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Full Text (PDF format) | Signatories and Ratifications
PREAMBLE
The States Parties to the present Convention,
Recognizing that unqualified respect for human rights has been enshrined in the
American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man and in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and reaffirmed in other international and regional
instruments;
Reiterating the intention of consolidating, within the framework of democratic
institutions, a system of individual liberty and social justice founded upon
respect for the fundamental rights of persons;
Bearing in mind that, pursuant to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
the American Convention on Human Rights, the ideal of a free human being, free
from fear and poverty can only be achieved if conditions are created that enable
each individual to enjoy their economic, social, and cultural rights, as well as
their civil and political rights;
Reaffirming that all human rights and fundamental freedoms are universal,
indivisible, interdependent, and interrelated, as well as the obligation to
eliminate all forms of discrimination, in particular, discrimination for reasons
of age;
Underscoring that older persons have the same human rights and fundamental
freedoms as other persons and that those rights, including the right not to be
subjected to age-based discrimination nor any form of violence, are rooted in
the dignity and equality inherent in all human beings;
Recognizing also that, as a person ages, they should continue to enjoy a full,
independent, and autonomous life, health, safety, integration, and active
participation in the economic, social, cultural and political spheres of their
society;
Recognizing the need to address matters of old age and ageing from a
human-rights perspective that recognizes the valuable current and potential
contributions of older persons to the common good, to cultural identity, to the
diversity of their communities, to human, social, and economic development, and
to the eradication of poverty;
Recalling what has been established in the United Nations Principles for Older
Persons (1991), the Proclamation on Ageing (1992), and the Political Declaration
and Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (2002), as well as in such
regional instruments as the Regional Strategy for the Implementation in Latin
America and the Caribbean of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing
(2003), the Brasilia Declaration (2007), the Plan of Action on the Health of
Older Persons, including Active and Healthy Aging (2009) of the Pan American
Health Organization, the Declaration of Commitment of Port of Spain (2009), and
the San José Charter on the Rights of Older Persons in Latin America and the
Caribbean (2012);
Determined to incorporate and prioritize the subject of ageing in public policy,
and to raise and allocate the human, material, and financial resources needed to
achieve appropriate implementation and evaluation of the special measures
undertaken;
Reaffirming the value of solidarity and complementarity in international and
regional cooperation to promote the human rights and fundamental freedoms of
older persons;
Actively supporting the incorporation of a gender perspective into all policies
and programs designed to ensure the effective exercise of the rights of older
persons and underscoring the need to eliminate all forms of discrimination;
Convinced of the importance of facilitating the formulation and enforcement of
laws and programs to prevent abuse, abandonment, negligence, and mistreatment of
and violence against older persons, and of the need to have national mechanisms
that protect their human rights and fundamental freedoms;
Convinced also that the adoption of a broad, comprehensive convention will
contribute significantly to protecting, promoting, and ensuring the full
enjoyment and exercise of the rights of older persons and to fostering an active
ageing process in all regards;
Have agreed to sign the following Inter-American Convention on Protecting the
Human Rights of Older Persons (hereinafter, the “Convention”).
CHAPTER I
PURPOSE, SCOPE, AND DEFINITIONS
Article 1
Purpose and scope
The purpose of this Convention is to promote, protect and ensure the recognition
and the full enjoyment and exercise, on an equal basis, of all human rights and
fundamental freedoms of older persons, in order to contribute to their full
inclusion, integration, and participation in society.
Nothing in this Convention shall be interpreted as placing limits on broader or
additional rights or benefits recognized to older persons in international law
or the domestic laws of States Parties.
Where the exercise of any of the rights or freedoms referred to in this
Convention is not already ensured by legislative or other provisions, States
Parties undertake to adopt, in accordance with their constitutional processes
and the provisions of this Convention, such legislative and other measures as
may be necessary to give effect to those rights or freedoms.
The States Parties may only establish restrictions or limitations on the
enjoyment and exercise of the rights established in this Convention by means of
laws promulgated for the purpose of preserving the general welfare in a
democratic society and only to the extent that they are not incompatible with
the purposes and reasons underlying those rights.
The provisions of the present Convention shall apply to all parts of federal
States without limitations or exceptions.
Article 2
Definitions
For the purposes of this Convention the following definitions shall apply:
“Abandonment”: Lack of action, deliberate or not, to comprehensively care for an
older person’s needs, which may jeopardize their life or physical,
psychological, or moral integrity.
“Palliative care”: Active, comprehensive, and interdisciplinary care and
treatment of patients whose illness is not responding to curative treatment or
who are suffering avoidable pain, in order to improve their quality of life
until the last day of their lives. Central to palliative care is control of
pain, of other symptoms, and of the social, psychological, and spiritual
problems of the older person. It includes the patient, their environment, and
their family. It affirms life and considers death a normal process, neither
hastening nor delaying it.
“Discrimination”: Any distinction, exclusion, or restriction with the purpose or
effect of hindering, annulling, or restricting the recognition, enjoyment, or
exercise, on an equal basis, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the
political, cultural, economic, social, or any other sphere of public and private
life.
“Multiple discrimination”: Any distinction, exclusion, or restriction toward an
older person, based on two or more discrimination factors.
“Age discrimination in old age”: Any distinction, exclusion, or restriction
based on age, the purpose or effect of which is to annul or restrict
recognition, enjoyment, or exercise, on an equal basis, of human rights and
fundamental freedoms in the political, cultural, economic, social, or any other
sphere of public and private life.
“Ageing”: A gradual process that develops over the course of life and entails
biological, physiological, psychosocial, and functional changes with varying
consequences, which are associated with permanent and dynamic interactions
between the individual and their environment.
“Active and healthy ageing”: The process of optimizing opportunities for
physical, mental, and social well-being, participation in social, economic,
cultural, spiritual, and civic affairs, and protection, security, and care in
order to extend healthy life expectancy and quality of life for all people as
they age, as well as to allow them to remain active contributors to their
families, peers, communities, and nations. It applies both to individuals and to
population groups.
“Abuse”: A single or repeated act or omission to the detriment of an older
person that harms their physical, mental, or moral integrity and infringes the
enjoyment or exercise of their human rights and fundamental freedoms, regardless
of whether or not it occurs in a relationship of trust.
“Negligence”: Involuntary error or unintentional fault, including, inter alia,
neglect, omission, abandonment, and failure to protect, that causes harm or
suffering to an older person, in either the public or the private sphere, in
which normal necessary precautions proportional to the circumstances have not
been taken.
“Older person”: A person aged 60 or older, except where legislation has
determined a minimum age that is lesser or greater, provided that it is not over
65 years. This concept includes, among others, elderly persons.
“Older person receiving long-term care services”: One who resides temporarily or
permanently in a regulated, public, private or mixed establishment, which
provides quality comprehensive social and health care services, including
long-term facilities for older persons with moderate or severe dependency, who
cannot receive care in their home.
“Integrated social and health care services”: Institutional benefits and
entitlements to address the health care and social needs of older persons with a
view to guaranteeing their dignity and well-being and to promoting their
independence and autonomy.
“Household unit or home”: A group of individuals who live in the same dwelling,
share the main meals, and address the common basic needs together, without
necessarily being relatives.
“Old age”: Social construct of the last stage of the life course.
CHAPTER II
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
Article 3
General principles that apply to the Convention:
a) Promotion and defense of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of older
persons;
b) Recognizing older persons, their role in society, and their contribution to
development;
c) The dignity, independence, proactivity, and autonomy of older persons;
d) Equality and non-discrimination;
e) Participation, integration, and full and effective inclusion in society;
f) Well-being and care;
g) Physical, economic, and social security;
h) Self-fulfillment;
i) Gender equity and equality, and the life course approach;
j) Solidarity and the strengthening of family and community protection;
k) Proper treatment and preferential care;
l) Differentiated treatment for the effective enjoyment of rights of older
persons;
m) Respect and appreciation of cultural diversity;
n) Effective judicial protection;
o) Responsibility of the State and participation of the family and the community
in the active, full, and productive integration of older persons into society,
and in the care of, and assistance to, the older person, in accordance with
domestic law.
CHAPTER III
GENERAL DUTIES OF STATES PARTIES
Article 4
States Parties undertake to safeguard the human rights and fundamental freedoms
of older persons enunciated in this Convention without discrimination of any
kind and, to that end, shall:
a) Adopt measures to prevent, punish, and eradicate practices that contravene
this Convention, such as isolation, abandonment, prolonged physical restraint,
overcrowding, expulsion from the community, deprivation of food, infantilization,
medical treatments that are, inter alia, inadequate or disproportional or that
constitute mistreatment or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment
that jeopardizes the safety and integrity of older persons;
b) Adopt affirmative measures and make such reasonable adjustments as may be
necessary for the exercise of the rights established in this Convention and
shall refrain from adopting any legislative measure that is incompatible with
it; by virtue of this Convention, affirmative measures and reasonable
adjustments that are necessary to expedite or attain de facto equality for older
persons, or to ensure their full social, economic, educational, political, and
cultural engagement, shall not be considered discriminatory; such measures shall
not lead to the maintenance of separate rights for different groups, nor be
continued beyond a reasonable time once their objectives have been attained;
c) Adopt and strengthen such legislative, administrative, judicial, budgetary,
and other measures as may be necessary to give effect to and raise awareness of
the rights recognized in the present Convention, including adequate access to
justice, in order to ensure differentiated and preferential treatment for older
persons in all areas.
d) Adopt, to the full extent of their available resources and commensurate with
their level of development, such measures as they consider necessary in the
framework of international cooperation to progressively achieve in accordance
with domestic law the full realization of economic, social, and cultural rights,
without prejudice to such obligations as may be immediately applicable under
international law;
e) Promote public institutions specializing in the protection and promotion of
the rights of older persons and their integral development;
f) Encourage the broadest participation by civil society and other social
actors, especially older persons, in the drafting, implementation, and oversight
of public policies and laws to implement this Convention;
g) Promote the gathering of adequate information, including statistical and
research data, with which to design and enforce policies to implement this
Convention.
CHAPTER IV
PROTECTED RIGHTS
Article 5
Equality and non-discrimination for reasons of age
This Convention prohibits discrimination based on the age of older persons.
In their policies, plans, and legislation on ageing and old age, States Parties
shall develop specific approaches for older persons who are vulnerable and those
who are victims of multiple discrimination, including women, persons with
disabilities, persons of different sexual orientations and gender identities,
migrants, persons living in poverty or social exclusion, people of African
descent, and persons pertaining to indigenous peoples, the homeless, people
deprived of their liberty, persons pertaining to traditional peoples, and
persons who belong to ethnic, racial, national, linguistic, religious, and rural
groups, among others.
Article 6
Right to life and dignity in old age
States Parties shall adopt all measures necessary to ensure older persons’
effective enjoyment of the right of life and the right to live with dignity in
old age until the end of their life and on an equal basis with other segments of
the population.
States Parties shall take steps to ensure that public and private institutions
offer older persons access without discrimination to comprehensive care,
including palliative care; avoid isolation; appropriately manage problems
related to the fear of death of the terminally ill and pain; and prevent
unnecessary suffering, and futile and useless procedures, in accordance with the
right of older persons to express their informed consent.
Article 7
Right to independence and autonomy
State Parties to this Convention recognize the right of older persons to make
decisions, to determine their life plans, to lead an autonomous and independent
life in keeping with their traditions and beliefs on an equal basis, and to be
afforded access to mechanisms enabling them to exercise their rights.
States Parties shall adopt programs, policies, or actions to facilitate and
promote full enjoyment of those rights by older persons, facilitating their
self-fulfillment, the strengthening of all families, their family and social
ties, and their affective relationships. In particular, they shall ensure:
a) Respect for the autonomy of older persons in making their decisions, and for
their independence in the actions they undertake.
b) That older persons have the opportunity, on an equal basis with others, to
choose their place of residence and where and with whom they live, and are not
obliged to live in a particular living arrangement.
c) That older persons progressively have access to a range of in-home,
residential, and other community-support services, including personal assistance
necessary to support living and inclusion in the community and to prevent their
isolation or segregation from the community.
Article 8
Right to participation and community integration
Older persons have the right to active, productive, full, and effective
participation in the family, community, and society with a view to their
integration.
States Parties shall adopt measures to enable older persons to participate
actively and productively in their community and to develop their capacities and
potentialities. To that end, States Parties shall:
a. Create and strengthen mechanisms for the participation and social inclusion
of older persons in an environment of equality that serves to eradicate the
prejudices and stereotypes that prevent them from fully enjoying those rights;
b. Promote the participation of older persons in intergenerational activities to
strengthen solidarity and mutual support as key components of social
development;
c. Ensure that facilities and community services for the general population are
available to older persons on an equal basis and that they take account of their
needs.
Article 9
Right to safety and a life free of violence of any kind
Older persons have the right to safety and a life without violence of any kind,
to be treated with dignity, and to be respected and appreciated regardless of
their race, color, sex, language, culture, religion, political or other
opinions, social origin, nationality, ethnicity, indigenous and cultural
identity, socio-economic status, disability, sexual orientation, gender, gender
identity, economic contribution, or any other condition.
