John Williams' presentation from the "Working towards a human rights convention" conference held by Age UK and Age International on the 31st July 2013.

1. International standards:
strengthening human rights for older
people at the national level
Professor John Williams
Department of Law and Criminology
Aberystwyth University
jow@aber.ac.uk
Twitter @legalolder

3. There is a lot of it!

4. Human
rights
What can we say about Human
Rights?
o Belong to everybody –
whatever their age
o Are based on fairness, equality,
dignity and respect
o The State must not unlawfully
interfere with our rights, for
example by treating us in an
inhuman or degrading way
o They require the State to act to
protect our rights, for example
to protect our life

5. What do
human rights
mean for
people in later
life?
o I want to be safe from harm and abuse
o I want to be warm and well fed
o I want somewhere decent to live
o I want to be independent
o I want to contribute to society
o I want to be able to take risks
o I want good medical care
o I want people to talk to me and not about me
o I want to decide how I live
o I want to do unwise things
o I want to be heard
o I want to be treated as me and not as a client,
patient, bed blocker or whatever
o I want to learn new things
o I want justice
o I want to live at home
o I want to be in my community
o I want an intimate relationship

6. Human rights
standards must
be used to
improve older
people’s lives
o “witch” killings
o Elder abuse and neglect
o Skipped generation
households
o Poverty
o Lack of social protection
o Health and social care
o Older people during and
post conflict
o Older people in times of
disaster

7. Human rights
standards must
be used to
improve older
people’s lives
o Operation Jasmine
o Stafford
o Fuel poverty
o Elder abuse
o Social care
o Health care
o Ageism in provision of
services and in employment
o Older prisoners
o Negative attitudes

8. International
human rights
standards
protecting rights
at a national level
An international
convention on the
rights of older people
oWhat?
oWhen?
oWho?

9. “There is no old age. There
is, as there always was, just
you.”
Carol Matthau
O Magazine 2003