Calls to end ageism and better safeguard elderly people from hidden abuses took center stage this week in Geneva, where United Nations negotiators began formal discussions on a new international treaty focused on the rights of older individuals.
The week of talks, which wrapped up Friday, were initiated and led by Argentina as part of a broader effort to tackle exclusion, discrimination, and neglect of the elderly. The United Nations projects that the global population of people over age 65 will double over the next 50 years, eventually making up one-fifth of all people on Earth.
“Our objective is not just to address the needs of the present, but also to prepare a system that can meet the needs of the future,” said Carlos Mario Foradori, Argentina’s ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva. “This goal is to build an instrument that strengthens the dignity, protection, and the rights of millions of older persons globally.”
In addition to Argentina, Brazil, Slovenia, the Philippines, and Gambia are among the leading supporters of the proposed treaty. Chile and South Africa also expressed backing during the week-long session.
Negotiators are expected to reconvene in Geneva this October, though it remains unclear how long the full negotiation process will take. Treaties of this nature can take many years to finalize.
While existing human rights treaties include protections against discrimination based on race and gender, no such treaty currently addresses discrimination based on age.
“There are many situations where people are not fully protected by existing law,” said Heidrun Mollenkopf, President of AGE Platform Europe, a network representing older people.
Mollenkopf told Reuters that serious abuses in nursing homes — including the use of chemical restraints to manage the behavior of people living with dementia — often go unnoticed. “It’s completely hidden what’s going on,” she said, adding that there have even been cases of homicide, though she did not point to specific incidents.
A U.N.-appointed independent expert on the human rights of older people flagged these concerns in a 2021 report, finding that ageism was widespread globally and that deeply rooted stereotypes about aging were shaping laws and public policy.
Advocates point to examples such as mandatory retirement ages, age restrictions on jury service, and reduced access to cancer screenings for people beyond a certain age as evidence of systemic discrimination.
“There are age restrictions that go completely unchallenged,” said Bridget Sleap, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The idea that people should just stop working because they have a birthday, it’s arbitrary.”
Informal U.N. discussions on the issue have been ongoing since 2011, but advocates say the disproportionately high toll COVID-19 took on elderly populations gave new urgency to the push for formal negotiations. Repeated deadly heat waves across Europe that have hit seniors especially hard have also added momentum, campaigners say.
Margaret Gillis, 67, founding President of the International Longevity Centre Canada, said she anticipates a “fight” ahead, warning that authoritarian governments could try to weaken any final agreement, while other nations may push back over concerns about rising healthcare costs.
Mollenkopf, who is 85, expressed cautious hope. “I hope a treaty will come in my lifetime,” she said. “But I’m afraid it might not.”
