05/12/2024 Equality and Non-Discrimination
“The negative narrative around age and ageing in society needs to be challenged and changed in order to counter age-based stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination,” the PACE Committee on Equality said today. Older persons experience “age-based discrimination in all areas of life, especially in the workplace, and in access to services, education, and healthcare”, and this phenomenon is “as harmful as any other form of discrimination”.
Unanimously adopting a draft resolution based on a report prepared by Andrea Eder-Gitschthaler (Austria, EPP/CD), the parliamentarians said that national bodies responsible for equality issues should have in their mandate and activities the prevention and combating of discrimination against older persons, and be granted with the necessary resources in this respect.
They called on Council of Europe member states to review legislation to include a “specific prohibition of age-based discrimination against older persons” and modify or repeal “any laws with direct or indirect discriminatory effects”. Equality and anti-discrimination laws and policies should address structural discrimination.
Noting the digital divide which may affect older persons, they called for universal and affordable access to relevant tools and technologies, along with “tailored capacity-building and empowerment among older members of society”. Public services, especially relating to financial and other essential support, should be “accessed through both online and offline means”.