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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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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Alex Kalache, HelpAge International’s Global Ambassador reports on the Rights of Older Persons Conference in Brasilia…

I was inspired and thrilled by the recent Rights of Older Persons Conference in Brasilia. I would not need to have been born in Brazil and feel strongly about my country to feel this way. By all accounts, other participants were equally enthralled by the event. (more…)