As people are living longer, it is essential that everyone can live with dignity, respect and security
In most countries it
is still considered acceptable to deny people work, healthcare,
education or the right to participate in government because of their
age. Photograph: AM Ahad/AP
The world is undergoing a demographic revolution. We are
witnessing the dividends of improving healthcare and living standards in
rising longevity across the globe.
The number of people over the age of 60 is expected to increase (pdf)
to 2 billion by 2050, from about 600 million in 2000. This change will
be most dramatic in countries in the global south, where the number of older people is expected to triple during the next 40 years.
But,
as often happens with demographic change, social attitudes and legal
protection lag behind. Policymakers are left scrambling to keep up with
the transforming landscape.
As the global population
ages, there is an urgent need to reassess what role individual
societies give to older people to ensure they are able to enjoy a decent
standard of living and can continue to contribute to society as long as
they wish. Shunting older people to the sidelines of our communities is
not only unjust, it makes little sense for countries to miss out on the
huge opportunities that longer life brings, and the asset that older
people represent. Many older people continue working and also pass on
important knowledge and skills to younger generations, and others act as
carers to their family – in sub-Saharan Africa, 40% of Aids orphans are
looked after by their grandparents.
Ageism is prominent around
the world. In most countries it is still considered acceptable to deny
people work, access to healthcare, education or the right to participate
in government purely because of their age.
Indeed, apart
from one exception (in relation to migrant workers and their families),
international human rights conventions do not recognise specifically
that age discrimination should not be allowed.
Human rights are, of course, universal, and thus older people's rights are protected in a general sense by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
but the absence of an explicit mandate against age discrimination
allows the issue to slip under the net and continue as acceptable
practice.
Age International
is therefore pushing for progress towards a new UN convention on the
rights of older people, to clarify how rights can work better for people
in later life. In August, governments will gather in New York to
discuss how to strengthen the protection of human rights for older
people as part of the UN open-ended working group on ageing. As part of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Older People and the HelpAge global network, Age International will call for governments to make formal proposals.
We
have learned from the experience of human rights conventions for
children, women and people with disabilities, that giving governments
greater guidance on how to protect the rights of people in specific
circumstances can have a huge impact on their wellbeing.
What it
means to be "human" and to live with dignity, respect and security
requires different responses from society, depending on our age and
physical circumstances. This is widely accepted for other demographic
groups, and should be the basis for our approach to older people. Older
people are not a homogenous group – differences in how we age, our
economic status and social standing underline the arbitrary nature of
age discrimination. It is as baseless as race or gender discrimination.
In
many countries the debate about how to adapt to a changing demographic
has been framed in terms of how working-age people will cope with the
"burden" of an ageing population, rather than recognising the value and
potential older people bring to their communities when they live
healthier, longer, active lives.
Experience shows us that if
discrimination is made legally unacceptable, impetus is given to a
societal shift in attitude – witness, for example, the transformation of
women's lives in some countries where sex discrimination laws have been
passed.
The need to make older people's rights clearer in law is
increasingly important in many developing countries, where the impact of
HIV, conflict and parents seeking work in cities have often meant
grandparents are taking on the care of their grandchildren at a time in
their lives when they most need support.
So, by enshrining older
people's rights in a UN convention, not only would we ensure that we all
have the best chance of enjoying security and dignity into old age, but
that those caring for the next generation are given the best possible
environment to raise happy, healthy, productive future adults.
Governments
need to tackle these issues head on and make sure that global human
rights legislation is fit for the future and able to respond to the
opportunities and challenges of ageing in the 21st century.
• Chris Roles is director of Age International
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