Minister Khera wraps up her participation in the 13th Session of the United Nations Open-ended Working Group on Ageing

From: Employment and Social Development Canada

News release

April 5, 2023                Gatineau, Quebec              Employment and Social Development Canada 

Canada’s Minister of Seniors, Kamal Khera, recently completed a successful visit to New York where she participated in the 13th Session of the United Nations (UN) Open-ended Working Group on Ageing. The Working Group considers the existing international framework of the human rights of older persons and identifies possible gaps and how to best address them, including by considering, as appropriate, the feasibility of further instruments and measures.

While in New York, Minister Khera delivered Canada’s national statement to the Working Group where she reiterated Canada’s commitment to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms on the global stage, to work with all stakeholders involved to keep advancing health and well-being into old age and to provide enabling and supportive environments for older persons.

Minister Khera also participated as a panelist in one session of the Working Group, entitled Right to Health and Access to Health Services, and in one side-event organized by the International Longevity Centre (ILC) Canada, entitled Health Care for All or Just for Some? A Discussion on the Right to Health. During these sessions, she reiterated Canada’s support for older persons’ right to the highest attainable standard of health and the work done to enable better access to health services. She also highlighted the importance of addressing ageism, including ageism within health care, and Canada’s commitment to foster a culture of inclusion and promoting a positive image of older persons.

The Minister engaged with counterparts from other member states, senior UN officials and civil society participants, discussing ways to better promote the rights of older persons, as well as key priorities to support current and future generations of older Canadians, including addressing challenges related to ageism, long-term care, the cost of living, senior abuse, and housing.

Specifically, Minister Khera met with Mr. Bob Rae, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Canada to the UN; Ms. Claudia Mahler, Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons; the International Longevity Centre (ILC) Canada; Mr. Li Junhua, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, and other UN officials and Non-Governmental Organizations.

This trip was also an opportunity to highlight the Government of Canada’s efforts to continue the work in supporting older Canadians.

Canada recently welcomed the release of complementary, independent long-term care standards to support improvements to long-term care services and is providing $3 billion to help provinces and territories to implement the standards in their jurisdictions.

To complement the investments the federal government has made to improve the quality and safety of long-term care the Government announced additional funding to support wage increases for personal support workers and related professions. This commitment is part of a larger plan to improve the healthcare system across the country, with historic investments worth $198.6 billion over the next 10 years, as announced in Budget 2023.

Quotes

“As we are still learning from the pandemic, protecting the human rights of older persons, combatting ageism and ensuring a high quality of care are all the more important. The work done by the Working Group is critical to addressing these issues. Participating in the 13th Session of the Working Group was an excellent opportunity to meet with our global allies and key stakeholders and discuss the next steps to better support older people regardless of their social, economic or health status — here and abroad.”

 – Minister of Seniors, Kamal Khera

Quick facts

  • The 13th Session of the UN Open-ended Working Group on Ageing (OEWGA) took place from April 3 to 6 in New York. The 13th Session focused on the right to health and access to health services and social inclusion. 

  • In 2010, the UN General Assembly established the OEWGA to consider measures or instruments needed to strengthen the protection of the rights of older persons.

  • The OEWGA strives to ensure that older persons are given space and weight in the human rights agenda by considering measures or instruments needed to strengthen the protection of the human rights of older persons.

  • Canada actively engages in the OEWGA’s annual sessions and its work. Canada served on the OEWGA Bureau for the 12th session, where Minister Khera delivered Canada’s national statement. 

  • On March 6, 2023, Minister Khera announced that Canada joined the United Nations Open-ended Working Group on Ageing’s Informal Cross-Regional Core Group.

  • The Informal Cross-Regional Core Group was created during the last Working Group session in April 2022. The main aim of the Core Group is to ensure the UN and its Member States continue to advance the human rights of older persons, including by considering the establishment of a process to identify and address possible gaps in the international human rights system for older persons. 

  • The March 6, 2023, announcement also supports Canada’s commitment to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by the UN with attention to progress on promoting and protecting human rights for everyone—including older persons. 

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Contacts

For media enquiries, please contact:

Alisson Lévesque
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Seniors, Kamal Khera
alisson.levesque@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca

Media Relations Office
Employment and Social Development Canada
819-994-5559
media@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca
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