persons, persons living on the streets, and refugees, among other groups;

To assess the human rights implications of the implementation of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing;

To work in close coordination, while avoiding unnecessary duplication, with the Open-ended Working Group on Ageing, other special procedures and subsidiary organs of the Human Rights Council, relevant United Nations bodies and the treaty bodies;

Requests the Independent Expert to report annually to the Human Rights Council and to present his/her first report at its twenty-seventh session, with a view to presenting a comprehensive report at its thirty-third session;

Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that the above-mentioned comprehensive report of the Independent Expert is brought to the attention of the Open-ended Working Group on Ageing, in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 3 of General Assembly resolution 67/139 of 20 December 2012;

Calls upon all Governments to cooperate with the Independent Expert, and invites them to provide him/her with all the necessary information related to the mandate;

Decides to continue consideration of the question of human rights of older persons at its twenty-seventh session.

  The resolutions and decisions adopted by the Human Rights Council will be contained in the report of the Council on its twenty-fourth session (A/HRC/24/2), Part One.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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