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The right to just and favourable conditions of work (Art. 7) 2016, para. 47b
- Paragraph text
- [The right to just and favourable conditions of work relates to specific workers:] Young workers and older workers: All workers should be protected against age discrimination. Young workers should not suffer wage discrimination, for example, being forced to accept low wages that do not reflect their skills. An excessive use of unpaid internships and training programmes, as well as of short-term and fixed-term contracts that negatively affect job security, career prospects and social security benefits, is not in line with the right to just and favourable conditions of work. Laws and regulations should include specific measures to protect the health and safety of young workers, including through raising the minimum age for certain types of work. Older workers should receive fair wages and equal remuneration for work of equal value, and have equal opportunity for promotion based on their experience and know-how. Specific health and safety measures might be necessary, and older workers should benefit from pre-retirement programmes, if they so wish. The cumulative effects of discrimination against female workers through the life cycle might require targeted measures to achieve equality and guarantee fair wages, equal opportunities for promotion and equal pension rights;
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Youth
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to the highest attainable standard of health (Art. 12) 2000, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- Obligations to protect include, inter alia, the duties of States to adopt legislation or to take other measures ensuring equal access to health care and health-related services provided by third parties; to ensure that privatization of the health sector does not constitute a threat to the availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of health facilities, goods and services; to control the marketing of medical equipment and medicines by third parties; and to ensure that medical practitioners and other health professionals meet appropriate standards of education, skill and ethical codes of conduct. States are also obliged to ensure that harmful social or traditional practices do not interfere with access to pre- and post-natal care and family-planning; to prevent third parties from coercing women to undergo traditional practices, e.g. female genital mutilation; and to take measures to protect all vulnerable or marginalized groups of society, in particular women, children, adolescents and older persons, in the light of gender-based expressions of violence. States should also ensure that third parties do not limit people's access to health-related information and services.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Older persons
- Women
- Year
- 2000
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The economic, social and cultural rights of older persons 1995, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- Similarly, recommendation 48 of the International Plan of Action on Ageing encourages Governments and international organizations to support programmes aimed at providing older persons with easier physical access to cultural institutions (museums, theatres, concert halls, cinemas, etc.).
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Year
- 1995
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The economic, social and cultural rights of older persons 1995, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- In 1992, the General Assembly adopted eight global targets on ageing for the year 2001 and a brief guide for setting national targets. In a number of important respects, these global targets serve to reinforce the obligations of States parties to the Covenant.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Year
- 1995
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Older women and protection of their human rights 2010, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- Many older women face neglect as they are no longer considered useful in their productive and reproductive roles, and are seen as a burden on their families. Widowhood and divorce further exacerbate discrimination, while lack of or limited access to health-care services for diseases and conditions, such as diabetes, cancer, hypertension, heart disease, cataract, osteoporosis and Alzheimer, prevent older women from enjoying their full human rights.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Women and health 1999, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- The Committee is concerned about the conditions of health-care services for older women, not only because women often live longer than men and are more likely than men to suffer from disabling and degenerative chronic diseases, such as osteoporosis and dementia, but because they often have the responsibility for their ageing spouses. Therefore, States parties should take appropriate measures to ensure the access of older women to health services that address the handicaps and disabilities associated with ageing.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 1999
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The economic, social and cultural rights of older persons 1995, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- Principle 1 of the United Nations Principles for Older Persons, which stands at the beginning of the section relating to the independence of older persons, provides that: "Older persons should have access to adequate food, water, shelter, clothing and health care through the provision of income, family and community support and self-help." The Committee attaches great importance to this principle, which demands for older persons the rights contained in article 11 of the Covenant.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Year
- 1995
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The economic, social and cultural rights of older persons 1995, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- The United Nations specialized agencies, especially ILO, have also given attention to the problem of ageing in their respective fields of competence.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Year
- 1995
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
HIV/AIDS and the rights of the children 2003, para. 1
- Paragraph text
- The HIV/AIDS epidemic has drastically changed the world in which children live. Millions of children have been infected and have died and many more are gravely affected as HIV spreads through their families and communities. The epidemic impacts on the daily life of younger children, and increases the victimization and marginalization of children, especially those living in particularly difficult circumstances. HIV/AIDS is not a problem of some countries but of the entire world. To truly bring its impact on children under control will require concerted and well-targeted efforts from all countries at all stages of development.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Older persons
- Year
- 2003
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of migrant workers in an irregular situation and members of their families 2013, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- Detention can be particularly damaging to vulnerable categories of migrant workers, impacting negatively on their physical and mental health. These migrant workers and members of their families may include victims of torture, unaccompanied older persons, persons with disabilities and persons living with HIV/AIDS. Special measures should be taken to protect vulnerable people deprived of their liberty, including access to adequate health services, medication and counselling. Moreover, migrant workers with disabilities and members of their families with disabilities should be provided with "reasonable accommodation" to ensure their right to enjoy their human rights and fundamental freedoms on an equal basis with others.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Older persons
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to social security (Art. 9) 2007, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- States parties must also ensure the provision of benefits to survivors and orphans on the death of a breadwinner who was covered by social security or had rights to a pension. Benefits should cover funeral costs, particularly in those States parties where funeral expenses are prohibitive. Survivors or orphans must not be excluded from social security schemes on the basis of prohibited grounds of discrimination and they should be given assistance in accessing social security schemes, particularly when endemic diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, leave large numbers of children or older persons without family and community support.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Older persons
