Addis Ababa, April 11, 2023 (FBC) – The Ethiopian Human Right Commission (EHRC) took part in the thirteenth session of the United Nations Open-Ended Working Group on Aging (UN-OEWGA), held in UN’s headquarters, New York, according to EHRC.
The session was held under the theme: Advocating for the importance of international convention on older persons rights.
Additionally, the two focus areas of this year’s meeting were “Right to Health and Access to Health Services” and “Social Inclusion”.
It is stated that EHRC participated in the 13th session of the UN OEWG and represented by its Commissioner for Disability Rights and Rights of Older Persons, Rigbe Gebrehawaria.
This is the second time EHRC has engaged in the Working Group after it obtained “A” status accreditation from The Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) in 2021, EHRC has confirmed.
EHRC submitted a statement on access to health rights which highlighted the major challenges older people in Ethiopia face to access health services and exercise their right to health, it has indicated.
“The journey does not end when we have a convention, but it will resume with a very fertile ground. It’s my greatest hope that we will see the fruition of our conversations and interventions during this session and that we will not come back to discuss the need to have a dedicated international instrument on the 14th session.” Commissioner Rigbe said in her concluding remarks at the 13th session of the UN OEWG.