Access to Labor Markets for Older Persons

Led by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), and co-sponsored by HPOD, as part of a far-reaching coalition of prominent intergovernmental and civil society organizations, this roundtable series aims to bridge gaps in current policies and systems designed to strengthen the protection and participation of older persons.

On July 26, 2023, at 9:30 AM US Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), UNITAR will host a virtual roundtable on “Access to labor markets for older persons: Challenges and opportunities throughout the ageing process" the second in a series of five events addressing different topics vital to strengthening the effective promotion and protection of the human rights of older persons. Subsequent roundtables in this 5-part series will address the following topics:

• "Access to political participation: Ageing with dignity through democratic societies" (September 2023)
• "Access to health and social care services: Further vulnerabilities merging from ageing" (October 2023)
• "Access to cultural and leisure activities: Tackling Individual interests and inter- generational social construction" (November 2023)

Over the past several decades, international actor shave made notable progress towards strengthening international legal protections for older persons, including the UN Principles for older persons (1991), the adoption of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing in 2002, the creation of the Open-Ended Working Group to strengthen the protection of the human rights of older persons (2010), the creation of the mandate for the UN Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons (2013), the adoption of the Inter-American Convention on the Rights of Older Persons (2015), and the establishment of the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021–2030). Also, the international community is increasingly aware of the need to ensure that older persons are included in the global development agenda. For example, the UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs (DESA)'s 2023 World Social Report contain a call to action to address the needs of older persons as countries strive forward towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Despite these and other signs of progress, significant challenges threaten to erode past gains. Ageism remains a persistent barrier to older persons' full and effective enjoyment and exercise of their human rights, and the pressing issues of the day, from the rise of artificial intelligence, increased human mobility, and accelerating climate change, present new risks and opportunities for older persons that an integral and holistic international system of protection must address. As such, additional work must be done to ensure that the international human rights legal regime is equipped with the necessary tools to meet these challenges.

With this series of events, HPOD builds upon its recent past efforts to support the growing movement to strengthen international human rights protections for older persons. As a panelist, HPOD Executive Director, Professor Michael Ashley Stein, will follow on the messages he delivered on April 6, 2023, at a panel on strategies for addressing gaps in the protection of the human rights of older persons during the 13th session of the UN's Open-ended Working Group on Ageing, and on June 13, 2023, at a side event organized by the Permanent Mission to the United Nations of Ecuador on digital accessibility and the rights of older persons held during the 16th annual Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Video recordings of the first event in this year's roundtable series on "Access to justice for older persons: Effective and participative systems", as well as the complete 2022 UNITAR roundtable series are available on YouTube.