A/HRC/RES/24/20 Taking note with appreciation of the report of the Secretary-General on the followup to the Second World Assembly on Ageing1 and of the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the human rights of older persons,2 Recalling general comment No. 6 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on the economic, social and cultural rights of older persons, and other relevant documents by treaty bodies, Conscious that older persons represent a large and growing segment of the population and that greater attention is needed to the specific human rights challenges affecting them, Concerned at the multiple forms of discrimination that may affect older persons and at the high incidence of poverty among this particularly vulnerable group, especially older women, persons with disabilities, persons of African descent, individuals belonging to indigenous peoples, persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, rural persons, persons living on the streets and refugees, among other groups, Recalling Human Rights Council resolutions 5/1, on institution-building of the Council, and 5/2, on the Code of Conduct for special procedures mandate holders of the Council, of 18 June 2007, and stressing that the mandate holder shall discharge his or her duties in accordance with those resolutions and the annexes thereto, 1. Recognizes the challenges related to the enjoyment of all human rights that older persons face in areas such as prevention of and protection against violence and abuse, social protection, food and housing, employment, legal capacity, access to justice, health support, long-term and palliative care, and that those challenges require in-depth analysis and action to address protection gaps; 2. Acknowledges the report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the consultation on the promotion and protection of the human rights of older persons,3 which summarizes the issues discussed at the consultation, including age discrimination, access by older persons to work, adequate health services and social protection, protection from abuse, violence and neglect, long-term care and the situation of older prisoners; 3. Calls upon all States to promote and ensure the full realization of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for older persons, including by taking measures to combat age discrimination, neglect, abuse and violence, and to address issues related to social integration and adequate health care, bearing in mind the crucial importance of family intergenerational interdependence, solidarity and reciprocity for social development; 4. Encourages all States to conduct their age-related policies through inclusive and participatory consultations with relevant stakeholders and social development partners in the interest of developing effective policies creating national policy ownership and consensus-building; 5. Decides to appoint, for a period of three years, an Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, with the following mandate: (a) To assess the implementation of existing international instruments with regard to older persons while identifying both best practices in the implementation of 1 2 3 2 A/67/188. E/2012/51. A/HRC/24/25.