Page 10 - BPW-UK-E-news-Edition 112 - May 2023

Human Rights of Older People
th
Networking Conference, 28 April 2023

I was very happy to attend this event via Zoom on behalf of BPW UK. It

was clear from the outset that many issues exist re Human Rights for Older People
and is a well-known and hotly debated subject

The first session was discussion on the subject
Towards a UN Convention on the Rights of Older Persons

The current situation and next steps
with
Alison Marshall (Age International),
Dr Claudia Mahler (UN Independent Expert on the Rights of Older People)
& Dame Philippa Russell DBE.

There is no dedicated Human Rights Instrument to represent the HR of the
older person and discrepancies exist with access to health care in poorer countries.
Finland is actively looking at the implementation of rights for Older Persons and will

present findings to the UN.
There is also no dedicated framework on age discrimination which is usually
based on the job market rather than through general needs such as women’s is-

sues through ageing. Older women are under represented and Dame Phillippa
Russell DBE stated ‘that the perspective of lived experience needs a new narrative
on age discrimination. What will their lives be like. We are invisible’.

The second session was on
Human Rights for Older People in the UK and in Europe post Covid 19
with
Professor Aoife Nolan (European Committee of Social Rights),
Helena Herklots (Older Peoples Commissioner for Wales).

In 2017 there was a promised resolution of Human Rights preventing exclu-
sions and reviewing living income and discrimination on support. Unfortunately,
the Council of Europe has done little with a distinct lack of promotion.

At European level there is the social charter dating back to 1961
https://www.coe.int/en/web/european-social-charter
but very few countries are actually signed up to it.
Covid revealed how prevalent ageism actually is and has resulted in reports of the
over 70s not being offered resuscitation should they need it. There were strong re-
actions when this news leaked as a person’s rights were removed very quickly with
little or no thought for the lifestyle or health of the individual as this blanket re-
striction was forced on them. …/...