By Joyce Ann L. Rocamora
MANILA – The Philippine government, through the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), conveyed support to the United Nations Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) move to draft an international treaty that would protect the rights of older people.
“I welcome the consensus decision of the UN Human Rights Council to pursue a global instrument on rights of older persons. This is multilateralism in action, working for human rights, & for a future without age discrimination,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said in a statement posted on his X (Twitter) account Friday.
Manalo said the Philippines, partner-states and civil society organizations have advocated for this instrument for years.
The Philippine government, he said, “will push further until we have a substantive UN treaty honoring the rights and dignity of all older persons worldwide”.
The UNHRC adopted on April 3 a resolution to establish a working group tasked with drafting a legally binding instrument on the promotion and protection of the human rights of older persons.
“Despite the growing number of older people in the world, their rights often remain overlooked. The need to properly recognize and protect human rights in older age is greater now than ever before,” Amnesty International’s Crisis Response Programme Campaigner Elena Sergi said.
“A comprehensive legal framework to combat age-based discrimination is long overdue. Now, the full and meaningful participation of civil society and organizations representing older people is essential in ensuring the next steps are effective,” she added.
According to Amnesty International, existing international human rights treaties neither explicitly prohibit age-based discrimination nor specifically highlight state obligations towards older people.
A dedicated convention, it said, “would improve the understanding of older people’s rights and articulate a clear set of obligations for their protection at the national level”. (PNA)
