Poverty and social exclusion remain the main stumbling blocks to the realisation of the human rights of older people worldwide.

Older people face abuse, neglect, exclusion and poverty, which deny them access to, and benefit from, their rights and entitlements.

Gender, ethnicity, disability and age can create a cocktail of discrimination, leading to the marginalisation of older women and men from their families, communities and society.

Barriers that prevent older people claiming their rights include:

• negative social attitudes
• a lack of awareness among older people themselves and society
• poverty
• a lack of national policies on ageing
• wars and conflict
• discriminatory laws and policies.

Those responsible for violations of older people’s rights can be:

• relatives and immediate family members, through abandonment and abuse
• governments, through the lack of policies to protect older people
• healthcare and social workers, through negative attitudes and poor treatment of older people
• economic policies that cap social spending
• education systems, through the exclusion of adult and lifelong learning, and the negative portrayal of ageing
• community-based and non-governmental organisations, through age-biased programming and not seeking to involve older people
• the media, through negative reporting and reinforcement of negative social attitudes.

HelpAge International's rights work

Older people’s right to participate in the development of their communities and in policy debates that shape their lives is central to HelpAge International’s programming, research and policy work.

Through awareness-raising campaigns at local, national and international levels, we challenge age-determined power relations and increase the understanding of, and support for, the rights of older women and men.

We support older people and their organisations to strengthen the representation and mobilisation of older people to claim their rights.

Download Equal treatment, equal rights, an agenda for action for international institutions.