1. Why is a UN treaty for the elderly necessary?
Aging is advancing worldwide. By 2070, one in four Flemish citizens is expected to be elderly. This will have an impact on many policy areas. Instead of seeing “old people” solely as recipients of care, the potential of that population group could be highlighted more: not only in the labor market, but also as pillars of social life.
“Unfortunately, the essential value of the elderly is ignored due to stereotyping and discrimination,” says David Stevens, director of the Flemish Human Rights Institute (VMRI), which today issued advice on this to the Flemish government on its website. “A different view is needed in our dealings with the elderly. The Flemish policy plan for the elderly already solves bottlenecks and tries to coordinate the policy areas, but we think the time is ripe to think more overarchingly, and in the longer term. We need to see the elderly as people again, and not just as a problem.”
2. What exactly can such a UN treaty change in practice?
As happened previously for children and people with disabilities, a treaty can make older people more visible, give them leverage and portray them in a more positive light. The existing human rights treaties usually only indirectly touch on the equal rights of the elderly.
Moreover, the Madrid International Action Plan, aimed at aging, is not legally binding. A UN treaty is, and it can also be inspiring and sensitizing. Stevens: “It provides substantive guidance and ensures that rights can be better enforced.”
It would also mean that the UN would establish a committee on elderly rights, which would tackle problems effectively and in a coordinated manner. “And the situation will be continuously monitored to see whether we are doing the right thing,” says Stevens. “You start from a state of affairs and then want to move forward.”
3. Which problems are most pressing?
The Flemish Human Rights Institute sees four areas that require urgent action in Flanders. Healthcare is not included, because that point is well known. Elderly organizations mainly draw attention to two domains: mobility and digital inclusion. The mobility offering is insufficient and the infrastructure has not been adapted enough. This has a negative impact on the right to work, healthcare and culture. Furthermore, there are still too many digital barriers, such as a lack of access and guidance. “Housing is also something that leads to many other problems,” Stevens adds: elderly people live in inadequate homes and are not helped to downsize in a timely manner. When it comes to work, age hinders the opportunities to grow or find new work.
4. Who supports such a UN treaty?
The European Union and most European countries are dismissive or cautious about it. They believe that existing treaties and action plans on human rights can be better applied to the elderly. Belgium shares that opinion.
In the recently published book Recht op Gray, human rights lawyer Marijke De Pauw makes firewood of this reasoning: age discrimination is included in the legislation in both Belgium and Europe and “older people are ignored in the existing human rights framework”.
Many organizations in Belgium and abroad that stand up for the rights of the elderly, such as the Flemish Council for the Elderly, Okra, Unia, Amnesty International, Age Platform Europe and Human Rights Watch, today asked in an open letter to support a specific UN treaty for the elderly.
African and Latin American countries are overwhelmingly in favor of a treaty. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights even considers a specific treaty for elderly rights necessary.
5. Does such a treaty have a chance?
A working group has been active within the United Nations for fourteen years. Since 2016, the members have discussed two themes every year: this year they are accessibility and public participation. “But there are signs that something is afoot,” says David Stevens. That’s right: in the past year, intensive work has been done to gain more insight into the gaps in the international human rights framework. As a result, recommendations should now be ready on how to address those gaps.
One of the recommendations, on drawing up a UN treaty, would be submitted to the UN working group, which will take place in New York from May 20 to 24. In a possible next phase, the UN General Assembly will decide whether there will be a treaty or not.
