The Safeguarding Older Persons’ Legal And Human Rights Through An Active Citizenship Inter-generational Approach Project is a strategic partnership between four organisations with different background and different experience, but common understanding. Sage Advocacy from Ireland, BAGSO from Germany, Tulip Foundation from Bulgaria and Pro Senectute from Austria seek to develop through learning and exchange of practice how an active citizenship and inter-generational response to protecting the human and legal rights of older persons in the participating countries can be advanced.

The project consists of learning/training events in each country. The partners will undertake together a number of learning activities:

• Engage learners in looking at ways of protecting the rights of older people both as individuals and as a population group.
• Raise awareness about older persons’ legal and human rights among both older persons and civil society generally.
• Highlight areas where older persons’ rights may be infringed.
• Identify good practices where these exist.
• Develop through dialogue and analysis of existing good practice in each partner country a Good Practice Handbook on How to Protect the Rights of Older Persons.

The staff training and learning activities will be structured in such a way that the learners will enhance their knowledge and understanding of basic EU and UN documents relevant to the rights of older people, in particular the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Council of Europe Recommendations on Promoting the Human Rights of Older Persons and the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing. Learners will acquire new insights into existing and emerging discussions on questions concerning the rights of older people.

At local level each partner organisation will acquire new insights into best practice relating to identifying and safeguarding the human rights of older people. Other organisations working with older persons in each partner country will be offered the opportunity to engage with the topic. At national level a debate will be promoted among statutory agencies and NGOs working with older people. At international level an EU-wide policy discourse will be promoted through a website developed on the basis of reflected project experience.

The joint efforts of Sage Advocacy Ireland, Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft der Senioren-Organisationen e.V. Germany, Pro Senectute Austria and Tulip Foundation Bulgaria are supported in the frame of Erasmus+ Programme of the EC.