On the occasion of the 2018 World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEEAD), ENNHRI launched a joint press release together with AGE Platform Europe, UNI Europa and the European Commission. It is the result of a joint workshop on “Working conditions in care: Implications for labour rights, quality of services and the dignity of older people”, organised in Brussels on 5 June.

Care services for older people are facing a dramatic crisis across Europe. For the first time at the European level, organisations of older persons and trade unions, together with other civil society organisations, national human rights institutions, policymakers and researchers, gathered to explore the precariousness of the care workforce and how, as a result, the dignity of older persons needing care is at stake.

“The best way of enabling the full enjoyment of human rights by older persons in long-term care is by choosing a Human Rights-based approach in all aspects of service planning, national policy and practice. ENNHRI’s project on The Human Rights of Older Persons and Long-term Care also points that out”
Debbie Kohner, ENNHRI Secretary General

“We all have the right to age in dignity; but we know this may not be possible if care services remain underfunded and understaffed”
Anne-Sophie Parent, Secretary General AGE Platform Europe

The outcome of the joint workshop will also be taken on board in AGE Platform Europe’s input to the discussions on the right to long-term care in the United Nations Open Ended Working Group on Ageing, next 23 to 26 July. The press release can be found here.