The right to freedom, equality and dignity does not change in old age.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) states in Article 1 that "all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights".

Despite this, age discrimination is rife and older people's rights are routinely violated.

Existing international and regional human rights law do not sufficiently protect older people’s rights.

HelpAge believes the time has come for a convention on the rights of older people.

Why we need a convention

International human rights conventions that are legally binding all emphasise that human rights are for everyone. However, with the exception of one convention (on migrant workers), age is not listed explicitly as a reason not to discriminate against someone.

Inadequate protection

In practice, the existing system is not adequately protecting older men and women’s rights.

Treaty bodies, whose role it is to monitor how international conventions are being implemented, rarely ask countries to include older people in their reporting.

Age discrimination and ageism are still rife in national laws, policies and practice. This is a sign that governments have failed to adequately incorporate older people’s rights into their laws, budgets, programmes and training for service delivery staff.

“Soft laws” guiding the treatment of older women and men, most notably the UN Principles for Older Persons (1991) and the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA, 2002), are not legally binding. As a result they are not systematically integrated into government policies and practice and have little effect.

What would a convention on older people's rights do?

A convention would help older people live dignified lives. It would help:

• change attitudes towards older people
• increase the visibility of older people
• raise awareness of ageism and age discrimination
• clarify responsibilities towards older people
• improve accountability
• provide a framework for policy and decision-making.

A special rapporteur on older people’s rights

A special rapporteur is an individual expert who examines and reports on either thematic or geographical human rights issues to the Human Rights Council.

Existing special rapporteurs rarely address the rights of older people in their work.

A special rapporteur on the rights of older people could advise and support member states on the better implementation of MIPAA, and eventually a new convention.

He or she could report on the nature and extent of violations of older people’s rights and make recommendations on how to better protect them.

HelpAge's position paper