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SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2014, para. 81
- Paragraph text
- Older children are equally active, using ICTs to prepare schoolwork, search for information, socialize with friends, play games, watch the news and video clips online, and to communicate, including through e-mail and instant messaging.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Older persons
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The realization of the right to health of older persons 2011, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur believes that the dominant view, which considers ageing a biomedical problem, leads to the unfortunate perception of ageing as an abnormal or pathological phenomenon because it equates advanced age with illness. This position is not only inconsistent with the holistic approach to human health, but it also perpetuates a perception of older persons as dependent and sick. When considering the health of older persons, the Special Rapporteur is of the view that there must be a paradigm shift away from the perception of older persons as a "social burden" to one that emphasizes the process of "active ageing" and that will reorient our ideas about ageing to focus on the continuing contribution of older persons to society. According to WHO, active ageing aims to optimize opportunities for health, participation and security amongst older persons in order to enhance their quality of life. The word active therefore refers to continuing participation in social, economic, cultural and civic affairs, and not simply the ability to be physically active or to participate in the labour force.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to social security (Art. 9) 2007, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- The right to social security plays an important role in supporting the realization of many of the rights in the Covenant, but other measures are necessary to complement the right to social security. For example, States parties should provide social services for rehabilitation of the injured and persons with disabilities in accordance with article 6 of the Covenant, provide child care and welfare, advice and assistance with family planning and the provision of special facilities for persons with disabilities and older persons (article 10); take measures to combat poverty and social exclusion and provide supporting social services (article 11); and adopt measures to prevent disease and improve health facilities, goods and services (article 12). States parties should also consider schemes that provide social protection to individuals belonging to disadvantaged and marginalized groups, for example crop or natural disaster insurance for small farmers or livelihood protection for self-employed persons in the informal economy. However, the adoption of measures to realize other rights in the Covenant will not in itself act as a substitute for the creation of social security schemes.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2007
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right of persons with disabilities to social protection 2015, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- Fifth, the eligibility criteria of social protection programmes should not include factors that could directly or indirectly exclude persons with disabilities. For instance, in many countries child nutrition programmes operate only at childcare centres and schools. Since children with disabilities have fewer opportunities to attend school, many of them lack access to nutrition programmes. Older persons with disabilities are also usually excluded from receiving disability benefits owing programmes are targeted towards the poor. Social protection programmes target persons with disabilities either as a separate group through disability-specific programmes; by explicitly incorporating them within the targeting criteria of mainstream programmes; or by including them within groups at risk of poverty. Programmes can also either target all persons with disabilities, only certain age groups, or focus on a particular level or type of impairment. to their age, yet pensions and other available benefits may not fully address disability-related needs. Therefore, States must take into account the situation of persons with disabilities when targeting specific age groups.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and violence against women 2011, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- In 1989, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women explicitly linked gender-based violence and discrimination against women in its general recommendation No. 12 and called on States parties to include in their reports information on violence and on measures introduced to deal with it. Between 1989 and 1992, the Committee issued a series of general recommendations that addressed some rights violations experienced at the intersection of inter- and intra-gender sex discrimination and violence against women. In 1992 it issued general recommendation No. 19 both to define gender-based violence and to make it discrimination on the grounds of sex within the meaning of the Convention. Much of what is set forth in general recommendation No. 19 is reiterated and refined in the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women. CEDAW has also addressed the impact of intersecting forms of discrimination against women and its nexus with gender-based violence. Most recently, in general recommendation No. 27, which deals with the rights of older women, it recognizes that age and sex make older women vulnerable to violence, and that age, sex and disability make older women with disabilities particularly vulnerable.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Effective Implementation of the OPSC 2010, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- Children assimilate these values and therefore accept, more or less readily, the authority of parents and of older individuals outside the family; some children even appear to seek such authority figures.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Older persons
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 3
- Paragraph text
- For the purposes of this report, unpaid care work includes domestic work (meal preparation, cleaning, washing clothes, water and fuel collection) and direct care of persons (including children, older persons and persons with disabilities, as well as able-bodied adults) carried out in homes and communities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Social protection and old age poverty 2010, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- Even in developed countries, contributory systems are often inadequate to protect the elderly: often benefits are too low to cover costs of living. Moreover, legislation related to compulsory retirement age can make it impossible for some older persons to find additional sources of income.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Social protection and old age poverty 2010, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- The HIV/AIDS epidemic impacts on older persons in two ways. First, mostly middle-aged people die from the disease and older persons are more likely to be left without the care and support of their children. Second, they also may become the primary caregivers to their orphaned grandchildren.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Older persons
