A/HRC/39/32 it harder for family members to provide care for their older family members. Stress, and being overburdened, combined with a lack of awareness about rights, could sometimes lead to abuse of older persons. Therefore, there was a need for new ways to support family caregivers, and to provide alternatives to family care. Furthermore, there were significant normative gaps in existing international human rights frameworks regarding the protection of older persons. National standards were weak in regard to age discrimination, an adequate standard of living, support for autonomy, participation in decision-making, and freedom from violence, abuse and neglect. Notwithstanding, Ms. Wendland noted that there had been encouraging developments, with older persons increasingly integrated in the human rights agenda as well as in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and recognition of the potential of older persons to make significant contributions to families, communities and development. III. Summary of proceedings A. International framework for the protection of the family and human rights of older persons 5. The team leader for economic, social and cultural rights at the Human Rights and Economic and Social Issues Section of OHCHR, Rio Hada, moderated the first session, which was focused on the legal and policy framework at the international, regional and national levels for the protection of the family and the human rights of older persons. He asked panellists to reflect on the obligations and other key commitments that States had, under international and regional human rights instruments as well as under national laws, to protect the human rights of older persons and to support the role of the family towards that end. 6. The Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, Rosa Kornfeld-Matte, described the steady increase of the older population worldwide, and the fact that that population cohort itself was ageing. She warned of the profound effects of such a demographic transition on societies, at all levels, which was a growing concern for human rights. It was essential to analyse those phenomena in a comprehensive way, taking into account the whole range of human rights. Older persons were not a homogeneous group or a single category, and every person had different needs and interests. In addition, old age represented a social construction based on the custom and perception of the role that particular individuals played in their communities. 7. Often it was families who provided the front-line support for their older members, and who contributed to the realization of their right to an adequate standard of living, including the right to adequate food, clothing, housing, water and sanitation. Nevertheless, older persons were at risk of neglect within their families, as well as of physical, psychological, emotional, sexual or financial abuse. From a family perspective, an important concern was cash transfer and monetary assistance programmes, where the concept of household units did not take into account intra-household dynamics and did not recognize potential discrimination in distribution within the home. 8. Although family care was the preferred option for many older persons, there was a need for effective support systems for informal caregivers. Such systems should include respite, needs assessments, information and counselling services, self-help groups, handson training in caregiving, and the dissemination of information on health protection measures. They should also take into consideration the physical and mental health of caregivers, the need for weekend breaks, and integrated care planning for seniors and families. It was particularly important that social security schemes cover caregivers, since they were often women who did not receive any income or training, as the assistance provided by informal caregivers did not replace the obligation of States. National policies should help older persons to continue living in their homes for as long as possible through improvements to the housing and by adapting housing for access and use by older persons. 9. She noted that currently there was no universal human rights instrument specifically devoted to older persons, apart from implicit references and rare explicit references in some 4