The fourth session of the UN Open-ended Working Group on Ageing took place last week in New York (12-15 August 2013. Civil society presence in general was stronger than ever and united in its call for a new convention on the rights of older people.

The fourth session of the UN Open-ended Working Group on Ageing (OEWGA) will meet in New York between 12 and 15 August 2013. The OEWGA, which is made up of all UN member states, was set up in 2010 to discuss the possibility of a new human rights instrument dedicated to older people’s rights.

A new HelpAge report – endorsed by Save the Children - reveals that the needs of older people and young children are not being catered for in the humanitarian system’s response to emergencies around the world.

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Toby Porter as our new Chief Executive Officer. Toby brings to his new role an impressive record in humanitarian and development programmes with Save the Children UK and Oxfam GB. He will take up his new post with HelpAge at the end of September.

This week our Interim CEO, Silvia Stefanoni and Social Protection Adviser, Andrea McPherson, are attending and speaking at the meeting of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals (OWG) at the United Nations in New York.