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Social protection and old age poverty 2010, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- Older women are not only more likely to be poorer than men, but they are also likely to be burdened with caregiving responsibilities for other family members, especially their grandchildren. In some countries, accusations of witchcraft against poor older women are common, revealing worrying discriminative patterns.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The realization of the right to health of older persons 2011, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- In addition, there are non-binding United Nations instruments and international documents on ageing and older persons, such as the 1982 Vienna International Plan of Action on Ageing, the 1991 United Nations Principles for Older Persons, the 1992 Global targets on ageing for the year, and the 1992 Proclamation on Ageing. The most recent of these is the Political Declaration and the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing adopted at the Second World Assembly on Ageing in April 2002, and endorsed by the General Assembly in resolution 57/167 of 18 December 2002. The Political Declaration reaffirms the global commitment to promote and protect human rights and to eliminate age-discrimination, neglect, abuse and violence (art. 5). It further makes reference to the right to health (art. 14), the opportunity to work and the continuing access to education and training programmes (art. 12). It has guided the development of legislation and policies at the national level and provided a framework for international cooperation, which resulted in, among other things, the establishment of the Open-Ended Working Group on the Human Rights of Older Persons in 2010, pursuant to General Assembly resolution 65/182.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The realization of the right to health of older persons 2011, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- Nonetheless, different human rights treaty monitoring bodies have interpreted and applied existing norms to older persons as a group, recognizing their vulnerability to discrimination and exclusion. In 1995, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) adopted general comment No. 6, which offers a detailed interpretation of the specific obligations of State parties regarding each of the rights contained in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, as they apply to older persons. In 2010, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women adopted general recommendation No. 27 on older women and the protection of their human rights. General comment No. 14 of CESCR elaborates on substantive issues arising from the implementation of the right to health and addresses particular issues related to older persons, including "preventive, curative and rehabilitative health treatment…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
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The realization of the right to health of older persons 2011, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- Differences between the genders in respect of the ageing process must also be acknowledged, given that global life expectancy at birth for women is currently 70 years, and is significantly higher than for men at 66 years. Given differing life expectancies, it is more often men who are able to rely on informal care from their spouses than women. Women who outlive their husbands are more often left with no spousal support, relying on informal care by other relatives or the formal care system. Compounding this problem is the fact that older women are frequently excluded from social security and health insurance schemes that are linked to formal, paid employment. They are also at much greater risk of poverty than men. In many countries older women are less likely than men to hold valuable assets in their own name (A/HRC/14/31, paras. 19-21). These factors limit women's ability to provide for their own health-related needs in later life. Furthermore, lack of access to health care services for debilitating diseases such as cancer and hypertension, or illnesses disproportionately affecting women such as osteoporosis, have also been noted to prevent older women from enjoying their full human rights (CEDAW/C/GC/27).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right of persons with disabilities to social protection 2015, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- As a foundation for any national social protection system, these floors must ensure, at a minimum, access to essential health care (including maternity care) and to a basic level of income security for (a) children - including access to food, education, care and other necessary goods and services; (b) persons of active age who are unable to earn sufficient income, including persons with disabilities; and (c) older persons. The ILO recommendation concerning national floors of social protection, 2012 (No. 202) identifies as priority areas of attention the prevention and alleviation of poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion, and sets forth guidelines for implementing and monitoring national strategies that are participatory, country-led, sustainable and regularly reviewed. It also provides guidance to States on progressively providing higher levels of protection to as many people as possible and as soon as possible, reflecting States' economic and fiscal capacities. The recommendation also recognizes the principles of non-discrimination, gender equality and responsiveness to specific needs, and emphasizes that any initiative should support people with special needs and other potentially disadvantaged groups.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to social security (Art. 9) 2007, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- Violations through acts of omission can occur when the State party fails to take sufficient and appropriate action to realize the right to social security. In the context of social security, examples of such violations include the failure to take appropriate steps towards the full realization of everyone's right to social security; the failure to enforce relevant laws or put into effect policies designed to implement the right to social security; the failure to ensure the financial sustainability of State pension schemes; the failure to reform or repeal legislation which is manifestly inconsistent with the right to social security; the failure to regulate the activities of individuals or groups so as to prevent them from violating the right to social security; the failure to remove promptly obstacles which the State party is under a duty to remove in order to permit the immediate fulfilment of a right guaranteed by the Covenant; the failure to meet the core obligations (see paragraph 59 above); the failure of a State party to take into account its Covenant obligations when entering into bilateral or multilateral agreements with other States, international organizations or multinational corporations.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Year
- 2007
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2015, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- Younger children are at high risk of violence, especially when they are placed in residential care. They are heavily dependent on caregivers for their development and well-being, and when neglected, injured or abused, they have less ability to speak up and seek support. If they are surrounded by violence and stress, they can suffer long-lasting emotional trauma and harm to their health, including irreversible damage to brain development.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Older persons
- Youth
