Amnesty International is campaigning for a UN convention on the rights of older persons. Human rights are protected through international legal treaties (often called conventions or covenants), which states become a party to, committing themselves to certain obligations. Amnesty International believes that a convention on the rights of older persons would improve the understanding of older people’s rights and articulate a clear set of obligations on how to protect older persons at the national level, including the obligation to address age discrimination and situations of abuse and neglect we commonly face in older age. Here we highlight what benefits a convention would provide and how it would address key gaps in the protection of older people’s rights. As the number of older people continues to rise across the world, the imperative to properly recognize and protect our human rights in older age is greater than ever.
