Open Letter to Chris Elmore MP
Age International is collaborating with civil society leaders, calling for older people to be meaningfully involved in drafting the new United Nations Convention on the Rights of Older Persons.
The organisations have signed onto the open letter below to Chris Elmore MP, the UK Foreign Minister responsible for human rights, calling for older people’s lived experiences to be put at the heart of the Convention.
The Convention is an opportunity to lift everyone up, ensuring people of all ages can live and age with dignity.
Dear Minister Elmore,
We, the undersigned, urge the UK Government to ensure that older people are included in the drafting of a United Nations Convention on the Rights of Older Persons. In April this year, the Human Rights Council agreed to begin drafting a legally binding instrument and now is the time for the UK Government to support this process fully. The Convention will only succeed if older people, in all their diversity, are meaningfully involved in its drafting and implementation. Listening to older people and learning from their lived experiences is essential.
By 2050, over 2 billion people across the globe will be aged 60 and over, with 80% living in low and middle-income countries. Our collective increased longevity is a huge achievement. A Convention on the Rights of Older Persons would help all UN Member States by enabling older people to contribute their experience and knowledge more effectively.
Today, significant gaps in the human rights protections of older people persist. Ageism and age discrimination are widespread and there is no international legally binding legislation to prohibit them. Older people are prevented from taking part fully in society and their contributions are not recognised, especially because ageing brings with it higher prevalence of disability which exacerbates the barriers older people face. They often face daily violations of their human rights, including not being able to access health and social care, being shut out of jobs, the loss of dignity when using services, and violence and abuse. A UN Convention will set a legal framework to guide governments and other stakeholders on how to uphold older people’s rights in a way which will benefit people of all ages.
The UK can be proud of its history promoting human rights on the global stage. Supporting the creation of a Convention on the Rights of Older Persons would reaffirm that commitment. We hope the UK will demonstrate its support ahead of the organisational meeting of the UN Intergovernmental Working Group responsible for drafting a Convention (18-20 February 2026).
By championing the inclusion of older people in the drafting process, the UK Government would send a strong message, both within the UK and globally, that older people are valued equally as rights holders in society and that the principle of ‘nothing about us without us’ will be respected.
We look forward to working with you and your Department to achieve the best possible outcome for older people, their families and communities.
We would appreciate your response and welcome the opportunity to meet and explore this issue further.
Signatories:
- Alison Marshall, CEO, Age International
- Paul Farmer, CEO, Age UK
- Chris Lynch, Deputy CEO & Director of Policy & Communications, Alzheimer’s Disease International
- Dr Carole Easton OBE, Chief Executive, Centre for Ageing Better
- Dr Jane Townson OBE, Chief Executive, Homecare Association
- Jan Shortt, General Secretary, National Pensioners Convention
- Martin Drewry, CEO, Health Poverty Action (HPA)
- Mary Ann Clements, Co-Chief Executive Officer, ADD International
- Professor Donald Macaskill, Chief Executive, Scottish Care
- Professor Emerita Geraldine Van Bueren KC, Chair of the Alliance of Working Class Academics Worldwide (AWCA)
- Sally Tsoukaris, General Secretary, Civil Service Pensioners’ Alliance
- Jacynth Bassett, Founder & CEO, Ageism is Never in Style®
- Heléna Herklots CBE, Chair, Special Interest Group on Ageism, British Society of Gerontology
- Karl Hankinson, Co-CEO, Able Child Africa
- Tom Shelton, Interim CEO, Humanity and Inclusion
- Rhian Bowen-Davies - Comisiynydd Pobl Hŷn Cymru / Older People’s Commissioner for Wales
- Bridget Penhale, International Network on the Prevention of Elder Abuse
- Yasmine Ahmed, UK Director, Human Rights Watch
- Alex Kent, Co-CEO, Restless Development
- Victoria Lloyd, CEO, Age Cymru
- John Williams, Emeritus Professor of Law, Aberystwyth University
- Dominic Haslam, Deputy CEO, Sightsavers
- Kirsty Smith, CEO, CBM-UK (Global Disability Inclusion)
- Zarin Hainsworth, Chair, Widows Rights International
- Kerry Moscogiuri, Interim Chief Executive, Amnesty International UK
- Sarah Harper, Chair, HelpAge International
- Nadra Ahmed CBE, Executive Co-Chairman, National Care Association
- Andrew Larpent OBE, Chair Emeritus, CommonAge
- Anil Patil, Founder and Executive Director, Carers Worldwide
- Caroline Green, Director of Research, Institute for Ethics in AI
- Prof Jolene Skordis FRSPH FRSEcon, Vice Dean (International and Advancement): UCL Faculty of Population Health Sciences
- Clare Twelvetrees, Co-Founder and Trustee, Equality Starts at Home