Title: Combating discrimination against older persons

Authors: Barnabas Chinaedu Diala

Addresses: Olaniyi Okin & Co. Legal Practitioners, 1st Floor Suit, Theodolite House, 54, New Hospital Road, Off Ring Road, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract: The older people in every society the world over are in no doubt senior citizens' who should be treated with dignity and accorded proper recognition. Being fully aware of this, the United Nations dedicated October 1st of every year as the International Day of Older Persons, a significant day to commemorate aged persons globally. Also, in recent years, various international human rights instrument have been enacted to fully protect human rights. There are numerous obligations vis-a-vis older people which are implicit in general human rights law but explicit attention to older people is rare. Specific provisions, when they do occur, are confined to a limited range of rights and are not consistent across either international or regional instruments. In view of the above, this paper seeks to consider notable areas where older people in the society encounter discrimination and also propose concrete recommendations that would help proffer solution to these problems.

Keywords: rights of older persons; discrimination; older adults; older people; international human rights law; constitutional law; rights of the elderly; fundamental human rights of older citizens; discrimination; protecting the aged.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHRCS.2014.062755

International Journal of Human Rights and Constitutional Studies, 2014 Vol.2 No.2, pp.138 - 149

Received: 10 Dec 2012
Accepted: 18 Mar 2013
Published online: 26 Jul 2014 *

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