The International Day of Older Persons is marked on October 1, the establishment of which is related to the adoption of United Nations’ Resolution in 1990 and is aimed at recognizing the contribution of older persons to the development of society.

The adequate protection of the rights of older persons is becoming more and more significnat as the world population ages. Considering this, the United Nations urges the states to strengthen efforts to address the needs and challenges of older persons, as they can make significant contribution to the proper functioning of society, if adequately promoted.

Exactly that’s why the International Day of Older Persons 2018 is dedicated to “Older Human Rights Champions” – those, who have devoted their lives to the development, improvement and evolution of human rights at the local and international level and contributed to the creation of a free world.
Despite the progressive steps taken internationally over the last decades, Georgia still faces many challenges in the field of protection of the rights of order persons. The Public Defender talks about the problems of older persons and addresses relevant state agencies with a number of recommendations each year. Regrettably, it should be noted that despite the adoption of certain framework documents, the state cannot take effective steps to improve the lives of order persons.

The challenges faced by older persons include discrimination on the ground of age, violence (including domestic violence), poor social and economic conditions, danger of poverty and homelessness, lack of access to physical environment, shortcomings in the continuous education system, lack of a long-term care strategy for older persons, insufficient targeted programs, lack of measures taken at the local level, etc.

The mentioned issues were also underlined in the report of United Nations’ independent expert Rosa Kornfeld Matte , which outlined the results of the expert’s official visit to Georgia in 2018. During the visit, the expert met with representatives of the Public Defender's Office and shared the recommendations of the Public Defender regarding the challenges in the field of protection of the rights of older people.
The Public Defender’s Office will actively continue to work on the rights of older persons and hopes that the authorities will take timely and effective measures to ensure older person’s equal enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

https://www.un.org/…/international-day-of-older-persons-hom…

https://www.un.org/…/international-day-of-o…/2018unidop.html

https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/…/…/215/06/PDF/G1821506.pdf…