Speaking at the conference on “Inclusive and Sustainable Care for Older Persons” organised by the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) in Strasbourg on 9 December 2025, Congress Rapporteur on “Ageing Communities”, Joanne Laban (United Kingdom, ECR), and Deputy Standing Rapporteur on Human Rights, Mélanie Lepoultier (France, ILDG), stressed the importance of local authorities’ taking comprehensive action to build age-friendly communities, with the support of national governments. They also invited all stakeholders to follow human rights-based approaches in meeting the needs of ageing populations.
Ms Laban underlined that local and regional authorities remain at the forefront of meeting the growing demand for long-term care. “Ageing populations, shortages of qualified professionals and rising financial pressure are placing unprecedented strain on local services,” she warned. She stressed that local authorities could not meet these challenges alone: “To provide high-quality care, subnational governments need fair funding and the right legislative, policy and financing tools from national governments. National governments rely on us to deliver care strategies in local communities, but we also need their support,” she said.
Ms Lepoultier emphasised that care for older persons is fundamentally a matter of human rights. “Inclusive care is not only about assistance with daily tasks. It is about ensuring that older people remain healthy, independent and active members of their communities, who can participate fully in social, cultural and political life,” she said.
“Ageing is part of life. While Europe and the world are moving towards increasingly older societies, we need greater ambition about how to ensure that older people in our communities can live healthy and fulfilled lives for as long as possible. Ageing societies are the main demographic challenge of the 21st century, and in addressing that older people must be seen as part of the solution,” concluded Ms Lepoultier.
Further reading:
Congress Resolution 504 (2024) on Ageing Communities
Council of Europe Recommendation CM/Rec(2014)2 on the promotion of human rights of older persons
WHO Age-Friendly Cities Framework
