The activities of the United Nations Open-Ended Working Group on Aging, which our Ministry represented our country for the first time in 2018, were mostly held digitally between March 29 and April 1, 2021 due to Covid-19.

The Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing was established by the General Assembly by resolution 65/182 on 21 December 2010. The working group consider the existing international framework of the human rights of older persons and identify possible gaps and how best to address them, including by considering, as appropriate, the feasibility of further instruments and measures.

The General Directorate of Services for Persons with Disabilities and the Elderly participated in the event on digital platform this year. Labour and Social Services Expert Burcu AYHAN EKENCİ from the General Directorate, representing the Turkish Delegation, participated in the session titled "High Level Panel on Covid-19 and Older Persons" of the event and presented the measures taken and the services provided for older persons in our country during the process of COVID-19 pandemic.

The event of the Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing, which our Ministry represented our country for the first time in 2018, took place mostly digitally this year between March 29 and April 1, 2021 due to Covid-19.The 11th session of the Working Group, in which representatives of UN member states, international organizations and non-governmental organizations participated from all regions of the world, were held under the themes of "Right to Work and Access to Labour Market" and "Access to Justice". Within the scope of the event; four panels were held under the titles of “High Level Panel on Covid-19 and Older Persons”, “Follow-up of the focus areas of the tenth working session-Discussion on normative inputs ", "Right to Work and Access to the Labour Market and "Access to Justice".

Our National Statement on the human rights of older persons and the studies and developments carried out in this context was prepared by our General Directorate to be conveyed in the Plenary Session held on the first day of the 11th Session of the Working Group and it was submitted to the UN due to the fact that the event was held in digital platform this year.

The event of the Working Group was followed by the General Directorate officials on the digital platform. Labour and Social Services Expert Burcu AYHAN EKENCİ from the General Directorate participated in the session titled "High Level Panel on Covid-19 and Older Persons" of the event and presented the measures taken and the services provided for older persons in our country during the process of COVID-19 pandemic. Mrs. EKENCİ particularly emphasized that during the Covid-19 pandemic, which has seriously affected the global population in a drastic ways, the services offered to older persons are continued to be provided with a "universal human rights approach". Mrs. EKENCİ gave detailed information on the measures taken for older persons receiving care services in nursing homes. Mrs. EKENCİ stated “social isolation care institutions” as one of the special measures taken for older persons during the pandemic and as a good practice example, and thus the pandemic could be taken under control in the nursing homes to a great extent. In addition, Mrs. EKENCİ emphasized that beyond health-related issues, the pandemic puts older persons all over the world at greater risk of poverty, discrimination and isolation, and concluded her speech by drawing attention to the importance of international cooperation and information exchange in order to better overcome the difficulties of the pandemic and its effects on societies.

The Closing Session of the Working Group was held on Thursday, April 1.