Dr Raščan presents Slovenia's activities at the 12th session of the Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Permanent Mission of the Republic of Slovenia to the UN Office and other international organizations in Geneva
State Secretary Dr Stanislav Raščan giving the national statement during the general discussion | Author Ministrstvo za zunanje zadeve
During the general discussion, the State Secretary gave the national statement, in which he first commended the work of the OEWGA. The proportion of the population aged over 60 has doubled and is expected to grow at an even faster pace in the future. State Secretary Dr Raščan then outlined Slovenia’s activities at the national level. In the face of demographic shifts, Slovenia has adopted the Active Ageing Strategy. During the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU, Slovenia successfully hosted an international conference on promoting a life course perspective and intergenerational cooperation to combat ageism. At the international level, the State Secretary underscored the successful adoption of the substantive resolution on the rights of older persons, which also addresses age-based discrimination. Slovenia presented the resolution together with Argentina and Brazil at the 48th UN Human Rights Council.
During its 12th session running up to 14 April 2022, the OWEGA will also discuss the enhanced promotion and protection of human rights of older persons during COVID-19. The participants will review measures to enhance, promote and protect the human rights and decent standard of living of older persons, compare best practice and experience, and identify gaps and seek possible ways of addressing them, including the possibility of using new tools and measures.
The aim of OEWGA sessions is to discuss ways of enhancing the protection of the human rights of older persons. The inclusion of older persons in society and the recognition of their social, cultural, economic and political contributions are key to improving the quality of life of older people, not least in the light of the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has hit older people hardest, revealing a number of serious shortcomings in the protection of their rights.
For more than a decade, Slovenia has contributed to the discussion on the human rights of older persons, striving to enhance protection at the global level and advocating the adoption of an international legal instrument that would compensate for the shortcomings in the national legislations thus enhancing the protection of older people.