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Essays authored by Jill Adkins
The following brief essays are a sampling of non-academic discussions on human rights. Please contact Age Rights International for permission to reproduce any of these writings.
Date published here: 22 March 2010
Facing the facts of an aging global population
Author: Jill Adkins
The facts are clear: global aging is upon us. In the history of mankind, the statistics paint a picture of a world never before witnessed - a world where older people are a force to be reckoned with. To engage in collective denial of global aging is akin to the Hans Christian Andersen tale of the townspeople who, out of fear, ignore the emperor’s stark nakedness and praise his non-existent new clothing. Our individual experiences and our cultural biases may color our perception of reality but there can be no question that facts remain facts.
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Date published here: 22 March 2010
On universal human rights, the law and garden hoses
Author: Jill Adkins
Human rights for children! Human rights for prisoners! Human rights for women! Human rights for older persons! Human rights are often expressed in terms of a specific population group. If you think about rights for children as opposed to other groups, however, do you feel differently? Depending on who you are, the rights of one group may evoke easy acceptance while you may resist the idea of rights for another group.
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Date published here: 22 March 2010
Awareness: the first step towards human rights
Author: Jill Adkins
How do you wish to spend your older years? Would you continue working, perhaps on a part time basis? Do you dream of traveling, volunteering, hobbies, visits with grandchildren? Active and healthy aging is everyone’s goal. The realities of aging, however, may bring a different story. Health problems, age discrimination, elder abuse, and poverty are but a few of the hardships that can accompany older age even in developed countries.
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Alexandre Sidorenko, then UN Focal Point on Ageing, noted that ‘...the world of international ageing is fragmented as its main dimensions - research, policy and local programmes - are evolving in isolation.’
There exist a modest number of organizations which focus on aging - nonprofit or nongovernmental organizations; institutes affiliated with educational institutions; organizations affiliated with particular professions; and international or regional organizations. While these organizations collaborate to an extent, Sidorenko’s comment reflects a general historical lack of interdisciplinary dialogue.
Age Rights International is pleased to offer links to many of the major organizations and resources which work towards strengthened human rights for older persons. This list is intended to provide a starting place for a reader looking for further information on this topic and is not comprehensive. Age Rights International claims no endorsement by any of these organizations.
1. Organizations
United Nations Programme on Ageing
The UN Programme on Ageing is part of the Division for Social Policy and Development United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. It is the focal point within the United Nations system on matters related to ageing. As the focal point, its primary action is to facilitate and promote the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, including designing guidelines for policy development and implementation; advocating means to mainstream ageing issues into development agendas; engaging in dialogue with civil society and the private sector; and information exchange.
International Institute on Ageing
The International Institute is an autonomous body of the United Nations which provides multi-disciplinary education and training in specific areas related to ageing, and also acts as a catalyst as regards the exchange of information on issues concerned with ageing.
World Health Organization (WHO) Ageing and Life Course
The World Health Organization’s Active Ageing approach encourages strategies which encourage older people to remain healthy, socially engaged and productive.
HelpAge International is a nonprofit organization which helps older people claim their rights, challenge discrimination and overcome poverty, so that they can lead dignified lives.
The NGO Committee on Ageing, NY, works to raise world awareness of the opportunities and challenges of global ageing. The Committee advocates within the United Nations community to further integrate ageing in UN policies and programs and encourages member states to include ageing needs in social and economic policy considerations.
Global Action on Aging is a nonprofit organization which reports on older people's needs and potential within the global economy and advocates by, with and for older persons worldwide.
International Federation on Aging
IFA is an international non-governmental organization with a membership base of NGOs, the corporate sector, academia, government, and individuals which believes in 'generating positive change for older people throughout the world by stimulating, collecting, analyzing, and disseminating information on rights, policies, and practices that improve the quality of life of people as they age.
AGE, The European Older People’s Platform
AGE, the European Older People’s Platform, is a membership-based nonprofit organization which aims to voice and promote the interests of older people in the European Union and to raise awareness of the issues that concern them most.
