New York, May 29 (QNA) - HE President of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI), Chairperson of Qatar National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) Maryam bint Abdullah Al Attiyah participated in a meeting at the UN Headquarters in New York entitled: "Bridging the Gap: National Human Rights Institutions Protecting and Upholding Older Persons' Rights".

This came on the margin of the 14th meeting of the United Nations Open-ended Working Group on Aging (OEWGA), and the annual review meeting of the tripartite partnership of the United Nations Development Programme, affiliated with the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions. The meeting was also attended by Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Ilze Brands Kehris, the Chairman of the Working Group on Aging and the Human Rights of Older Persons of GANHRI Song Doo-hwan, and the Permanent Representative of Georgia to the United Nations, David Bakradze.

HE Maryam bint Abdullah Al Attiyah expressed her appreciation to the participants, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations Development Programme, for their long-term partnership and steadfast support, as their commitment and leadership in promoting human rights played an effective role in making this event possible.

Her Excellency stressed that the world is going through unprecedented demographic transformation with the population aging at an unprecedented rate. This transformation makes it imperative to rethink how to empower societies to sustainably engage older people in every aspect of life, ensuring their rights are protected and their contributions recognized, and prioritizing critical issues of discrimination and rights violations affecting older people.

She explained that this meeting will reveal the challenges facing older people in each region, while emphasizing the need to take urgent, innovative and targeted measures. 

HE Al Attiyah expressed her pride in the GANHRI's historic contributions to the United Nations Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing (OEWG). 

  She highlighted the unprecedented participation of many national human rights institutions in one session along with the GANHRI's huge participation in multiple panel discussions and coordination meetings, and oral contributions. 

It is the first time for the GANHRI and its regional networks to speak at an event like this on behalf of Category A NHRIs, Al Attiyah, welcoming the historic unanimous adoption of Resolution No. (14/1), which includes basic recommendations to protect the rights of senior citizens and considers the long-awaited potential development as a legally binding instrument.

  Her Excellency stressed the keenness to contribute and enhance this achievement alongside the UN bodies and civil society organizations to continue strengthening the protection framework for the elderly, in cooperation with regional networks and the relevant work team.

  The position on the rights of older persons constitutes a comprehensive framework for the work of national human rights institutions, and after an extensive consultation process with the GANHRI's members and dedicated working group, the GANHRI identified the best practices that were shared at this meeting, she said. 

She pointed to significant gaps in both national and international protection for older persons, adding that these challenges include the lack of specific data on older persons, challenges in integrating their needs into national policies, and the lack of a targeted and legally binding instrument at the international level dedicated to their rights.

  As national human rights institutions, these issues are put at the forefront of international human rights dialogues, ensuring that they are not overlooked and are integrated into broader human rights policies and practices, she said.

Her Excellency pointed to the efforts to challenge the rampant discrimination against the elderly, promote a culture of respect and inclusion for them, highlight critical issues such as abuse, neglect, and various forms of discrimination that the elderly suffer from, and provide legal support mechanisms to ensure that violations do not continue. 

She added that national human rights institutions have a deep understanding of human rights, which enables them to recommend policies that not only protect the elderly, but also enhance their active participation as equal contributors to society, empower the elderly and give them the voice and tools necessary to defend their rights and well-being. (QNA)