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2015, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- Younger children are particularly concerned about risks related to the online content they may encounter. As they get older, they become more concerned by contact and conduct risks linked to the use of social networking sites. Adolescents may face unusually high risks of exposure to harmful material and cyberbullying. A considerable proportion of the victims of online sexual abuse are children under the age of 12.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Older persons
- Youth
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- Some older persons might also face stigma, in particular when suffering dementia or other mental illnesses and requiring care, including for their sanitation and hygiene needs. Incontinence is not uncommon, but usually not openly addressed. Again, stigma can contribute to making the particular needs of older persons invisible, preventing the care they require and isolating them.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Marginality of economic and social rights 2016, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- One of the most encouraging developments in recent years in relation to economic and social rights has been the growth of specialist NGOs at the international, national and, especially, local levels working to promote either economic and social rights in general or specific rights such as those relating to health, housing, education, water, gender equality, disability and ageing.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Extreme inequality and human rights 2015, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- Mr. Bengoa also recommended the creation of a social forum to facilitate the participation of States, international organizations, non-governmental organizations and corporations in discussing how to take economic, social and cultural rights into account in their policies. The Social Forum was set up in 2002 and recent sessions have focused on the rights of older persons (2014) and on the rights of access to medicines in the context of the right to health (2015).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- Ensuring the enjoyment of rights of other members of the population - such as older persons, children and persons with disabilities - will also prove beneficial to their caregivers, by alleviating and redistributing intensive care needs. In this regard, inter alia, States are required to provide 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.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- Such factors often act as a persuasive deterrent against seeking redress from judicial or adjudicatory mechanisms, or may indeed represent an insurmountable obstacle for the poorest and most marginalized. This is especially so for those who have limited mobility, such as older persons or persons with disabilities, or those for whom travel is more difficult or dangerous, including women and children.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Movement
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Social protection and old age poverty 2010, para. 101
- Paragraph text
- The international community can play a key role in supporting the initial set-up of social pension systems, in particular in low-income countries, for example, by providing technical and/or material assistance in designing programmes and identifying and registering possible beneficiaries. A number of core common principles can also guide donors on how to best support and ensure the long-term sustainability of social security systems, including social pensions in recipient States.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Social protection and old age poverty 2010, para. 95
- Paragraph text
- Non-contributory pensions are the most efficient means of ensuring the right to social security for older women and compensating them for their years of unpaid or inadequately paid work. However, to ensure equal access by women to a social pension, special measures must be implemented to overcome possible barriers to older women caused by structural discrimination, such as lack of access to adequate documentation and identification; difficulties to approach administrations or lack of gender sensitive social services.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Social protection and old age poverty 2010, para. 91
- Paragraph text
- Social pensions should be planned and implemented in close coordination with other initiatives aimed at ensuring the enjoyment of the right to the highest attainable standard of health by older persons. In fact, providing pensions can be a clear opportunity to further integrate health services into social assistance. For example, in Mexico beneficiaries of cash transfers were given the chance to participate in health prevention and nutrition workshops as well as other social activities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Social protection and old age poverty 2010, para. 90
- Paragraph text
- For older persons, financial security and health are closely linked: expenses for health care and medicines account for as much as three quarters of the income of the poorest groups. Under these circumstances, the positive impact of social protection initiatives on older persons' standards of living can be nullified by the burden posed by health-care-related costs.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Social protection and old age poverty 2010, para. 89
- Paragraph text
- Social protection programmes should not be restricted only to monetary support. As addressed above, social pensions do not work in isolation - they must be complemented by various services. Older persons are rights-holders who require not only social security support, but a multitude of social services to ensure an adequate standard of living, including in particular access to health care.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Social protection and old age poverty 2010, para. 77
- Paragraph text
- Guaranteeing transparency and access to information requires careful consideration with respect to the core components of the non-contributory pensions system, such as: (a) targeting mechanisms; (b) eligibility criteria; (c) benefit levels; (d) existence of complaints and redress mechanisms. Individuals and organizations should have the right to seek, receive and impart information in a clear and transparent manner.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Social protection and old age poverty 2010, para. 76
- Paragraph text
- A human rights approach emphasizes that transparency and access to information are important safeguards against corruption and means of increasing accessibility and participation. Limited access to information by beneficiaries impedes their access to programmes and their ability to claim their rights. Non-transparent implementation of pension schemes risks perpetuating unequal power relations and increasing the likelihood of mismanagement.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Social protection and old age poverty 2010, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- Eligibility requirements for social pensions must be provided for in national law and mechanisms must be available to ensure the timely inclusion in the programmes. When adopting a universal scheme, States must put in place rolling registration systems to allow individuals to register as soon as they reach the age requirement. If the scheme is poverty-targeted, the qualifying conditions for benefits must be gender-sensitive, reasonable, objective and transparent.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph