Human Rights of Older Persons in the Digital Era
The Co-organisers of the Informal ASEM Human Rights Seminar series, in partnership with the ASEM Global Ageing Center, delivered a capacity-building training programme on “Human Rights of Older Persons in the Era of Digital Transformation”. Held in October-November 2021, the training augmented the outcomes of the 20th Informal ASEM Seminar on “Human Rights of Older Persons, which called on ASEM Partners to ensure the accessibility of lifelong learning opportunities to older persons, including learning digital literacy and other skills to reinforce their life transitions and interests.
The training, which was aimed at policymakers, administrators, and professionals in the fields of human rights for older persons, lifelong learning and ICT education in Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) countries, offered practical guidance on establishing, adopting, implementing and monitoring a national plan of action for human rights of older persons in the context of digital literacy and digital inclusion.
Over the course of 5 weeks, 9 virtual sessions were conducted for 32 participants representing 18 ASEM nationalities. They exchanged experiences and learned about the existing gaps and challenges that prevent older persons from taking full advantage of digital transformation. The programme introduced the participants to the international human rights framework relating to the digital inclusion of older persons; discussed the benefits of new technologies and digital skills; how they can help to realise older persons’ rights to health, autonomy & independence, and enhance their full participation in society.
Participants benefited from the trainers’ vast and varied expertise in the area of human rights of older persons, gerontology and digital technology. The first session of the training was led by Vanessa STEINMAYER from the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia (UNESCAP) who provided an overview on ageing, sustainable development goals and human rights of older persons, with an emphasis on Asia-Pacific countries. Dr Andrew BYRNES, Emeritus Professor of Law from the University of New-South Wales of Australia (UNSW) elaborated further on the international human rights law and its relevance to older persons during the second session of the training. He also spoke about recent efforts to strengthen the existing international human rights framework, including the adoption of a new treaty, and provided the participants with some examples of advocacy measures that could be taken in this regard. Following this, Dr Titti MATTSSON from Lund University, Sweden, provided an overview of the key concepts that underline the discussion on elder rights, and presented the key outcomes of the 20th Informal ASEM Seminar on Human Rights as a relevant and actionable framework for various stakeholders to use in their work. Dr Byrnes and Dr Mattsson both served as main rapporteurs at the 20th Seminar.
Discussions throughout the training highlighted many of the challenges older people encounter in the digital world that actually reflect more general social problems that also exist “offline,” including ageism, lack of consultation and respect for older people’s autonomy. Gerontechologist Johanna E.M.H. VAN BRONSWIJK from Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands pointed out that to create digital solutions that will fit the lifestyles of older people and encourage them to use technology, necessitates their involvement in the design and development process. This was echoed by Dr Donghee HAN from the Active Ageing Consortium Asia Pacific (ACAP) and Director of Research Institute of Science for the Better Living of the Elderly (RISBLE) of Korea, who also underscored the importance of including senior persons as trainers and facilitators in teaching digital skills to other older adults. Dr Han also noted that the whole digital culture must be addressed in order to bridge the digital divide for senior citizens. Ms Ahjung LEE from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) of Korea ended the training sessions by discussing the importance of digitalisation in relation to human development; and underscored that in considering digitalisation from a human rights perspective, there should be a deliberate goal to identify individuals and groups that are disadvantaged and marginalised, including older persons. “Digitalisation for the privileged few does not mean that its benefits will trickle down to the underprivileged”, she stressed. She also emphasised the need for effective digital governance and regulation and encouraged participants to advocate for improved legislation governing access and use of digital technology.
The training concluded with participants presenting action plans they had developed to enhance the digital literacy of older persons in their own settings, equipped with the practical advice and tools provided throughout the programme. The action plans were developed under the guidance of Dr Yeong-Ran PARK from Kangnam University, the lead trainer of the programme, and Dr Hyun-sik CHANG from KOICA Family Foundation of Korea.
Human Rights Training is a component under the framework of the Informal ASEM Seminar on Human Rights series. It was introduced to support the series’ overall objective of promoting mutual understanding and cooperation on human rights in ASEM. The purpose of this training is to improve the capacity of ASEM Partners to promote human rights in their work.