Declaration of the rights of older persons.

Abstract

At the first United Nations World Assembly on Ageing in 1982, some consideration was given to human rights issues, and in 2000, Mary Robinson, United Nations Commissioner on Human Rights, emphasized the importance of protecting the human rights of older persons. However, no official United Nations document has ever identified and specified what these rights are and why they are important. In April 2002 the second United Nations World Assembly on Ageing will be held in Madrid, Spain. As a nongovernment organization in consultative status with the United Nations, the International Longevity Center– USA, in collaboration with its sister centers in Japan, France, the United Kingdom, and the Dominican Republic, will highlight this critical subject. The International Longevity Center–USA proposes that the following Declaration of the Rights of Older Persons become the basis of action as well as discussion at the Assembly and beyond. This Declaration comes at a time of misery and chaos for many older citizens of the world who have lost children and grandchildren in armed conflicts, who are often homeless and destitute, who suffer from malnutrition and ill health, and who live in societies that cannot provide them with the basic necessities of life. It comes at a time of global disharmony in the context of powerlessness and attendant rage, shaped in part by vast divides in education, wealth, and longevity as well as ideology and theology. It comes at a time when the United World Assembly on Ageing meets, with the goal of creating bridges to intergenerational cooperation and mutual respect between developing and developed nations. May this Declaration, which concerns societies as well as individuals, serve to advance the struggle for human rights. We must not simply bear witness. We must compel change.