A/HRC/39/32 with, family members. Despite this, States often transferred their human rights obligations towards older persons onto family members in relation to care and support, including through maintenance or filial piety laws, which increased the dependency of older persons and denied their autonomy. It was necessary to move away from an approach that excluded older persons from their communities and denied them their autonomy and independence, and instead move towards establishing and strengthening care and support services where older persons had the right, and access, to individualized support that enabled them to control their lives. 37. In response, Ms. Ahmed recalled that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognized that the family was the natural and fundamental group unit of society and was entitled to protection by society and the State. In addition, many associations sought to preserve the unity of the family nucleus and to protect older persons from certain practices that may lead to breakdown of the family by isolating the older person. Society had to leave behind some negative practices and promote positive values. The State must intervene to assist families caring for older persons, including by creating institutional structures. 38. Ms. Scheil-Adlung said that as long as there was a link between family care and illhealth, loss of income, impoverishment or burnout, there would not be such a thing as free choice for family carers. It was necessary to support family carers and establish certain limits. Family carers could not replace formal skilled workers, especially when it came to Alzheimer’s disease or other diseases that made family care difficult. A formal care force should support family carers, as without it, no family would be able to give proper care to older persons. 39. Ms. Georgantzi stressed that most human rights treaties did not provide an explicit prohibition of discrimination on the ground of age, and that there were many gaps in the application of the existing instruments. For example, it was still possible under international law to force an older person to retire after reaching a certain age, and in some countries there were different systems of treatment for younger persons with disabilities and older persons with disabilities. Family was not necessarily the context where all older persons lived; nevertheless, families shared the obligation with States to provide care and support for the elderly. A convention on the rights of older persons would protect their human rights and support families as a whole, as the instruments for other groups had done. Such a convention should guarantee the right to autonomy and independence, and establish explicitly that age was not an admissible ground on which to limit their legal capacity. C. The role of the family in promoting age-friendly environments 40. The Chief of the Population Unit at the Economic Commission for Europe, Vitalija Gaucaite Wittich, moderated the third session, which was focused on the role of the family in promoting age-friendly environments. She noted that family settings were becoming increasingly diverse, and that social contexts mattered when designing policies. Critical interdependencies between generations and between men and women within families would develop in daily interactions. Those interactions could be positive, but could also become a breeding ground for abuse and neglect of older persons. Ageism was one of the most socially normalized prejudices, which occurred in the family and also within the individuals themselves. Violence, abuse and neglect were extreme outcomes of ageism, which in most cases happened within the family. In that context, the moderator asked panellists to analyse those challenges, as well as the roles of the State and the family in promoting age-friendly environments and protecting and rights of older persons. 41. The Director of the Gerontology Programme at Brigham Young University, United States of America, Jeremy B. Yorgason, affirmed that, although many older adults faced discrimination in society in general, older persons who were isolated, dependent on others for their care, or had mental health, cognitive or emotional challenges, were at risk for mistreatment in some way. Those with poor or strained family relationships were at greater risk. Statistics showed that nearly half of the older adults in the United States experienced some limitation in activities of daily living. Individuals facing limitations who did not reside in long-term care facilities were likely to receive care from family members, most 10