International Day of Older Persons 2025

Today, on the International Day of Older Persons, we join the United Nations in celebrating this year’s theme: “Older Persons Driving Local and Global Action: Our Aspirations, Our Well-Being and Our Rights.”

Far from being passive recipients of care, older people are active drivers of progress. Their knowledge, experience and resilience shape communities and societies locally and globally. From campaigning for health equity to mentoring younger generations, from advocating for human rights to building economic and social resilience, older people are change-makers in every sense.

The 2025 theme reflects the ongoing global movement to strengthen the rights of older people. It builds on the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA) and the Political Declaration on Ageing, which have long promoted a society for all ages. And momentum is building: in April this year, the Human Rights Council adopted Resolution 58/13, backed by 81 Member States, to begin drafting a legally binding instrument to promote and protect the human rights of older persons.

This is a landmark step. It recognises what organisations like Hourglass see every day: older people are not simply “vulnerable” - they are rights-holders with agency, dignity and aspirations of their own.

Here in the UK, the stakes are real. Our ageing population is growing – a new London-sized city of over 65s by 2050 - and with it come opportunities and challenges. On the one hand, older people provide billions of pounds worth of unpaid care, volunteering and economic contribution each year. On the other, we continue to see unacceptable levels of harm, abuse and neglect: issues that Hourglass confronts daily through our 24/7 helpline, casework and policy work.

Recognising older people as agents of change means ensuring:

• Safety: robust protections against abuse, neglect, and exploitation.

• Health equity: access to healthcare that meets the needs of an ageing population.

• Economic well-being: protection from scams, economic abuse and poverty in later life.

• Participation: ensuring older people are included in decisions that affect them, from local services to global policy.

This International Day is more than symbolic. It is a platform for older people themselves to voice their aspirations, demand their rights, and call for policies that uphold their dignity and well-being.

At Hourglass, we know that safer ageing is possible. It requires listening to older people, amplifying their voices, and ensuring the systems around them - health, social care, justice, community - are fit for purpose.

Let’s use today to recommit to that vision: a Safer Ageing Society where older people are safe, respected and empowered to drive the change they want to see in their communities and across the world.

Joseph Vardon-Hynard

External Affairs Lead