Protecting
the Rights of Older People
10 reasons why we need to act
“Existing
human rights mechanisms have lacked a systematic and comprehensive approach to
the specific circumstances of older men and women”.
– Ban Ki-Moon, UN
Secretary General[1]
On 21 December 2010, the
United Nations General Assembly established an Open-Ended Working Group on
Ageing with a mandate to identify gaps in the protection of the rights of older
people and ways in which these gaps can be addressed.
Here are ten reasons why
the Working Group should recommend the strengthening of legally-binding standards
on the rights of older people and the development of a new protection regime:
1. The number of older people
worldwide is growing at an unprecedented pace. People
over sixty years of age make up an ever greater
percentage of the world population. Today, 760 million people are over 60; by 2050, that number will have risen to 2
billion. Older people already outnumber young children
(0-4) and will outnumber children under 15 by 2050.[2] This
trend is global. Today, 65 per cent of people over 60 live in less developed countries;
by 2050, 80 per cent will.[3]
2. There is no dedicated protection regime for
older people’s rights. While the rights of women, children, prisoners and people with disabilities are all
protected through special international conventions or standards, no such
standards exist for older people despite
their specific vulnerability to human rights violations.[4]
3. There are clear gaps in protections available to older people in
existing human rights standards. Only one of the existing
human rights instruments explicitly prohibits age discrimination. This has
resulted in a failure in many countries to address the multiple forms of discrimination
older people face. Specific provisions
regarding issues like elder abuse, long term and palliative care, are also
absent from existing human rights standards.
4. Older people’s rights are neglected in the
current human rights framework. UN and regional human rights bodies have largely ignored the rights of
older people. For example, of 21,353 recommendations
the Human Rights Council made during the entire first round of its peer to peer
human rights review process of all UN member states (known as Universal
Periodic Review), only 31 recommendations referred to “elderly” people or
people of “old age”.[5]
5. Age discrimination and ageism are widely
tolerated across the world. Negative
ageist attitudes towards old age and older people are deeply ingrained in many
societies and, unlike other forms of prejudice and discriminatory behavior, are
rarely acknowledged or challenged. This leads to widespread marginalization of
older people, and is at the root of their isolation and exclusion.[6]
6. Older people are highly vulnerable to abuse,
deprivation and exclusion. A
growing body of evidence shows that many older people face abuse and violence in
their own homes, and in institutional and long term care facilities. Many are
also denied the right to make decisions about their personal finances, property
and medical care.[7] They are often denied social security, access
to health and productive resources, work, food and housing.[8]
7. Older people hold rights but are often
treated with charity instead of as rights holders. Many governments see ageing predominantly as a social
welfare or development issue. This reduces older people to recipients of
charity rather than people who should enjoy their rights on the same basis as everybody
else. A paradigm shift is needed from a social welfare to a rights-based
approach.
8. National protections of older people’s
rights are inconsistent. National standards on the rights of older people are patchy and
inconsistent, as are protection regimes. As a result, few countries collect
data on violations of the rights of older people. Violations will continue
unaddressed as long as there is a gaping lack of information on their nature,
prevalence, and cause.
9. Respect for older people’s rights benefits
society as a whole. Violations of the rights
of older people lead to exclusion, poverty, and discrimination of older people.
Yet, older people make key contributions to any society through their
experience and wisdom. Better protection of the rights of older people will
allow societies to better capitalize on the potential that older people
represent. There is clear evidence, for example, that when older people’s right
to social security is realized, there is a positive impact on reduction of
poverty rates, restoration of older people’s dignity, reduction of child labour
and increased enrolment in schools.[9]
10. Older people are an increasingly powerful
group. Older people represent a rapidly
growing constituency and are among the most loyal election participants. When they vote, they can have significant political influence.[10] Governments need to address their rights and
needs or they risk losing support from this increasingly large block of voters.
Endorsed by:
HelpAge International
Human Rights Watch
[1] UN General Secretary's report, “Follow-up to the Second World
Assembly on Ageing” in 2009, A/64/127
[2] UNDESA, World Population Prospects, the 2012 Revision,
http://esa.un.org/wpp/
Visited 9 July 2012
[3] UNDESA, Current
Status of the Social Situation, Wellbeing, Participation in Development and
Rights of Older People Worldwide, 2011, page 3
[4] Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights, 20 April 2012, E/2012/51,
page 4
[5] Word searches and
analysis were undertaken on the database of UPR-info, http://www.upr-info.org/database/ accessed July 2012.
[6] Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 20 April 2012, E/2012/51, page 7
[7] See for example, Situation of the
rights of older people in all regions of the world – Report of the Secretary General, A/66/173, 2011 http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=A/66/173
[8] Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 20 April 2012, E/2012/51, page 1-12 12
[9] Knox-Vydmanov, “Social protection as development
policy: social pensions in the global South”, Die Alten Der Welt: neue Wege der Alterssicherung im globalen Norden
und Suden, 2011, pages 285 - 287
[10] UNDESA, Current Status of the
Social Situation, Well-being, Participation in Development and Rights of Older People
Worldwide, Dec 2011, page 56