- Year
- 2007
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to social security (Art. 9) 2007, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- States parties should take appropriate measures to establish social security schemes that provide benefits to older persons, starting at a specific age, to be prescribed by national law. The Committee stresses that States parties should establish a retirement age that is appropriate to national circumstances which take account of, inter alia, the nature of the occupation, in particular work in hazardous occupations and the working ability of older persons. States parties should, within the limits of available resources, provide non-contributory old-age benefits, social services and other assistance for all older persons who, when reaching the retirement age prescribed in national legislation, have not completed a qualifying period of contributions or are not otherwise entitled to an old-age insurance-based pension or other social security benefit or assistance, and have no other source of income.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Year
- 2007
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to the highest attainable standard of health (Art. 12) 2000, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- With regard to the realization of the right to health of older persons, the Committee, in accordance with paragraphs 34 and 35 of General Comment No. 6 (1995), reaffirms the importance of an integrated approach, combining elements of preventive, curative and rehabilitative health treatment. Such measures should be based on periodical check-ups for both sexes; physical as well as psychological rehabilitative measures aimed at maintaining the functionality and autonomy of older persons; and attention and care for chronically and terminally ill persons, sparing them avoidable pain and enabling them to die with dignity.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Year
- 2000
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of rural women 2016, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- Access to health care, including sexual and reproductive health care, is often extremely limited for rural women, including older women and women with disabilities, owing to prevailing social norms and patriarchal attitudes, insufficient budget allocations to rural health services, the lack of infrastructure and trained personnel, the lack of information on modern methods of contraception, remoteness and the lack of transport. The lack of access to adequate food and nutrition, safe drinking water, sanitation and waste management facilities results in increased health risks. Some conditions, such as obstetric fistula, are also more prevalent among rural women and result directly from the lack of access to emergency health services capable of performing caesarean sections, and indirectly from early pregnancy and malnutrition.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Older women and protection of their human rights 2010, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- Microcredit and finance schemes usually have age restrictions or other criteria that prevent older women from accessing them. Many older women, particularly those who are confined to their homes, are unable to participate in cultural, recreational and community activities, which leaves them isolated and has a negative impact on their well-being. Often, not enough attention is given to the requirements for independent living, such as personal assistance, adequate housing, including accessible housing arrangements and mobility aids.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Older women and protection of their human rights 2010, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- Older women's right to self-determination and consent with regard to health care are not always respected. Social services, including long-term care, for older women might be disproportionately reduced when public expenditure is cut. Post-menopausal, post- reproductive and other age-related and gender-specific physical and mental health conditions and diseases tend to be overlooked by research, academic studies, public policy and service provision. Information on sexual health and HIV/AIDS is rarely provided in a form that is acceptable, accessible and appropriate for older women. Many older women do not have private health insurance, or are excluded from State-funded schemes because they did not contribute to a scheme during their working life in the informal sector or providing unpaid care.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Older women and protection of their human rights 2010, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- Older women with refugee status or who are stateless or asylum-seekers, as well as those who are migrant workers or internally displaced, often face discrimination, abuse and neglect. Older women affected by forced displacement or statelessness may suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome, which may not be recognized or treated by health-care providers. Older refugee and internally displaced women are sometimes denied access to health care because they lack legal status or legal documents and/or are resettled far from health-care facilities. They may also experience cultural and language barriers in accessing services.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Older women and protection of their human rights 2010, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- Concrete forms of discrimination against older women may differ considerably under various socio-economic circumstances and in various sociocultural environments, depending on the equality of opportunities and choices regarding education, employment, health, family and private life. In many countries, the lack of telecommunication skills, access to adequate housing, social services and the Internet, loneliness and isolation pose problems for older women. Older women living in rural areas or urban slums often suffer a severe lack of basic resources for subsistence, income security, access to health care, information on and enjoyment of their entitlements and rights.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Older women and protection of their human rights 2010, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- The issue of ageing is shared by both developed and developing countries. The proportion of older persons in less developed countries is expected to increase from 8 per cent in 2010 to 20 per cent by 2050, while the proportion of children will decrease from 29 to 20 per cent. The number of older women living in less developed regions will increase by 600 million within the period 2010 to 2050. This demographic shift presents major challenges for developing countries. The ageing of society is a well-established trend and a significant feature in most developed countries.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Older persons
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Older women and protection of their human rights 2010, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- This unprecedented demographic ageing, due to improved living standards and basic health-care systems as well as declines in fertility and rising longevity, can be considered a successful outcome of development efforts and one that is set to continue, making the twenty-first century, the century of ageing. However, such demographic changes have profound human rights implications and increase the urgency of addressing the discrimination experienced by older women in a more comprehensive and systematic manner through the Convention.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Older women and protection of their human rights 2010, para. 3
- Paragraph text
- The Committee affirms previous commitments to older women's rights enshrined in, inter alia, the Vienna International Plan of Action on Ageing, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the United Nations Principles for Older Persons (General Assembly resolution 46/91, annex), the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing 2002, Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights general comment No. 6 on the economic, social and cultural rights of older persons (1995), and general comment No. 19 on the right to social security (2008).