Older persons have the right to a life without any kind of violence or
mistreatment. For the purposes of this Convention, violence against older
persons shall be understood as any act or conduct that causes death or physical,
sexual, or psychological harm or suffering, either in the public or the private
sphere.
Violence against older persons shall be understood to include, inter alia,
different forms of financial, physical, sexual, and psychological abuse and
mistreatment, expulsion from the community, and any form of abandonment or
negligence that takes place within the family or household unit or that is
perpetrated or tolerated by the State or its agents, regardless of where it
occurs.
States Parties undertake to:
a. Adopt legislative, administrative, and other measures to prevent,
investigate, punish, and eradicate acts of violence against older persons, as
well as those that would enable reparation for harm occasioned by such acts.
b. Produce and disseminate information in order to generate diagnostic
assessments of possible situations of violence with a view to developing
prevention policies.
c. Promote the creation and strengthening of support services to address cases
of violence, mistreatment, abuse, exploitation, and abandonment of older
persons. Foster access for older persons to such services and provide them with
information about them.
d. Establish or strengthen mechanisms for preventing any form of violence in the
family or household unit, facilities that provide older persons with long-term
care services, and society at large, with a view to effectively protecting the
rights of older persons.
e. Inform and sensitize society as a whole about the various forms of violence
against older persons and about how to identify and prevent them.
f. Train and sensitize government officials, social workers, and health care
personnel responsible for attending to and caring for older persons in long-term
care facilities or at home about the different forms of violence, in order that
they are treated with dignity and to prevent negligence, violence, and
mistreatment.
g. Develop training programs for family members and persons providing home care
services, in order to reduce violence in the home or household unit.
h. Promote appropriate and effective complaint mechanisms for cases of violence
against older persons and strengthen legal and administrative mechanisms for
dealing with such cases.
i. Actively promote the elimination of all practices that generate violence and
affect the dignity and integrity of older women.
Article 10
Right not to be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman,
or degrading treatment or punishment
Older persons have the right not to be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman,
or degrading treatment or punishment.
States Parties shall take all necessary measures of a legislative,
administrative, judicial, or other nature to prevent, investigate, punish and
eradicate all forms of torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or
punishment of older persons.
Article 11
Right to give free and informed consent on health matters
Older persons have the inalienable right to express their free and informed
consent on health matters. Denial of that right constitutes a form of violation
of the human rights of older persons.
In order to ensure the right of older persons to express their prior and
informed consent in a voluntary, free, and explicit manner to any medical
decision, treatment, procedure, or research in the area of health, and the right
to modify or revoke such consent, States Parties undertake to prepare and
enforce appropriate and effective mechanisms to prevent abuse and strengthen the
capacity of older persons to fully understand existing treatment options and
their risks and benefits.
Those mechanisms must ensure that the information provided is appropriate, clear
and timely, available on a non-discriminatory basis in an accessible and easily
understood form, and commensurate with the older person’s cultural identity,
level of education, and communication needs.
Public or private institutions and health professionals may not administer any
medical or surgical treatment, procedure, or research without the prior and
informed consent of the older person.
In life-threatening medical emergencies where it is not possible to obtain
informed consent, exceptions established in accordance with domestic law may be
applied.
Older persons have the right freely to consent to, refuse, or suspend medical or
surgical treatment—including that of the traditional, alternative, and
complementary kind—research, or medical or scientific experiments, whether
physical or psychological, and to be given clear and timely information about
the potential consequences and risks of such a decision.
States Parties shall also establish a procedure that enables older persons to
expressly indicate in advance their will and instructions with regard to health
care interventions, including palliative care. In such cases, that advance will
may be expressed, amended, or expanded at any time by the older person only
through legally binding instruments in accordance with domestic law.
Article 12
Rights of older persons receiving long-term care
Older persons have the right to a comprehensive system of care that protects and
promotes their health, provides social services coverage, food and nutrition
security, water, clothing, and housing, and promotes the ability of older
persons to stay in their own home and maintain their independence and autonomy,
should they so decide.
States Parties shall design assistance measures for families and caregivers
through the introduction of services for those providing care to older persons,
taking into account the needs of all families and other forms of care, as well
as the full participation of older persons and respect for their opinions.
States Parties shall adopt measures toward developing a comprehensive care
system that takes particular account of a gender perspective and respect for the
dignity, physical, and mental integrity of older persons.
