Why is an International Treaty for Older Adults a must right now?

The answer is simple: the world has changed.

We are no longer moving toward an aging society. We are living in an aged world.

The silver tsunami, a global demographic shift, is already here. By 2050, more than 1.5 billion people worldwide will be over the age of 65. Older adults will no longer be a minority group, but a global force, a powerful presence shaping families, communities and economies everywhere.

Yet despite this reality, older persons face an epidemic of ageism, one of the last socially accepted forms of discrimination. They face barriers to healthcare, live in poverty, suffer abuse and neglect and are often invisible in public policies and human rights protections. Ageism is real: it’s time we name it and end it!

While children have the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), women are protected under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and persons with disabilities have the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), older adults have no binding international treaty that guarantees their dignity, equality, protection and justice under international law.

An International Convention for Older Adults must be negotiated and adopted without delay. Older adults around the globe deserve a binding treaty that guarantees their rights and dignity. The time has come to establish this global framework to protect older adults and fill this critical legal gap.

Fundashon Nos Grandinan (FNG-Our Seniors' Foundation), Curaçao’s foremost foundation for older persons, has worked for nearly 22 years to defend the dignity, inclusion, and quality of life of seniors. Though small in resources, FNG is rich in purpose and rooted in community leadership.

Therefore, FNG urges the United Nations—including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Human Rights Council, the Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing, the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), the World Health Organization (WHO), and all Member States—to take urgent steps toward the adoption of a UN Convention on the Rights of Older Persons.

FNG also calls on key regional bodies, such as the European Union (EU), African Union (AU), League of Arab States (AL), Organization of American States (OAS), Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Pacific Islands Forum, Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and others, to stand on the right side of history and champion this Convention globally.  

This Treaty must: 

1. define and prohibit age discrimination in all its forms;
2. guarantee access to adequate income, healthcare, housing and legal autonomy, ensuring that no older adult is forced to live below a minimum standard of living;
3. protect older persons from abuse, neglect and exploitation;
4. uphold the right to participation, intergenerational solidarity and freedom from violence;
5. recognize the vital contributions of older persons to families, communities, economies and cultural life
6. ensure full and equal participation in all aspects of social, economic, cultural and political life. 

This is not a request for special treatment: it is a demand for equal treatment of seniors under international law. It’s time for a paradigm shift. It’s time for a binding United Nations Convention for Older Adults.

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