HPOD Events
Access to Health Systems for Older Persons in Conflict Areas
The second event in UNITAR's virtual roundtable series 'Mainstreaming Knowledge on Ageing'
UNITAR's second "Mainstreaming Knowledge on Ageing" event this year centers on older persons' access to health care in conflict areas.
On June 19th, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) continues its fourth yearlong "Mainstreaming Knowledge on Ageing" virtual roundtable series with a focus on older persons' access to health systems fin conflict areas. This annual event series, and co-sponsored by HPOD as part of a broad coalition of prominent civil society and intergovernmental organizations that includes UNDESA, the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights, and the World Health Organization, aims to raise awareness of how existing policies and systems may be strengthened to better protect the human rights of older persons, and hopefully, to add to growing momentum towards adoption of a new human rights treaty capable of addressing the far-reaching challenges posed by the world’s rapidly aging population.
Older persons in conflict areas face challenges such as the breakdown of health infrastructure, priority segregation, displacement, limited access to essential medical care, medication, and support services, exacerbating the vulnerabilities of marginalized groups. This panel explores the specific barriers older persons face in receiving adequate healthcare and to advocate for age-inclusive humanitarian responses that ensure their health needs are met during and after conflicts. For example, the combination of isolated living arrangements, inaccessible infrastructure, ageist attitudes, and under-inclusion of older persons in humanitarian health responses compound these challenges.
As described by this event's speakers, who posssess deep expertise developed from research, field, legal, and advocacy perspectives, to overcome these challenges, it is essential for state and non-state actors alike to promote the participation of older persons in the design of policies and intervention strategies, to include older persons as agents and not just recipients in emergency response delivery, and to ensure data collection is disaggregated by age, among other critical measures.
Panelists
- Cherian Mathews, Chief Executive, HelpAge International
- Sue Anne Bell, Associate Professor, University of Michigan
- Santiago Fiorio Vaesken, Member, UN Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights
- Sara Ghanem, Health and Development Coordinator, UNITAR
- Professor Michael Ashley Stein, Executive Director, HPOD
Future events planned as part of UNITAR's fifth annual roundtable series will address other intersections critical for strengthening international and national laws, policies, and systems to better protect the human rights of older persons:
