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    February 26, 2025 Heightened Risks, Few Protections:

    Older People in Armed Conflict, Displacement, and Environmental Crises

    By Jane Buchanan, Director of Global Impact, HelpAge USA

    The PDF (which includes any endnotes and footnotes)  in which this article appears can be found here: /content/dam/aba/administrative/law_aging/vol46issue3.pdf

    Conflicts and climate emergencies are central features of the world today, with few regions or countries unaffected. More of the world is impacted by armed conflict than any time since World War II, with at least 110 active conflicts, including both international conflicts and civil wars, underway on five continents. At least 3.5 billion people live in areas susceptible to climate change, including wildfires, floods, extreme heat, tropical storms and hurricanes. Both conflicts and climate change have led to unprecedented numbers of people forced to flee their homes, with 120 million people displaced within their home countries or to other countries as of mid-2024. 

    Among those most at risk in conflicts, humanitarian crises, and climate-related disasters are older people, although they frequently remain invisible in humanitarian response and human rights protection. Rapid global population aging makes these concerns even more pressing. Between 2015 and 2050, the proportion of the world’s population over 60 years will nearly double from 12 percent to 22 percent. The proportion of the population aged 50 and over in fragile countries, where conflict and disasters are more likely to occur, is expected to rise from 12.3 per cent (219.9 million) in 2020 to just over 19 percent (586.3 million) over the same period.

    There is no dedicated international human rights instrument to protect the human rights of older people. As described below, international humanitarian law and human rights law as well as some regional treaties offer general protections, and in a few instances specific protections related to older people. Facilitating the participation and contributions of older people in emergency planning and response is also central to preventing and remedying the human rights abuses they can face. 

    Human rights investigations have found that in conflicts, older people are subject to abuses faced by civilians generally, including unlawful killing, summary executions, arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and other ill-treatment, rape, kidnapping, enforced disappearances of loved ones, destruction of homes and property, looting, and other abuses. 

    At the same time, older people can face particular harm, including greater risk of death. In Ukraine, according to the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, during a three-month reporting period in 2024, 41 percent of civilians killed or injured near the frontline were over age 60, although they represent only 25 per cent of the Ukrainian population. Subsequent reporting in Ukraine found this pattern of civilian deaths to be consistent and that older women were particularly affected. In Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory between Azerbaijan and Armenia, more than half of the deaths during renewed fighting in 2020 were among people over 60 and many went missing. Research on the Myanmar military’s assault on Rohingya villages in 2017 found that people over 50 years old were significantly more likely to be killed than people in younger age groups. A 2023 Human Rights Watch report documented summary executions of older people in Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, and Syria.

    There are a number of reasons why older people may be more exposed to harm during crises. In armed conflicts, older people often remain in or near areas of active conflict, while younger people flee to safety or leave home to join military campaigns. Contrary to common assumptions, older people are not always taken care of by their families. Disability and the lack of accessible evacuations or lack of adequate shelter and other conditions in displacement can compel older residents to remain in unsafe areas, even when they would wish to flee. Others choose to stay due to limited financial means, commitment to protect and preserve the family home and land, which may provide income as well as generate emotional attachment. 

    For older people who remain in place during conflicts as well as those who are displaced, HelpAge International research in multiple countries has found that humanitarian assistance does not consistently reach them or respond to their specific needs. With regard to food, for example, centralized distribution points can be inaccessible because of their location or because they require waiting in long queues or jostling with other recipients to access limited supplies. Little attention is given to older people’s particular nutritional requirements, despite their risk of malnutrition.

    International humanitarian law and human rights law provide protections to older people during armed conflict and displacement. The 1949 Geneva Conventions and additional protocols, as well as customary laws of war, prohibit attacks on civilians of all ages and civilian property.Deliberate attacks on civilians and civilian property can constitute war crimes. The Fourth Geneva Convention contains two provisions requesting specific attention and protection for groups including older people, including organization of safe areas and safe evacuations. 

    In addition, many human rights treaties, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) also apply at all times, including during armed conflicts. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the most widely ratified UN human rights treaty, specifically obligates states to ensure the protection and safety of persons with disabilities of all ages “in situations of risk, including situations of armed conflict, humanitarian emergencies and the occurrence of natural disasters.” Regional treaties in the Americas and Africa dedicated to the human rights of older people also afford protections to them during conflicts.

    With regard to extreme climate events, including excessive heat, drought, flooding, tropical storms and hurricanes, and wildfires, there is clear evidence of the disproportionate impacts on older people. These impacts will only increase as populations in all countries age. According to the UN, more than 14 percent of people over 60 are already exposed to climate risks, with often devastating impacts. In the United States, people 60 and older four times more likely to die than younger people in weather emergencies, including hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, and heatwaves. In Asia, cyclones have become more common and older people are particularly susceptible to dangers associated with them.

    The WHO reports that, globally, heat-related deaths among those over 65 have risen by 70 percent in two decades. Significantly more older people will live be exposed to dangerous acute heat in the coming years, particularly in Africa and Asia. 

    Age-related health conditions contribute to older people’s specific risk to heat exposure, cardiovascular disease or respiratory conditions and heightened susceptibility to hyperthermia.  Older people are more likely to experience multiple chronic health conditions, which can become exacerbated during disaster events due to interruptions in access to medications and other routine care. Disability, living alone, social isolation, lower incomes are also significant factors that increase risks for older people facing all kinds of emergencies. Older women and LGBTQ+ persons are often more at risk.

    Also significant is the lack of access to information or inaccessible information, for example if air raid or extreme weather warnings or evacuation notices are distributed by smart phones, or by specific apps, which older people may not use. Ageism and stereotypes also disadvantage older people, who too often are assumed to be passive, incapable, or withdrawn when it comes to participating in disaster planning and response that would be responsive to their specific circumstances.

    Governments have obligations under international human rights law to address climate change, including protecting at-risk groups from the harms of extreme weather events and reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. The ICCPR requires governments to protect the right to life, including from foreseeable threats, for example. Under the CRPD, as noted above, governments must ensure the rights of people with disabilities during all emergencies, including natural disasters. Additionally, the United Nations has called on governments to provide adequate protection for all groups, including older people by guaranteeing that climate change and disaster risk reduction measures consider the needs and rights of older people.

    The confluence of rapid global population aging and increasing conflict, displacement, and climate-induced emergencies poses numerous threats to the lives and well-being of older people. The best way to mitigate against these impacts is to ensure the leadership and participation of older people in disaster planning, response, and monitoring. No one knows more acutely what preparations and services will be most protective and helpful to older people than they do. Older people’s contributions and insights are crucial to ending the human rights abuses perpetrated against them even in the extreme circumstances of conflict and crises. It is also essential that preparations as well as immediate needs assessments and longer-term research collect meaningful sex, age, and disability disaggregated data; if older people are not counted, they will continue to remain invisible. Finally, a binding international legal instrument, such as a new UN treaty, specifically guaranteeing the human rights of older people, would also bring much needed attention and stronger governmental commitments to ensuring safe, dignified, and healthy lives for older people.

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    Jane Buchanan

    HelpAge USA