Plan International - Girls' Rights Platform - Girls' rights are human rights: Positioning girls at the heart of the international agenda

[States Parties recognize that persons with disabilities have the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health without discrimination on the basis of disability. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure access for persons with disabilities to health services that are gender-sensitive, including health-related rehabilitation. In particular, States Parties shall:] (b) Provide those health services needed by persons with disabilities specifically because of their disabilities, including early identification and intervention as appropriate, and services designed to minimize and prevent further disabilities, including among children and older persons;

[2. States Parties recognize the right of persons with disabilities to social protection and to the enjoyment of that right without discrimination on the basis of disability, and shall take appropriate steps to safeguard and promote the realization of this right, including measures:] (b) To ensure access by persons with disabilities, in particular women and girls with disabilities and older persons with disabilities, to social protection programmes and poverty reduction programmes;

Everyone has the right to special protection in old age. With this in view the States Parties agree to take progressively the necessary steps to make this right a reality and, particularly, to: b. Undertake work programs specifically designed to give the elderly the opportunity to engage in a productive activity suited to their abilities and consistent with their vocations or desires;

With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right of elderly persons to social protection, the Parties undertake to adopt or encourage, either directly or in co-operation with public or private organisations, appropriate measures designed in particular: – to enable elderly persons to remain full members of society for as long as possible, by means of: a. adequate resources enabling them to lead a decent life and play an active part in public, social and cultural life; b. provision of information about services and facilities available for elderly persons and their opportunities to make use of them; – to enable elderly persons to choose their life-style freely and to lead independent lives in their familiar surroundings for as long as they wish and are able, by means of: a. provision of housing suited to their needs and their state of health or of adequate support for adapting their housing; b. the health care and the services necessitated by their state; – to guarantee elderly persons living in institutions appropriate support, while respecting their privacy, and participation in decisions concerning living conditions in the institution.

Expresses particular concern at the grave problems faced by many internally displaced women and children, including violence and abuse, sexual exploitation, trafficking in persons, forced recruitment and abduction, and encourages the continued commitment of the Representative of the Secretary-General to promote action to address their particular assistance, protection and development needs, as well as those of other groups with special needs, such as severely traumatized individuals, older persons and persons with disabilities, taking into account the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and of the Security Council and giving appropriate consideration to annex I to the report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, entitled “Rights and guarantees for internally displaced children”;

Stressing that special attention should be given to children, older persons, persons with disabilities and indigenous peoples who are living in extreme poverty,

We emphasize the importance of increasing the number of metropolitan regions, cities and towns that are implementing policies for sustainable urban planning and design in order to respond effectively to the expected growth of urban populations in the coming decades. We note that sustainable urban planning benefits from the involvement of multiple stakeholders as well as from full use of information and sex-disaggregated data, including on demographic trends, income distribution and informal settlements. We recognize the important role of municipal governments in setting a vision for sustainable cities, from the initiation of city planning through to revitalization of older cities and neighbourhoods, including by adopting energy efficiency programmes in building management and developing sustainable, locally appropriate transport systems. We further recognize the importance of mixed-use planning and of encouraging non-motorized mobility, including by promoting pedestrian and cycling infrastructures.

Expresses particular concern at the grave problems faced by many internally displaced women and children, including violence and abuse, sexual exploitation, trafficking in persons, forced recruitment and abduction, and encourages the continued commitment of the Special Rapporteur to promote action to address their particular assistance, protection and development needs, as well as those of other groups with special needs, such as severely traumatized individuals, older persons and persons with disabilities, taking into account all relevant United Nations resolutions;

Stressing that special attention should be given to children, older persons, persons with disabilities and indigenous peoples who are living in extreme poverty,

Encourages Member States to promote policies that strengthen social integration and intergenerational solidarity through investment in family-centred support programmes, including social protection assistance, the prevention of the abuse of older persons, the protection of persons with disabilities, including in particular children with disabilities, and investments in cross-generational facilities and intergenerational learning, and volunteer programmes for youth, older persons, mentoring and job-sharing;

Also expresses particular concern about the full range of threats, violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law experienced by many internally displaced persons, including women and children, who are particularly vulnerable or specifically targeted especially for sexual and gender-based violence and sexual exploitation and abuse, trafficking in persons, forced recruitment and abduction, encourages the continued commitment of the Special Rapporteur to promote action to address their particular assistance and protection needs, and calls upon States, in cooperation with international agencies and other stakeholders, to provide protection and assistance to internally displaced persons who are victims of the above-mentioned violations and abuses, as well as other groups of internally displaced persons with special needs, such as severely traumatized individuals, older persons and persons with disabilities, taking into account all relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council;

[Requests the Representative of the Secretary-General on the human rights of internally displaced persons, in carrying out his/her mandate:] To integrate a gender perspective throughout the work of the mandate and to give special consideration to the human rights of internally displaced women and children as well as other groups with special needs among the internally displaced, such as severely traumatized individuals, older persons and persons with disabilities, and their particular assistance, protection and development needs;

Increased efforts are needed to provide equal access to education, health and social services and to ensure women's and girls' rights to education and the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health and well-being throughout the life cycle, as well as adequate, affordable and universally accessible health care and services, including sexual and reproductive health, particularly in the face of the HIV/AIDS pandemic; they are also necessary with regard to the growing proportion of older women.

