ECLAC 2nd International Forum on Older Persons | Division for Inclusive Social Development (DISD)

The 2nd International Forum on the Rights of Older Persons, which ended today in Mexico City, determined that it is both desirable and viable to put a focus on rights in the public policies that affect this social group in Latin America and the Caribbean, as a way to reduce the poverty, inequality and discrimination suffered by people of an advanced age.

The organizers of this second event, which is part of that Charter's implementation and follow-up process, consider that its conclusions can help spur an international convention on older people's human rights that would allow for those rights to be understood in the context of ageing, clarifying any possible ambiguities and facilitating their promotion and protection.

At the forum, representatives of different international organizations and experts from numerous countries analyzed the protection of the rights and dignity of older persons in areas such as autonomy and legal status, pension systems and social services, and also shared good practices implemented within the region and outside it.

In the case of Latin America and the Caribbean, people 60 years old and older represented 9.8% of the total population in 2010 and this rate is forecast to rise to 11.2% in 2015, according to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).

In its conclusions, the forum contends that the care of older people cannot continue to be addressed as a family matter and that "governments of the different countries that have participated in this forum have the opportunity today to create public policies to tend to the generations of older persons to come."

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