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Abstract

Conflicts in every generation disproportionately impact older people. Older people are often unable to exercise their most basic human rights during peacetime, and conflicts only amplify this problem. Despite this reality, international law does not provide specialized protection for older people, and they are often excluded from international justice processes.

International law does not define the term “older,” although the word is often used to describe a group of people roughly age 60 or above. But there is no question that the median age of the global population is rising. Today, there are more than 700 million people older than age 60. That figure is projected to reach between 1.6 and 2 billion people by 2050. At the same time, the number of international and non-international armed conflicts is increasing. One data analysis initiative estimates that global conflicts doubled between 2020 and 2024. The nexus of these two indicators makes the situation of older people in conflict increasingly urgent.

This Article identifies the gaps in international law that have exacerbated this nexus and suggests pathways for vindicating older people’s rights in conflict and post-conflict settings. It first explores how older people experience conflicts, drawing on examples from past and present conflict settings. It argues that older people are singled out for targeting during conflict and are disproportionately impacted by conflict even when they are not deliberately targeted.

Next, this Article explores how older people and their unique vulnerabilities are systemically excluded from international human rights and humanitarian measures. It posits that these measures often include protections tailored to groups who face discrimination or heightened risks based on their race, gender, nationality, religion, or other protected status. But older people are not among these groups, despite ample evidence proving their extraordinary vulnerability in peacetime and wartime alike. Where international mechanisms often fail, domestic and regional institutions have made better progress toward ensuring older people can fully realize their rights. However, as this Article shows, even these efforts rarely address the specific needs of older people during conflict and post-conflict periods.

Although the UN previously explored creating a treaty for older people, the proposal evaporated more than a decade ago. This Article acknowledges these efforts but offers alternative grassroots options for addressing older people’s needs during and after conflict. One such option is comprehensive data collection to rectify what the UN has described as “fragmented” or “nonexistent information about the lived realities of older persons,” a situation that ensures the disproportionate impacts older people face remain invisible. Another proposal discusses deliberate consultations, noting that aid interventions and peacebuilding efforts typically do not consider or simply ignore the potential contributions older people might make despite their increased social knowledge and lived experiences. A third option suggests reparations specific to the unique physical and psychological harms older people experience, exploring both material and symbolic reparations that could be more relevant and meaningful to older people than the general adult population at large.

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