Calls upon States to address as a priority the vulnerabilities faced by children affected by and living with HIV, including those who find themselves trapped in armed conflicts, providing support and rehabilitation to these children and their families, women and older persons, particularly in their role as caregivers, promoting child-oriented HIV/AIDS policies and programmes, including the issue of pediatric HIV services and drugs, and increased protection for children orphaned and affected by HIV/AIDS, and intensifying efforts to develop new treatments for children, and building, where needed, and supporting the social security systems that protect them;

Expresses particular concern at the grave problems faced by many internally displaced women and children, including violence and abuse, sexual and labour exploitation, trafficking in persons, forced recruitment and abduction, and notes the need to continue to pay more systematic and in-depth attention to their special assistance, protection and development needs, as well as those of other groups with special needs, such as older persons, persons with disabilities and severely traumatized individuals affected by internal displacement, taking into account the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly;

[Requests the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, in carrying out his or her mandate:] To integrate a gender perspective throughout the work of the mandate, and to give special consideration to the human rights of internally displaced women and children, as well as of other groups with special needs, such as older persons, persons with disabilities and severely traumatized individuals affected by internal displacement, and their particular assistance, protection and development needs;

Requests the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, with the assistance of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in consultation with States, relevant United Nations agencies, national human rights institutions and other relevant stakeholders, to prepare, within existing resources, a thematic study on the realization of the right to health of older persons, including the main existing challenges and best practices;

Expresses particular concern at the grave problems faced by many internally displaced women and children, including violence and abuse, sexual exploitation, trafficking in persons, forced recruitment and abduction, and encourages the continued commitment of the Special Rapporteur to promote action to address their particular assistance, protection and development needs, as well as those of other groups with special needs, such as severely traumatized individuals, older persons and persons with disabilities, taking into account all relevant United Nations resolutions;

Expresses particular concern at the grave problems faced by many internally displaced women and children, including violence and abuse, sexual and labour exploitation, trafficking in persons, forced recruitment and abduction, and notes the need to continue to pay more systematic and in-depth attention to their special assistance, protection and development needs, as well as those of other groups with special needs, such as older persons, persons with disabilities and severely traumatized individuals affected by internal displacement, taking into account the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council;

[Requests the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, in carrying out his or her mandate:] To integrate a gender perspective throughout the work of the mandate, and to give special consideration to the human rights of internally displaced women and children, as well as of other groups with special needs, such as older persons, persons with disabilities and severely traumatized individuals affected by internal displacement, and their particular assistance, protection and development needs;

Bearing in mind that natural disasters affect human lives and living conditions thereafter, and often have a more direct and adverse impact on women, as well as vulnerable people within groups such as children, older persons and persons with disabilities, and that natural disasters often have different impacts on men and women in regard to the associated risks and vulnerabilities, due to gender inequality, gender stereotypes and discrimination against women, including the lack of equal access to adequate information and economic opportunities, poverty and social exclusion, safety and different family responsibilities,

Stressing the importance of taking equally into account the specific needs of women and vulnerable people within groups such as children, older persons and persons with disabilities in every phase of disaster risk reduction, response and recovery, ensuring equal opportunities for their participation in these processes, calling for a people-centred, holistic approach, in order to build an inclusive society, supported by a social bond among people through community-based approaches, which promotes gender equality and the empowerment of women, strengthens the resilience of communities and reduces social vulnerabilities to disasters,

All levels of government in medium- and long-term socio-economic planning should take into account the increasing numbers and proportions of elderly people in the population. Governments should develop social security systems that ensure greater intergenerational and intragenerational equity and solidarity and that provide support to elderly people through the encouragement of multigenerational families, and the provision of long-term support and services for growing numbers of frail older people.

Governments should seek to enhance the self-reliance of elderly people to facilitate their continued participation in society. In consultation with elderly people, Governments should ensure that the necessary conditions are developed to enable elderly people to lead self-determined, healthy and productive lives and to make full use of the skills and abilities they have acquired in their lives for the benefit of society. The valuable contribution that elderly people make to families and society, especially as volunteers and caregivers, should be given due recognition and encouragement.

Support innovative programmes to empower older women to increase their contribution to and benefit from development and efforts to combat poverty.

Urges States and other relevant actors to take into account the specific needs of persons with disabilities and of older persons when promoting and ensuring the protection of the human rights of internally displaced persons, in particular by ensuring that persons with disabilities and older persons have timely, appropriate and equal access to assistance, protection and rehabilitation services, including health care, sexual and reproductive health-care services, psychosocial support and educational programmes;

[Requests the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, in carrying out the mandate:] To integrate a gender perspective throughout the work of the mandate, and to give special consideration to the human rights of internally displaced women and children, and of other groups with special needs, such as older persons, persons with disabilities and severely traumatized individuals affected by internal displacement, and their particular assistance, protection and development needs;

Urges Governments and other relevant stakeholders to address the challenges faced by older women caring for people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS, including orphaned grandchildren;

Urges Governments and other relevant stakeholders to address the challenges faced by older women caring for people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS, including orphaned grandchildren;

Bearing in mind that natural disasters affect human lives and living conditions thereafter, and have a more direct and adverse impact on women and girls, as well as vulnerable persons within groups such as children, older persons and persons with disabilities, and that natural disasters have different impacts on men and women, owing to social exclusion, gender inequality, gender stereotypes, different family responsibilities, discrimination against women and poverty, as well as the lack of equal access to adequate services, information, economic opportunities, entitlements, justice and safety,