Ghana calls for global standards on rights of aged
Ghana has asked the international community to come up with specific standards on the rights of older persons for countries to adopt.
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According to the country delegation, such standards will prohibit all forms of discrimination against older persons either on the basis of their age or in combination with other factors.
The Minister of Gender, Children and Social protection, Nana Oye Lithur, made the suggestion at the ongoing United Nations seventh session of the Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing (OEWGA).
The Minister is leading a 12-member Ghanaian delegation which includes the Chief Director, Mr Kwesi Armo-Himbson, and the Director in charge of Ageing, Mr Mawutor Ablo, both at the Ministry.
The OEWGA was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2010 to consider the existing international framework of the human rights of older persons and identify possible gaps and how best to address them.
The work of the group would also include considering the feasibility of further instruments and measures.
Ageing population
According to a report by Independent Experts on the Human Rights Council on Enjoyment of all Human Rights by Older Persons, older persons represent a large and the fastest growing segment of global population.
The report referenced global demographic information which indicates that for the first time, there would be more older persons than children under the age of 15 worldwide by 2050.
This will mean that the number of older persons is projected to be more than double from 900 million in 2016 to nearly two billion in 2050. A demographic transformation of that magnitude has far-reaching implications for society at all levels, the report suggests.
According to the UN’s independent experts, as the world population continues to age, the human rights dimension of ageing will become an ever-growing concern and that it was essential that an analytical approach, which is all encompassing and embraces the full set of human rights, economic, social and cultural rights, as well as civil and political rights, was adopted.
Ghana's position
To this end, Ghana’s recommendation during an open session for countries to make statements on their commitments to making the world a better place for the aged, stated that setting international standards on ageing would ensure the elimination of all barriers that prevented older persons from enjoying their rights on an equal basis with others.
Ghana’s recommendations also called for an enhancement of the legal capacity of older persons, including the provision of legal support to enable them to exercise their rights on an equal basis with others.
The recommendations also called for the protection of older persons from all forms of violence and abuse, especially for older women, including from harmful traditional practices, torture in any form, expulsion from the home and any inhuman and degrading treatment.
It also called for international protocols on provision for the right to social security and social protection of older persons.