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CYIL 7 ȍ2016Ȏ TOWARDS A NEW CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTON OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS
society and have a say in the formulation and implementation of policies affecting
their lives. Care encompasses access to health care and social services. Under
self-fulfilment, the Principles understand the ability of older persons to pursue
opportunities for the full development of their potential. Finally, dignity relates
to the ability to live life without abuse, exploitation or discrimination. The second
resolution, adopted in October 1992, has in its annex a
Proclamation on Ageing
.
51
It
is a set of recommendations, addressed to individual States and to the international
community as a whole. The two UN General Assembly documents are both non-
binding in nature and drafted in quite general and vague terms.
The UN is not the only universal international organization which has dealt with
the protection of older persons. At least two other organizations – the International
Labour Organization (ILO), and the World Health Organization (WHO) – have
paid attention to this area for quite some time as well. The ILO was in fact the
very first organization to issue a special document, albeit a non-binding one,
on older persons – the 1980
Recommendation No. 162 Concerning Older Workers.
52
The document aims at eliminating discrimination against older persons both during
employment and with respect to retirement. Some other ILO instruments refer
to older persons as well.
53
The WHO is primarily interested in the health aspects of
the ageing process. It has published various documents on ageing, including the 2015
World Report on Ageing and Health,
54
and publications for the general public. It is one
of the organizations which, together with some NGOs, actively seek to fight stereotypes
against older persons and to draw attention to the positive sides of ageing.
55
In addition to universal instruments, there are those adopted at the regional level.
The references to older persons and/or (old) age may be found in binding treaties or
soft law
adopted within virtually all regional human rights systems, though the context
in which they appear and their content diverge. In Europe, the only instrument to
contain a general provision on the rights of older persons or, more exactly, the rights of
the elderly, is the 2000
EU Charter on Fundamental Rights.
In its Article 25, inserted
in Chapter III on Equality, the EU Charter confirms that the Union
“recognises and
respects the rights of the elderly to lead a life of dignity and independence and to participate
in social and cultural life”.
The provision seems all-encompassing in scope. Yet, as the
explanatory comments specify, it was inspired by Article 23 of the Revised European
51
UN Doc. A(RES/47/5,
Proclamation on Ageing,
16 October 1992 (the resolution was adopted without
a vote).
52
ILO,
R162
–
OlderWorkers Recommendation
(No. 162), 23 June 1980.
53
See, for instance, the 1958
Convention No. 111 concerning Discrimination in Respect of Employment and
Occupation
(age is one of the prohibited discriminatory grounds) or the 1967
Convention No. 128 on
Invalidity, Old-Age and Survivors’ Benefits Convention
(containing Part III on Old-Age Benefits).
54
WHO,
World Report on Ageing and Health,
WHO : Luxembourg, 2015.
55
See, for instance, WHO, Fact file: Misconceptions on ageing and health, online at
http://www.who.int/ageing/ features/misconceptions/en/ (retrieved on 4 July 2016).