Louise Cripps, HelpAge’s Rights Policy Intern, writes about the impact of UN conventions and whether this justifies a push for a convention on older people’s rights:

Today, Kenya is reporting in their first Universal Periodic Review at the United Nations.  HelpAge is urging the Human Rights Council to address older people’s rights, which currently, they do not consider in the Universal Periodic Review Process. However they do consider and address the rights of women, children and persons with disabilities. Why? Could it be because there are existing conventions for these groups?

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Older people’s associations in Mozambique and HelpAge have worked together to engage the government at the highest level and make a difference to their lives.

A true picture of older people’s lives

Eight politicians from all over Mozambique, visited the distrits of Chókwe and Boane this April. The visit was in direct response to older people’s requests.

They got a true picture of older people’s day to day lives and were made aware of the contributions to society that older people make through their work in the community.

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Richard Blewitt, CEO of HelpAge International, shares his personal views on older people’s right to decent work:

1 May is International Workers Day. To mark this HelpAge International has launched a new report, “Forgotten Workforce: Older people and their right to decent work.”

The report details some of the ways in which older people face extremely hard working conditions. “Forgotten Workforce” highlights the scale of work carried out by older people in low and middle income countries and the difficulties they face.

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As we celebrate International Women’s Day on 8 March, the Commission on the Status of Women is meeting in New York to review how the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action has been implemented by governments 15 years after it was adopted.

I wasn’t working in this area 15 years ago and so was only vaguely aware of the 1995 document and its contents. So when I read it from start to finish for the first time last year, I wanted to stand up and cheer!

Having watched geo-politics being played out more recently between member states in other UN meetings, how could they all have agreed to something so progressive? 

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Bridget Sleap, HelpAge’s Rights Policy Advisor, (pictured left) writes about older people’s rights on Human Rights Day:

Across the world, populations are ageing. There is no denying that this phenomenon presents huge challenges. How do you protect the rights of an ageing population? How do you build stronger, more inclusive societies?

Equal members of society

Taking a human rights approach can help. Protecting older people’s rights, treating them with respect and on an equal basis with younger people will enable them to lead dignified, secure lives, as equal members of society, as is their right.

Human rights and development go hand in hand – respecting people’s rights results in better development, where respect, dignity and having a say are recognised alongside material security as important to people’s wellbeing.
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I met the children at Bigwa primary school who are brought up by their grandparents, having lost their parents to AIDS. They have dreams of becoming doctors, lawyers prime minsters and sung of education being the key to life. 

I visited Mama Amina who, at 76, is bringing up 11 grandchildren in shocking conditions with no income. Her plot of land is far away and she finds it difficult to farm now. The children gather stones to sell to other families building houses. This is their income. 

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As I start to type this report, the radio is blaring out information on the current situation of Typhoon Parma. The information is that the storm is making landfall over Luzon which is the province in the north of Philippines.

There is a better preparedness this time with the local government agencies evacuating people from flood prone areas to public buildings such as schools, for shelter.

It rained most of the night in Manila but the rain was moderate. I’m staying in a hotel close to COSE office. This is on an elevated area and does not flood as much. The rain this morning is not heavy. However the information we have from the low lying areas is that some places had waist deep water.

We all are hoping and praying that the flood level will not increase otherwise this time the situation will get worse. All the garbage that is sitting outside most of the houses will float around and bring much more misery and hardship to the affected people.

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I am out in Manila in the Philippines, working with our partner COSE to bring urgently needed assistance to those affected by the devastating floods.

There is still some water on the roads but most of the houses are OK. People are busy cleaning their houses. But everything inside the houses is gone.We saw piles and piles of household items thrown outside. We were taking pictures of the piles of garbage. In some case there is 2 feet of mud inside the house. They will have to start all over again. It is going to be very hard.

Eight of the COSE staff houses were flooded up to the roof. They have also lost everything. One of them (Peng) sat on the roof of her house with her two children for seven hours before being rescued. They are emotionally devastated, yet are going out with the team for distribution. They also need support to rebuild.

To read more about the relief effort, click here.

To read more testimonials, go to our emergencies blog.

A group of young men jeered when they saw the HelpAge International logo on the side of our vehicle: “Here come the old people’s organisation! We have lots of old people here – what are you going to do for them?”

Sadly, this was not the first time we had encountered this kind of cynicism. In drought-ravaged Turkana, northern Kenya, older people are often seen as a burden, beyond help or simply not a priority. “Survival of the fittest” is the order of the day in Turkana and older people are struggling to cope.

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The BBC World Today programme is running a fascinating series this week, looking at the huge social and economic implications of  an ageing population.

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