Older women and men have the same rights as everyone else: we are all born equal and this does not changes as we grow older. Despite this, older women and men around the world continue to be discriminated against and denied their rights because of their old age at a family, community and institutional level. People experience ageing differently.
The UN convention on human rights that we already have, do not cover the specific human rights violations that people experience in old age. They also fail to explain government’s obligations to protect people’s rights in old age. While the rights of women, children, prisoners and people with disabilities are all protected through special international conventions, no such human rights convention exists for older people despite the specific discrimination and human rights violations they face.
A new UN convention on the rights of older people is necessary to change this. A new UN convention would provide government with a legal framework, guidance and support to help them end discrimination and protect people’s right in old age.
This is what Age Demands Action (ADA)[i] for Rights is calling for!
This is the third year of our ADA for Rights campaign, held on World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (15 June). ADA for Rights gives campaigners the opportunity to raise awareness about elder abuse and to ask governments to attend the Open Ended Working Group on Ageing (OEWGA)[ii].
The ADA for Rights campaign has seen great success over the past two years with 17,502 campaigners physically taking part and over 205,000 signatures being collected, which surpassed our 200,000 target for 2015. We also secured many pledges from governments to attend the OEWGA meeting.
This year, HelpAge and our partners continue to work hard to use our strengths as a global network of older people to help make a convention reality.
Come and support us now!
Join the fight and sign the Age Demands Action petition
[i] Age Demands Action is a global grassroots movement campaigning against age discrimination and for the promotion of older people’s rights.
[ii] The Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing was established by the General Assembly by resolution 65/182 on 21 December 2010. The working group will consider the existing international framework of the human rights of older persons and identify possible gaps and how best to address them, including by considering, as appropriate, the feasibility of further instruments and measures. Further information please visit http://social.un.org/ageing-working-group/