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The economic, social and cultural rights of older persons 1995, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- With regard to the right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications, States parties should take account of recommendations 60, 61 and 62 of the International Plan of Action on Ageing and make efforts to promote research on the biological, mental and social aspects of ageing and on ways of maintaining functional capacities and preventing and delaying the start of chronic illnesses and disabilities. In this connection, it is recommended that States, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations should establish institutions specializing in the teaching of gerontology, geriatrics and geriatric psychology in countries where such institutions do not exist.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 1995
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The economic, social and cultural rights of older persons 1995, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- Clearly, the growing number of chronic, degenerative diseases and the high hospitalization costs they involve cannot be dealt with only by curative treatment. In this regard, States parties should bear in mind that maintaining health into old age requires investments during the entire life-span, basically through the adoption of healthy lifestyles (food, exercise, elimination of tobacco and alcohol, etc.). Prevention, through regular checks suited to the needs of older persons, plays a decisive role, as does rehabilitation, by maintaining the functional capacities of older persons, with a resulting decrease in the cost of investments in health care and social services.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Year
- 1995
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The economic, social and cultural rights of older persons 1995, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- With a view to the realization of the right of older persons to the enjoyment of a satisfactory standard of physical and mental health, in accordance with article 12, paragraph 1, of the Covenant, States parties should take account of the content of recommendations 1 to 17 of the International Plan of Action on Ageing, which focus entirely on providing guidelines on health policy to preserve the health of the elderly and take a comprehensive view, ranging from prevention and rehabilitation to the care of the terminally ill.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Year
- 1995
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The economic, social and cultural rights of older persons 1995, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- Recommendations 19 to 24 of the International Plan of Action on Ageing emphasize that housing for the elderly must be viewed as more than mere shelter and that, in addition to the physical, it has psychological and social significance which should be taken into account. Accordingly, national policies should help elderly persons to continue to live in their own homes as long as possible, through the restoration, development and improvement of homes and their adaptation to the ability of those persons to gain access to and use them (recommendation 19). Recommendation 20 stresses the need for urban rebuilding and development planning and law to pay special attention to the problems of the ageing, assisting in securing their social integration. Recommendation 22 draws attention to the need to take account of the functional capacity of the elderly in order to provide them with a better living environment and facilitate mobility and communication through the provision of adequate means of transport.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Year
- 1995
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The economic, social and cultural rights of older persons 1995, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- In the years preceding retirement, retirement-preparation programmes should be implemented, with the participation of representative organizations of employers and workers and other bodies concerned, to prepare older workers to cope with their new situation. Such programmes should, in particular, provide older workers with information about their rights and obligations as pensioners; the opportunities and conditions for continuing an occupational activity or undertaking voluntary work; means of combating detrimental effects of ageing; facilities for adult education and cultural activities; and the use of leisure time.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Year
- 1995
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The economic, social and cultural rights of older persons 1995, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- To deal with such situations and comply fully with article 9 of the Covenant and paragraph 2 (h) of the Proclamation on Ageing, States parties should institute non-contributory old-age benefits or other assistance for all persons, regardless of their sex, who find themselves without resources on attaining an age specified in national legislation. Given their greater life expectancy and the fact that it is more often they who have no contributory pensions, women would be the principal beneficiaries.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Women
- Year
- 1995
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The economic, social and cultural rights of older persons 1995, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- In this context, attention may be drawn to Global target No. 1, adopted by the General Assembly in 1992, which calls for the establishment of national support infrastructures to promote policies and programmes on ageing in national and international development plans and programmes. In this regard, the Committee notes that one of the United Nations Principles for Older Persons which Governments were encouraged to incorporate into their national programmes is that older persons should be able to form movements or associations of older persons.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Year
- 1995
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The economic, social and cultural rights of older persons 1995, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- Side by side with older persons who are in good health and whose financial situation is acceptable, there are many who do not have adequate means of support, even in developed countries, and who feature prominently among the most vulnerable, marginal and unprotected groups. In times of recession and of restructuring of the economy, older persons are particularly at risk. As the Committee has previously stressed (General Comment No. 3 (1990), para. 12), even in times of severe resource constraints, States parties have the duty to protect the vulnerable members of society.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Year
- 1995
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The economic, social and cultural rights of older persons 1995, para. 10
- Paragraph text
- The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights does not contain any explicit reference to the rights of older persons, although article 9, dealing with "the right of everyone to social security, including social insurance", implicitly recognizes the right to old-age benefits. Nevertheless, in view of the fact that the Covenant's provisions apply fully to all members of society, it is clear that older persons are entitled to enjoy the full range of rights recognized in the Covenant. This approach is also fully reflected in the International Plan of Action on Ageing. Moreover, in so far as respect for the rights of older persons requires special measures to be taken, States parties are required by the Covenant to do so to the maximum of their available resources.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Year
- 1995
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph