General Assembly – Conference Room 3

August 13^th – 10:00 – 1:00

By Wayne Dean Doyle

A well represented elderly body assembled in Conference Room three today at the United Nations headquarters for an interactive panel discussion on many pressing issues concerning the global elderly population.

Mr. Stelios Makriyiannis, OEWG vice Chair/Cyprus, began the interactive dialogue stating, “These panels are to provide an opportunity to openly address pressing issues which are directly and indirectly affecting the number of older persons in the world.”

As the discussion progressed it became evident that many countries were facing similar issues relating to the protection of its older population. These issues comprised of, but were not limited to, social protection, health care, mobility and forms of adequate transportation, community networks and progressively structured frameworks to enable the elderly population to participate fully in society.

“No single country has yet adequately tackled the challenges associated with the human rights of older persons,” stated MR. Makriviannis.

Other members of the panel such as, Yeung Sik Yeun (African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights) reiterated the stance of Mr.Makriyiannis.

“We need to move fast, get the clearance and really just hope that the changes and recommendation that we have made and the amendments to the draft become implemented,” stated Mr. Yeung Sik Yeun.

Various anecdotes of how individuals age and mental health state, directly affected the outcome of judicial proceedings were also drawn upon in order to help the attendees visualise the extreme cases of seclusion experienced by some of the elderly population.

Daniele Cangemi, European Human rights Law and Policy Council stated “the reason that protective rights are implemented is to ensure the utmost protection for those who may become vulnerable in their old age.

“The International Treaty on Human Rights, article 23, enables older people guaranteed resources to actively participate within society. We also need to ensure the protection of older people against acts of discrimination”, concluded Mr. Cangemi.

These recommendation’s outlined on the provisional agenda are not binding instrument‘s, but rather a template of the ethically correct way to improve, encourage and develop on the social pillars surrounding the older generation.