November 16, 2026 (Monday, 17:00 -18:00 PM JST)
ONLINE (Zoom)
About the Webinar
For the first time in history, people aged 60 and over outnumber children under five, and by 2050 they will make up over one-fifth of humanity. Yet, older persons remain invisible in policy, law, and data, and one in six experiences violence, abuse, or neglect. This calls for leaving behind the “old-equals-decline” narrative in favor of inclusion, participation, and policy change at local, national and global levels. Internationally, the ground has shifted. The UN Independent Expert on Older Persons, and more than 14 years of the Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing, laid the groundwork. In 2025, the UN Human Rights Council created an Intergovernmental Working Group to draft a legally binding treaty. This webinar seeks to support this momentum and drive discussions on the rights of older persons. It argues that older persons’ rights are a peace and sustainability issue. Structural ageism erodes intergenerational solidarity. Ageing intersects with conflict, displacement, and climate disaster. Care, pension, and health systems must be governed fairly to avoid conflict. Like earlier conventions on children, women, and persons with disabilities, a new instrument would close an accountability gap and strengthen SDG16. The webinar hopes to foster multi-level, interdisciplinary dialogue across academia, policy, and practice.
About the Speaker
Dr. Chitralekha Massey leads the work on Older Persons at OHCHR’s Equality and Non-Discrimination Branch, a role she has held since 2024. Prior to that, from 2020 to 2024, she steered the Branch’s engagement on Political Constituencies and Human Rights Economy partnerships, while also coordinating outreach and engagement for social justice.
Her field experience is equally robust. As Regional Representative for the Pacific (2016–2020), she was based in Fiji and worked across sixteen island nations, helping governments and civil society strengthen human rights protections in some of the world’s most climate-vulnerable communities. Before that, she served as Senior Human Rights Adviser in Tanzania (2014-16), embedding rights-based approaches within the UN’s “Delivering as One” framework and partnering closely with national institutions and civil society. She put the challenges faced by persons living with Albinism on the UN radar and workplan. In Iraq, she led the human rights team in Kurdistan (2013) after three years as Deputy Chief/Senior Human Rights Officer in Baghdad from 2010. Earlier, she spent four years (2006–2010) in OHCHR’s largest country office, in Nepal, first heading Capacity-Building and Training, then leading the new team on Discrimination and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights—while also serving as elected Staff Representative. Between 2001 and 2006, her postings ranged from Afghanistan—where she was one of the first female political and human rights officers deployed outside Kabul—to Geneva, and a special investigative mission to West Africa on allegations of sexual abuse by UN staff.
Across her career, Dr. Massey has engaged deeply with issues as varied as street children, torture prevention, business and human rights, climate justice, youth empowerment, and discrimination. She has worked to strengthen the human rights capacity of police, militaries, judiciaries, and national human rights commissions, while maintaining close ties with NGOs and grassroots movements. She holds a Ph.D. in International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Masters in International Human Rights Law, studied for a masters diploma in computer sciences and holds a B.Sc. (Hons) in Genetics—a background that mirrors her unusual ability to bridge science, law, and frontline advocacy.
About the NERPS Webinar Series
The Network for Education and Research on Peace and Sustainability (NERPS) at Hiroshima University in Japan is hosting a series of webinars on the relationship between peace and sustainability in the context of environmental, socio-political, economic, and technological transformations. This series is a platform for rethinking and updating the current discourse on peace and sustainability amidst global challenges and transformations. Leading experts discuss the role of resources, digital technologies, migration, governance, and education in peacebuilding, conflict mitigation, humanitarian aid, and capacity-building, among other components that contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly that of Goal 16 on Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions. Check out our previous webinars here.
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