A/HRC/42/43/Add.1 rights-based approach into all activities, which would also greatly facilitate the implementation of the national action plan and ensure a holistic approach. 74. While noting and acknowledging the important role of the Ministry of Social Development, which has the primary responsibility for older persons in Uruguay, the Independent Expert notes that a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach to ageing requires a functionally independent interministerial coordination mechanism with a legal status and its own assets. In this regard, the Independent Expert calls upon the Government to consider developing a comprehensive national policy on older persons that is fully in line with the Inter-American Convention on Protecting the Human Rights of Older Persons. Such a policy, developed through nationwide, inclusive consultations, would reinforce the achievements of Uruguay in protecting the rights of older persons. 75. The Independent Expert acknowledges the important work of the National Human Rights Institution and Ombudsman’s Office, which was provided for in a law of December 2008 and formally established in 2012. It is designed to promote and protect human rights, as defined by Uruguayan law. She also acknowledges the existence of the Montevideo Community (Defensor Del Vecino de Montevideo) which promotes and defends the rights of all inhabitants of Montevideo, and of the Human Rights Secretariat of the Office of the Presidency in charge of monitoring and evaluating the human rights situation. The Independent Expert recommends that the National Human Rights Institution and Ombudsman’s Office be further strengthened by equipping it with adequate human, technical and financial resources to carry out its mandate, and that it incorporate the rights of older persons as an issue of concern. 76. On the basis of the findings and observations in the present report, the Independent Expert makes the recommendations below. B. Recommendations to the Government 1. Study and statistics 77. The Independent Expert notes that the compilation of specific information on ageing is a decisive tool for policymaking as it renders visible the significant factors needed to contribute to decision-making and strategic planning and the obstacles thereto and identifies possible measures to ensure the enjoyment by older persons of their rights. While acknowledging the efforts made, she encourages the Government to ensure the nationwide, systematic and regular collection of disaggregated data on the impediments to the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, such as all forms of discrimination on the basis of age, individually and cumulatively, as well as exclusion, poverty and all forms of violence, abuse, neglect and maltreatment. Given the impending digital transformation, which will bring with it new and uncharted challenges surrounding the changing nature of care and privacy, the Independent Expert encourages the Government to develop a comprehensive data strategy to ensure data-driven decision-making as well as the required legal framework. 27 78. The new Integrated Social Information System, on its own and through its interoperability with several national institutions, generates important sets of data about people who are found to be ineligible for benefits, including the reasons for their ineligibility, and patterns in terms of income, social situation, geographical location and other sociodemographic characteristics of the applicants and beneficiaries. The Independent Expert recognizes the value of evidence-based data for the formulation of policies, for monitoring their implementation and for assessing their impact, including on older persons. Given that data have to be used sensitively in order to avoid stigmatization and potential misuse, particular care should be exercised 27 See A/HRC/36/48 and Conference Declaration of the International Expert-Conference on Human Rights of Older Persons, 2018 (12–13 November 2018, Vienna), available at http://ageing.at/site/pub_html/sites/default/files/ICHRoP%20Conference%20Declaration%20Final_0.pdf. 13