Memorandum submitted by HelpAge International
SECTION ONE
HelpAge International
HelpAge International (HAI) is a global network
of not-for-profit organisations with a mission to work with and
for disadvantaged older people worldwide to achieve a lasting
improvement in the quality of their lives. With our network of
partner organisations we support older people to become active
participants in development and aim to mainstream ageing as a
development issue into policies and programmes for poverty reduction,
HIV/AIDS, human rights and emergency assistance around the world.
Supported by its network of regional and country offices in Africa,
Asia, the Caribbean, Europe and Latin America, HAI undertakes
and funds practical programmes underpinned by research, advocacy
and capacity building with older people, in partnership with a
range of development and academic organisations interested in
issues of ageing and development.
Older People and Human Rights
Older people[30]
are the world's fastest growing population group, especially in
the developing regions. By 2050 over a billion people over the
age of 60 will live in what are now low income countries, and
people over 60 will outnumber those under 14[31].
They are also consistently and disproportionately among the poorest
and most marginalised. Age-based discrimination leads to the exclusion
of older people from decision-making processes at family, community
and national levels, and to the denial of services and support.
Although older people are covered in the main human rights conventions
by the non-discriminatory clause, these rights are not being implemented.
There is no specific convention on the rights of older people,
despite there being separate conventions on children, refugees,
and women[32].
There is an urgent need for governments and the international
development community to set a higher priority on the realisation
of older people's human rights. People should not have to forfeit
their claim to basic human rights because they are old[33].
HAI takes a rights based approach to development.
Through our work in over 70 countries worldwide, HAI has direct
evidence of the widespread neglect of older people's economic,
social and civil rights. We believe that this neglect constitutes
a significant barrier to progress in promoting human rights and
rights-based development. HAI is committed to furthering the UN
Principles of the Rights of Older Persons to participation, dignity,
independence, self-fulfilment and care[34].
We believe that these principles should underpin the policies
and programmes of civil society, national governments and regional
and international plans on ageing and development.
SECTION TWO
Commentary on the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office Human Rights Report 2003
Much attention has been given in the recent
past to the rights of women and children as separate categories
requiring the protection of legally binding human rights constitutions,
and of a strong multilateral advocacy and awareness raising initiative
to combat violations taking place against them. These issues are
also well covered in the 2003 Human Rights Report. However, the
discrimination which older people worldwide face and the human
rights abuse they suffer has yet to receive adequate attention
from those monitoring and promoting human rights, especially in
developing countries. Older people are neglected as a vulnerable
category in the report. Yet older people continue to be marginalised
economically, socially and politically. Whilst international and
national human rights instruments broadly defined accommodate
older people under the non-discrimination clause which most of
these promote, the unsatisfactory nature of their implementation
means that older people often remain an invisible group whose
needs and rights are continue to be ignored. Promoting older people's
rights means recognising and responding to their specific needs
and vulnerabilities. As important is valuing their skills, experience
and knowledge, and supporting reciprocity across generations.
Chapter 6—Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights
We welcome the connections made between civil
and political, and economic, social and cultural rights in the
report. These rights are not separate entities but are interconnected
and cannot be wholly achieved independently of each other, if
development is to be sustainable and beneficial to the whole of
society. Furthermore, we acknowledge the work of the FCO to promote
economic, social and cultural rights, and the role the UK Government
has played in providing development assistance to poorer countries.
We also welcome the report's focus on the need for health and
education to be made widely available, particularly in the global
fight against the HIVAIDS pandemic. However, we would like to
make the following comments on this chapter.
— Accessing health and education is
extremely difficult for older people in the developing word, faced
with both a massive resource shortfall, and discrimination in
resource allocation at local level. Older people are repeatedly
victims of negative attitudes and age discrimination by health
care staff[35].
— Most of the 8 million children orphaned
by AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa live with older family members.
Recent data analysis by UNICEF shows that in countries with an
advanced epidemic over 60% of orphaned children are living with
their grandparents (eg Namibia, Zimbabwe, South Africa)[36].
These carers are in desperate need of international recognition
of their situation and of an increase in aid and support. Older
carers in rural areas face particular problems, where planting,
harvesting and marketing must be managed on top of the already
heavy economic and psychological burden of nursing the sick and
burying and grieving for the dead. There is no mention of older
people as carers to the sick and vulnerable in the report, nor
to the difficulties they have as a group in getting access to
drugs and medical assistance and to income generation support.
— Getting access to a non-contributory
pension can be a lifeline to many older people in the developing
world, and often has a far-reaching impact on the well being of
the wider family and community[37].
Of the countries hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic, only South
Africa, Namibia and Botswana have any kind of widespread pension
coverage. For poor families, this provides the primary and sometimes
only source of income. The need for, and benefits of, social protection
to support vulnerable families and protect their basic rights
as well as the marginalisation of older people from the labour
market due to age discrimination, would warrant a mention in the
section on labour rights of the report.
Recommendations:
[38]. Similar
to other types of violence, abuse of older people include physical,
sexual and psychological abuse, as well as neglect. Older people,
though, are also vulnerable to economic abuse, in which others
make improper use of their resources. Information on the extent
of abuse in older populations is scant. The few population-based
studies that have been conducted suggest that between 4% and 6%
of older people have experienced some form of abuse in the home.
— The UN Secretary General's Report
"Abuse Against Older Persons", in the lead up to the
Second World Assembly on Ageing, 2002, states that "Abusive
behaviour and practices toward older persons may be viewed as
a violation of their fundamental rights as guaranteed in international
covenants, and embodied in the UN Principles for Older Persons.
A review of available information suggests that the rights of
older persons are at risk of violation in various economic, institutional,
community and family settings"[39].
