[What is the situation with human rights of the elderly? : UN Open-ended Working Group on Ageing - review and prospects].

In November 2010 the United Nations General Assembly set up a working group to strengthen the protection of human rights for older persons (UN Open-ended Working Group on Ageing) with the United Nations Resolution A/C.3/65/L.8/Rev.1. In December 2016 the members of the working group met for the seventh time and discussed how they can approach the fulfillment of the mandate. In addition to better implementation, the strengthening of rights can consist of closing existing gaps or further differentiation of the rights in order to give the member states better guidance on how to implement them. To improve the human rights of older persons a task of the members of the working group would be to examine the existing rights and, where possible, adjust them to the real needs of the group. One of the major challenges facing the working group is already apparent: who belongs to the group of older persons and how could the group be described? This article deals with the presentation of the international process, new developments at the regional level and the attitudes of the member states and the civil society. A further aim is to present the possibilities and effects of a comprehensive legally binding instrument.