GENEVA (6 November 2022) – The UN Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, Claudia Mahler, will conduct an official visit to the Republic of Moldova from 7 to 16 November 2023. During her visit, Mahler will assess the situation of older persons in the country, particularly the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. She will examine efforts to implement international and regional standards for the protection and promotion of the human rights of older persons through policies and activities at the national, regional and international levels. She will also focus on identifying good practices that have been put in place to advance the realisation of older persons’ human rights, including their economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights. The expert will visit Chisinau and Soroca, Straseni, Orhei, Criuleni districts and Transnistrian region. She will meet with state representatives, UN presences, National Human Rights Institutions, civil society organisations working with older persons, academics and older persons. Mahler will hold a press conference on Thursday 16 November 2023 at 14:00 local time at the UN House, 131, 31 August 1989 Str., in Chisinau. Access will be strictly limited to journalists. The Independent Expert will present her report to the Human Rights Council in September 2024. ENDS Ms. Claudia Mahler (Austria) was appointed by the UN Human Rights Council as Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons in May 2020. She has been working for the German Institute for Human Rights as a senior researcher in the field of economic, social and cultural rights since 2010. She was also a visiting professor at the Alice Salomon Hochschule in 2020-2021. From 2001 to 2009, Ms. Mahler conducted research at the Human Rights Centre of the University of Potsdam where her main fields were in human rights education, minority rights and the law of asylum. In 2000, she received her doctoral degree and was appointed as Vice President of the Human Rights Commission for Tyrol and Vorarlberg. The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity. UN Human Rights country page: Republic of Moldova For further information and media requests, please contact: In Geneva: Ms. Claire Mathellié (claire.mathellie@un.org; +41 22 917 49 89) or write to hrc-ie-olderpersons@un.org In Chisinau: Ms. Tatiana Cernomorit (tatiana.cernomorit@un.org; +37376775500) For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts please contact Maya Derouaz (maya.derouaz@un.org) or Dharisha Indraguptha (dharisha.indraguptha@un.org) Follow news related to the UN’s independent human rights experts on Twitter @UN_SPExperts. Concerned about the world we live in? Then STAND UP for someone’s rights today. #Standup4humanrights and visit the web page at http://www.standup4humanrights.org