About the Open-ended Working Group (OEWG)
What is the Open-ended Working Group on Ageing?
The Open-ended Working Group on Ageing (OEWG) was a UN working group that met in New York. It was established by a resolution at the 2010 General Assembly [here]. The working group held fourteen sessions until its conclusion in 2024. GAROP’s own summaries of the outcomes of these sessions are available [here].
The OEWG’s main purpose was strengthening the protection of the human rights of older people. The OEWG was given a wide mandate to examine the existing international framework in relation to the human rights of older people, and to identify possible gaps and how best to address them, including through considering the possibility of new human rights instruments (A/RES/65/182 (undocs.org)). The General Assembly extended the OEWG’s mandate to consider and report on what should go into a new international legal instrument on older people’s rights in Resolution 67/139, adopted in December 2012. In 2024, the working group was concluded in accordance with Resolution 78/324.
What did the OEWG achieve?
Discrimination in old age and the violation of older people’s rights continue to be tolerated around the world. As populations age, the number of older people facing this discrimination will increase. Despite this, attention to older people’s rights by governments, those working on human rights, and NGOs has been woefully inadequate. The OEWG sessions represent the first time that a process has been set up for UN Member States to specifically examine how to better protect older people’s rights.
Throughout the fourteen sessions, protection gaps in the human rights of older persons were discussed and important insights were shared by Member States, NGOs and NHRIs. This paved the way for Decision 14/1 to be adopted by consensus in the 14th and final OEWG session. Decision 14/1 acknowledges gaps in the existing international human rights system and presents a number of options for closing them, including a new UN convention on the rights of older persons.
Moving forward, we call on the UN Human Rights Council to take the next steps to drafting an international, legally-binding, comprehensive convention on the rights of older persons. More detail about the next steps can be found here. We will continue to support NGOs in advocating at the Human Rights Council.
Where can I find more information?
Official OEWG site, archived September 2024: https://social.un.org/ageing-working-group/index.shtml
Older people’s rights: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/OlderPersons/Pages/OlderPersonsIndex.aspx
