GENEVA, July 17 - A United Nations meeting this week heard calls for an end to ageism and better protection against what campaigners say are hidden abuses as negotiations began on a treaty to strengthen the rights of older people.

The week of talks in Geneva ending on Friday were initiated and chaired by Argentina in efforts to combat exclusion, discrimination and neglect as life expectancy rises. The U.N. projects that the number of people over 65 will double in the next 50 years to become a fifth of the world's population.

"Our objective is not just to address the needs of the present, but also to prepare a system that can meet the needs of the future," said Carlos Mario Foradori, Argentina's ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva.

"This goal is to build an instrument that strengthens the dignity, protection, and the rights of millions of older persons globally."

Brazil, Slovenia, the Philippines and Gambia are the proposed treaty's other main backers, and Chile and South Africa were among countries that voiced support in the week-long talks.

Negotiators are set to meet again in Geneva in October and it is not clear how long negotiations might last. It can take years for such treaties to be agreed on.

Although there are already human rights treaties that have non-discrimination clauses based on race and gender, none exist for age.

"There are many situations where people are not fully protected by existing law," said Heidrun Mollenkopf, President of AGE Platform Europe, a network of older people.

"It's completely hidden what's going on," she told Reuters, referring to what she said were abuses in nursing homes by carers that have included chemical restraints to control the behaviour of people with dementia.

There had even been cases of homicide, she said, without identifying such incidents.

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