Since 1978, IAGG is a category III non-governmental organization (NGO) at UN with a consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). In 2009, IAGG was established with the ECOSOC special Consultative Status allowing IAGG to make oral and written statements. IAGG is a member of the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations (CONGO) in Consultative Relationship with the UN since 1985.

The Open-ended Working Group on Ageing at the UN Wraps up its work at Final Session in May 2024

In 2010, the United Nations convened an Open-ended Working Group on Ageing (OEWGA) to examine the existing human rights framework within the UN –its protections and gaps regarding Older Persons and make recommendations to fill the gaps
Fourteen 14 years of discussion of 14 topics of human rights of older persons ensued. Along the way, Your IAGG team with input from our broader membership submitted written and oral statements, convened side events at key UN commissions and met with ambassadorial staff at member states’ missions to the UN, always urging stronger legal protection for older persons’ human rights in UN policy. Finally in May , 2024, after gathering input from NGO’s (like us), governments, business and representatives of Older people throughout the world,.the OEWGA has produced a document identifying formally the gaps in the current human rights framework for older people at the UN and added a list of options for filling those gaps. The options include a Convention (legally binding treaty, supported by IAGG and the Global Alliance for the Rights of Older People (GAROP) the largest coalition of Ageing related NGO’s). Other options listed in the final document fall short of this but would call for some elaborations or additions to the existing human rights policies.
After some intense negotiations, a consensus was reached by the member states of the OEWGA to send the final document to the General Assembly (the overall governing body of the UN) with the hope that it will approve the set of recommendations and send it on with some guidance to the Human Rights Council in Geneva, that focuses specifically on human rights, for some concrete proposals.