Ageism Awareness Day : Rebelling Against Ageism

Summary

October 7th is Ageism Awareness Day; to mark this occasion the Canadian Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse, the Canadian Coalition Against Ageism and Elder Abuse Prevention Ontario are teaming up to host a special online event on Thursday, October 5th.

The event will bring together Dr. Kiran Rabheru and Margaret Gillis (ILC Canada and co-founders of the Canadian Coalition Against Ageism) and Claudia Mahler, the United Nations Independent Expert on the Enjoyment of all Human Rights by Older Persons. Together they will discuss:

CCAA's goals, activities and current campaign against ageism
how a Convention on the Rights of Older People could help counter age discrimination and prevent elder abuse
the work Canadian oganizations are leading at the international level to bring about a UN Convention on the Rights on Older Adults and how you can support this effort.

Speakers

Margaret Gillis
Margaret Gillis is the founding President of the International Longevity Centre Canada, a human rights based organization, and Co-President of the International Longevity Centre Global Alliance, which is an alliance of 16 Centres around the world dedicated to the needs of older people. She is also an Ambassador for Elder Abuse Prevention Ontario.
Margaret is an award winning executive and innovative leader, she played a key role in establishing the Age-friendly Community program in Canada and internationally. Other career highlights include a joint government-NGO project to protect seniors in disasters.
Margaret has strong credentials in regard to human rights, working with and speaking at the UN General Assembly on behalf of older people. Margaret has been actively working for a United Nations Convention on the Rights of Older Persons in Canada and internationally. With a background in health promotion, protection and programming, Margret is committed to improving the rights of older people. Margaret holds a BA in History (Queen’s ) and a Master’s in Public Administration (Carleton).

Dr. Kiran Rabheru
Dr. Kiran Rabheru is Full Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Ottawa and Geriatric Psychiatrist at The Ottawa Hospital (TOH). He serves as Medical Director of the Geriatric Psychiatry, Electroconvulsive (ECT), and the Behavioral Support Programs at TOH. He obtained his MD from University of Western Ontario and practiced as a family doctor for 5 years in rural and urban settings. He is a Certificant and Fellow of the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CCFP, FCFP). Subsequently, he completed a residency in psychiatry, subspecialized in geriatric psychiatry, and became Board Certified as a geriatric psychiatrist in Canada (FRCP) and the United States (DABPN).
Dr. Rabheru has been passionate and fully committed to serving older people throughout his life, and is recognized nationally and internationally for his work. He is a Founder of the subspecialty of Geriatric Psychiatry at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. He is recipient of the Outstanding Achievements in Geriatric Psychiatry in Canada award by the Canadian Academy of Geriatric Psychiatry (www.cagp.ca ) and has served as the President of the CAGP and its Board for many years. At present, he co-leads the Canadian Coalition of Seniors Mental Health (www.ccsmh.ca ). He is Chair of the Board of Directors of the International Longevity Centre ( www.ilccanada.org ), Canada and a member of the Board of the International Psychogeriatric Association (www.ipa-online.org ). Recently, he has been elected as Chair of the Section of Positive Psychiatry of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA). He serves on the national leadership team for the Fountain of Health (www.fountainofhealth.ca) initiative, where he has been active in promoting healthy aging, brain resilience and vitality.

Claudia Mahler
Ms. Claudia Mahler (Austria) assumed her role as Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons in May 2020. She has been a senior researcher in the field of economic, social and cultural rights for the German Institute for Human Rights since 2010. She was also a visiting professor at the Alice Salomon Hochschule in 2020-2021.From 2001 to 2009, Ms. Mahler conducted research at the Human Rights Centre of the University of Potsdam where her main fields were in human rights education, minority rights and the law of asylum. In 2000, she was appointed as Vice President of the Human Rights Commission for Tyrol and Vorarlberg.
She has also worked as a lecturer in the field of human rights law and as a consultant to OHCHR in Geneva. From 1997-2001, she held the position of an assistant at the Leopold-Franzens-University Innsbruck, Austria in the field of Criminal Law and Criminal Procedures. Ms. Mahler received her doctoral degree in 2000.

Resources:

CCAA Contact Information

Canadian Coalition on Against Ageism: https://www.ilccanada.org/ccaa
Sign up for CCAA updates at bit.ly/CCAAgeism
International Longevity Centre-Canada: https://www.ilccanada.org/
Kiran Rabheru:
Margaret Gillis:

Advocacy

Join the Age With Rights campaign
Age With Rights is the global campaign for a UN convention on the rights of older people coordinated by the Global Alliance for the Rights of Older People. You do not have to be a member organization of the Global Alliance to support and engage with the campaign. Join this global campaign for a UN convention on the rights of older people to ensure equal protection of our human rights in older age. Learn More: https://rightsofolderpeople.org/age-with-rights/
Intersessional work up to the 14th UN Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing (OEWG) session
https://rightsofolderpeople.org/intersessional-work-up-to-fourteenth-oewg-session/.
GAROP has produced a short briefing to support civil society organizations to prepare their responses to the questionnaire. It explains the background to this questionnaire and why it is so important for a wide diversity of NGOs to respond. It also provides appendices with links to useful resources, explanations of terms used, and guidance on key messages for each question in the questionnaire. Click to access this briefing in English and Français
The questionnaire has now been shared in English and with unofficial French and Spanish versions. The deadline for responses is November 24, 2023. Access the questionnaire: English Español Français

Reports

Age-Friendly Communities
- WHO Global Network - Age-Friendly Communities - Canada: https://extranet.who.int/agefriendlyworld/network/pan-canadian-age-friendly-communities-initiative/
- For more information on age-friendly communities work in Canada, please visit: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/health-promotion/aging-seniors/friendly-communities.html
Learn about the mandate of the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons: https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/ie-older-persons
UN Human Rights Commission. Report on Violence, Abuse and Neglect of Older People
The Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, Claudia Mahler, provides an overview of her activities during the reporting period and a thematic analysis of violence against and abuse and neglect of older persons. She examines the different manifestations of abuse in older age and reviews prevention and protection measures. The report concludes with a set of recommendations to States and other stakeholders.
An examination of the social and economic impacts of ageism. This report examines social and economic impacts of ageism through a review of literature to better understand:
- the impacts of ageism related to employment, health and health care, social inclusion, safety and security, media and social media
- initiatives to counteract age-based discrimination against older adults
WHO - Global report on Ageism
The Global report on Ageism outlines a framework for action to reduce ageism including specific recommendations for different actors (e.g. government, UN agencies, civil society organizations, private sector). It brings together the best available evidence on the nature and magnitude of ageism, its determinants and its impact. It outlines what strategies work to prevent and counter ageism, identifies gaps and proposes future lines of research to improve our understanding of ageism.
Read the report
Access this publication in: العربية 中文 Français Русский Español Português
Age Discrimination Costs the Nation $850 Billion, Study Finds Bias against older workers hurts economic growth
Read the report
Age-inclusive language: Are you using it in your writing and everyday speech?
by Morgan Van Vleck, MSW candidate at the Brown School and Center for Aging Graduate Research Fellow
Read Article