International Longevity Center Global Alliance
The International Longevity Center Global Alliance (ILC Global Alliance) is a multinational consortium consisting of member organizations. The mission of the ILC Global Alliance is to help societies to address longevity and population aging in positive and productive ways, typically using a life course approach, highlighting older people's productivity and contributions to family and society as a whole. The following member organizations are more likely to include a human rights element to their work:
Age Concern England, now known as Age UK
Age UK is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote the well-being of all older people and to help make later life a fulfilling and enjoyable experience.
American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging
The mission of the ABA Commission on Law and Aging is to strengthen and secure the legal rights, dignity, autonomy, quality of life, and quality of care of elders. It carries out this mission through research, policy development, technical assistance, advocacy, education, and training.
The Canadian Centre for Elder law
The Canadian Centre for Elder Law ("CCEL") is a national, non-profit body dedicated to exploring the particular legal issues which affect older Canadians.
American Association of Retired Persons International
AARP's Office of International Affairs seeks to help people live longer, healthier, more financially secure and productive lives by identifying and sharing the best ideas and practices on key policy issues.
United States Department of Health & Human Services Administration on Aging
The mission of the Administration on Aging is to develop a comprehensive, coordinated and cost-effective system of home and community-based services that helps elderly individuals maintain their health and independence in their homes and communities.
Australia Council on the Aging
The Council on the Aging (COTA) is an independent consumer organization run by and for senior Australians with the prime objective being to promote, improve and protect the circumstances and wellbeing of older people in Australia.
International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse
INPEA is a membership-based nonprofit organization that aims to increase society's ability, through international collaboration, to recognize and respond to the mistreatment of older people in whatever setting it occurs.
National Center on Elder Abuse
The National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA), directed by the United States Administration on Aging, is committed to helping national, state, and local partners in the field be fully prepared to ensure that older Americans will live with dignity, integrity, independence, and without abuse, neglect, and exploitation. The NCEA is a resource for policy makers, social service and health care practitioners, the justice system, researchers, advocates, and families.
Action on Elder Abuse (AEA) is a nonprofit membership organization that operates in the United Kingdom which aims to prevent the abuse of older people by raising awareness, encouraging education, promoting research, and collecting and disseminating information.
2. Selected Resources
This 2008 Guiding Framework was created to assist countries to give effect to the commitments made at the Second World Assembly on Ageing in Madrid in 2002.
United Nation’s Ageing and Development Wall Chart 2009
ABA/APA Assessment of Capacity in Older Persons
Handbooks for psychologists, lawyers and judges (a joint project of the American Psychological Association Office on Aging and the American Bar Association)
Why it’s time for a convention on older people’s rights
A publication of HelpAge International advocating for more enhanced United Nations mechanisms on the human rights of older persons
Strengthening Older People’s Rights: Towards a UN Convention
A resource for promoting dialogue on creating a new UN Convention on the Rights of Older Persons (a 2010 publication produced by nine prominent aging organizations); available online from several sources including the following:
- http://www.globalaging.org/agingwatch/convention/humanrights/strengtheningrights.pdf
- http://www.ageconcern.org.uk/AgeConcern/UN-convention-older-rights-july09.asp
- http://www.inpea.net/images/Strengthening_Rights_-_low_res_-_FINAL.pdf
World Demographic & Ageing Forum Discussion Papers
The WDA at the University of St. Gallen produces discussion papers on a variety of topics related to the demographics of an aging society.
Journal of International Aging, Law & Policy
This journal is a joint publication of Stetson University of Law and the American Association of Retired Persons which addresses a wide range of topics involving older persons, both domestically and internationally.
Towards a European Society for All Ages
A 2007 publication of AGE, The European Older Persons Platform, which focuses on age discrimination.
Active ageing: a policy framework
A 2002 publication of the World Health Organization.
3. Collections/Databases
University of Minnesota Human Rights Library
The University of Minnesota Human Rights library is one of the largest collections of human rights documents, including several hundred human rights treaties and other primary international human rights instruments. The site also provides access to more than four thousands links and a unique search device for multiple human rights sites.
American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) Internet Resources on Aging
AARP's Internet Resources on Aging is a database of internet resources on topics affecting people age 50 and older.
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