— Age discrimination is the "unequal
treatment or denial of rights on grounds of age by individuals
or organisations. It can be detected in processes, attitudes and
behaviour which amount to discrimination through prejudice, ignorance,
thoughtlessness and stereotyping which disadvantage older people"[40].
It is the opinion of HAI that the omission of age discrimination
from the debate is a major shortfall that perpetuates the exclusion
of older people from dialogue and action to improve their situation.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Age discrimination and violence, in all its
forms, against older people be included and discussed in future
FCO Human Rights Reports along with discrimination on the grounds
of race, sex, religion, colour, language, religion and sexual
orientation.
Chapter 9—Women's Rights and Children's
Rights
We note the commitment to the promotion and
protection of women's and children's rights. It is vital that
attention continue to be paid to the rights of women and children,
and to tackling the disparities between the genders. However,
we would like to raise the following points:
— An ageing population is also a female
population, as women, the world over, tend to outlive men. Gender
disparities are particularly acute in the older age groups (80+).
Women's propensity to marry young to older men, also means that
they are likely to outlive their later years in widowhood[41].
Widowhood profoundly changes the status of women and can undermine
their security as customary laws deny them the right to inherit
common assets. In some cases widows are "inherited"
by their deceased husband's brother with no rights to the property
or land that they bring with them.
— Older women suffer disproportionately
as a result of extreme poverty. They are often the principal caregivers
to their families, yet they receive little recognition or material
support for their work. In Thailand, recent studies have shown
that two thirds of adults with AIDS return to live with a parent,
usually the mother and that parents in their 60s and 70s are the
preferred and most common caregivers[42].
— Older women also suffer from discrimination
in access to resources due both to their age and gender. There
are records of older women being persecuted from within their
communities; for example in Tanzania, accusations of witchcraft
have resulted in older women being driven from their homes, isolated
and in some cases killed. HAI and local partner MAPERCE have been
working in the regions affected to help identify victims and to
tackle both the causes and the effects of the persecution[43].
Despite the discussion in the report of the rights of children
and women, there is little reference made to older women as a
particularly vulnerable group.
— Within the discussion of the impact
of forced migration on women and children, mention is made of
the physical and sexual violence that women suffer in camps, and
to their unfair treatment in access to relief supplies (P225).
UNHCR estimated in 2000 that older people represented over 10%
of refugee populations, and of these older women would form a
majority. Older people suffer greatly in refugee camps and are
discriminated against in access to resources due to poor health,
invisibility and lack of bargaining power. Older women also suffer
from sexual violence and rape in war/conflict. Their needs, rights
and contributions deserve equal recognition and treatment in emergency
situations.
— Older people ensure the protection
of the rights and well being of orphaned and separated children.
This is particularly prominent in times of crisis, where community
support structures break down and older people become responsible
for the survival of the younger generation amidst widespread disruption
and loss of life. This is not only a role older people play in
emergencies, however, and throughout the developing world they
are visible as carers and protectors of vulnerable children where
poverty and disease have ravaged communities' and families' systems
of support. Yet these older people are not being afforded the
same care and protection by the international community that they
are striving to give to their communities. Their basic human rights
are not being implemented in the times that they need them the
most.
RECOMMENDATIONS
— Mention should be made of older women
as a critically vulnerable group in the report. This should include
analysis of older women as the principle caregivers to their families
and to orphaned children as a result of conflict, disease and
the HIVAIDS epidemic.
— Older women should be treated as
a key group whose rights are consistently violated as a result
both of their sex, and their age, as well as, at times, their
ethnic origin. This is particularly prominent in situations of
emergency and conflict, but occurs also in peacetime and is exacerbated
by extreme poverty and widespread disease.
— The international community should
ensure that the rights of older people are fully implemented,
in accordance with the standards laid out in the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, (1948) the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) (1979), the Geneva
Convention and Protocols 1 and 2, and the Convention relating
to the Status of Refugees (1951).
— Governments should work towards achieving
the goals outlined in the Madrid International Plan of Action
on Ageing 2002.
HelpAge International
February 2004
30 The United Nations defines older people as those
over 60 years of age. Back
31
State of the World's Older People 2002, HelpAge International,
London 2002. Back
32
Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989, 1951 Refugee Convention,
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women (CEDAW) 1979. Back
33
Dr Zola Skweyiya, Minister of Welfare and Population Development,
South Africa, May 2000. Back
34
Adopted in 1991. Back
35
Elder abuse in the health care services in Kenya, A study
by HelpAge International-Africa Regional Development Centre and
HelpAge Kenya with support from, The World Health Organisation
(WHO) and International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse
(INPEA) Nairobi 2001; Missing Voices: Views of older persons
on elder abuse, WHO/INPEA, World Health Organization, Geneva
2002. Back
36
Africa's Orphaned Generations, UNICEF, New York 2003. Back
37
Non-Contributory pensions and poverty prevention: A comparative
study of Brazil and South Africa, HelpAge International and IDPM,
London 2003. Back
38
World Report on Violence and Health, WHO, Geneva 2002,
Abuse of the Elderly-A fact Sheet, WHO, Geneva 2002. Back
39
Abuse Against Older Persons, Report of the Secretary-General,
United Nations / Division for Social Policy and Development, New
York 2002. Back
40
Equal Treatment, Equal Rights HelpAge International, London
2001, pp1. Back
41
Gender and Ageing: A position paper, HelpAge International,
London 2000. Back
42
Older People and AIDS: Quantitive Evidence of the Impact in
Thailand, Knodel, J, et al, PSC Research Report 00-443, Population
Studies Centre, University of Michigan. Back
43
Rights in Action, HelpAge International, London 2000, pp15. Back
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