A/RES/74/125
Follow-up to the Second World Assembly on Ageing
Recalling also the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 5 the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 6 the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights, 6 the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women, 7 the Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities 8 and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination, 9
Noting the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All
Migrant Workers and Members of their Families 10 and the United Nations Declaration
on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 11
Noting also the regional developments on the protection and promotion of the
human rights of older persons, including the Inter-American Convention on
Protecting the Human Rights of Older Persons and the Protoco l to the African Charter
on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Older Persons in Africa,
Noting further that, between 2019 and 2030, the number of persons aged
60 years or over is projected to grow by 38 per cent, from 1 billion to 1.4 billion,
globally outnumbering youth, 12 and that this increase will be the greatest and the most
rapid in the developing world, and recognizing that greater attention needs to be paid
to the specific challenges affecting older persons, including in the field of human
rights,
Recalling World Health Assembly resolutions on ageing, specifically resolution
58.16 of 25 May 2005 on strengthening active and healthy ageing, 13 which stressed
the important role of public health policies and programmes in enabling the rapidly
growing number of older persons to remain in good health and maintain their many
vital contributions to the well-being of their families, communities and societies,
resolution 65.3 of 25 May 2012 on strengthening non-communicable disease policies
to promote active ageing, 14 which recognized that population ageing is among the
major factors contributing to the rising incidence and prevalence of non -communicable
diseases and noted the importance of lifelong health-promotion and diseaseprevention activities, and resolution 69.3 of 29 May 2016, entitled “Global strategy
and action plan on ageing and health 2016–2020: towards a world in which everyone
can live a long and healthy life”, 15
Acknowledging that many developing countries and countries with economies in
transition are confronting a double burden of fighting communicable diseases, such as
HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, in parallel with the increasing threat of
non-communicable diseases, and expressing concern about the impact on older persons,
Concerned that many health systems are not sufficiently prepared to respond to
the needs of the rapidly ageing population, including the need for preventive, curative,
palliative and specialized care,
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6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
2/10
Resolution 217 A (III).
See resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex.
United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1249, No. 20378.
Ibid., vol. 2515, No. 44910.
Ibid., vol. 660, No. 9464.
Ibid., vol. 2220, No. 39481.
Resolution 61/295, annex.
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, World
Population Prospects: 2019 Revision.
See World Health Organization, document WHA58/2005/REC/1.
See World Health Organization, document WHA65/2012/REC/1.
See World Health Organization, document WHA69/2016/REC/1.
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