In order to ensure that older persons can effectively enjoy their human rights
when receiving long-term care, States Parties undertake to:
a) Establish mechanisms to ensure that the initiation and conclusion of
long-term care services are subject to an indication by the older person of
their free and express will.
b) Ensure that such services have specialized personnel who can provide
appropriate, comprehensive care and prevent actions or practices that could
cause harm or exacerbate an existing condition.
c) Establish an appropriate regulatory framework on the operations of long-term
care services that allows the situation of older persons to be assessed and
supervised, as well as the adoption of measures to:
i. Ensure access for older persons to information, especially to their own
physical or digital records, promote their access to the various media and
sources of information, including social networks, and apprise them of their
rights and of the legal framework and protocols governing long-term care
services.
ii. Prevent arbitrary or illegal intrusions in their private life, family, home,
household unit, or any other sphere in which they are involved, or in their
correspondence or any other form of communication.
iii. Promote older persons’ interaction with their family and society, bearing
in mind all families and their affective relationships.
iv. Protect older persons’ personal security and the exercise of their personal
liberty and freedom of movement.
v. Protect the integrity of older persons as well as their privacy and intimacy
in all their activities, particularly in acts of personal hygiene.
d) Enact the necessary legislation, in accordance with domestic mechanisms, so
that the corresponding personnel and long-term care givers may be held liable to
administrative, civil, and/or criminal penalties, as applicable, for any acts
they commit that cause harm to older persons.
e) Adopt appropriate measures, as applicable, to ensure that older persons
receiving long-term care also have palliative care available to them that
encompasses the patient, their environment, and their family.
Article 13
Right to personal liberty
Older persons have the right to personal liberty and safety, regardless of their
environment.
States Parties shall ensure that older persons enjoy the right to personal
liberty and safety, and that in no instance shall age be used to justify the
arbitrary denial or restriction of liberty.
States Parties shall ensure that any measure to deprive or restrict liberty is
in accordance with law and that older persons who are deprived of their liberty
because they are under prosecution are afforded, on an equal basis with other
sectors of the population, due guarantees in keeping with international human
rights law and treated in accordance with the purposes and principles enshrined
in this Convention.
States Parties shall ensure access for older persons deprived of their liberty
to special and comprehensive care programs, including rehabilitation mechanisms
for their reintegration in society and, as appropriate, shall promote
alternatives to custodial measures, in accordance with their domestic laws.
Article 14
Right to freedom of expression and opinion, and access to information
Older persons have the right to freedom of expression and opinion, and access to
information on an equal basis with other sectors of the population, by whatever
medium they choose.
States Parties shall adopt measures to ensure the effective exercise of these
rights by older persons.
Article 15
Right to nationality and freedom of movement
Older persons have the right to freedom of movement, to choose their residence,
and to hold a nationality on an equal basis with other segments of the
population, without discrimination on grounds of age.
States Parties shall adopt measures to ensure the effective exercise of these
rights by older persons.
Article 16
Right to privacy and intimacy
Older persons are entitled to privacy and intimacy, and neither their private
life, family, home, household unit, nor any other environment in which they
function, nor their correspondence, nor any other communications shall be the
subject of arbitrary or illegal intrusion.
Older persons have the right not to have their dignity, honor, and reputation
attacked. They are also entitled to privacy in their personal hygiene and other
activities, regardless of their environment.
States Parties shall adopt the measures necessary to guarantee these rights,
particularly for older persons receiving long-term care services.
Article 17
Right to social security
All older persons have the right to social security to protect them so that they
can live in dignity.
State Parties shall progressively promote, within available resources, the
provision of income to ensure a dignified life for older persons through social
security systems and other flexible social protection mechanisms.
States Parties shall seek to facilitate, through institutional agreements,
bilateral treaties, and other hemispheric mechanisms, the recognition of
benefits, social security contributions, and pension entitlements for migrant
older persons.
Everything in this article will be in accordance with national legislation.
Article 18
Right to work
Older persons have the right to dignified and decent work and to equal
opportunity and treatment on the same terms as other workers, whatever their
age.
States Parties shall adopt measures to prevent labor discrimination against
older persons. It is prohibited to make any kind of distinction that is not
based on the specific requirements of the job, in accordance with domestic laws
and local conditions.
The same guarantees, benefits, labor and union rights, and pay should apply to
all workers in the same employment or occupation and for similar tasks and
responsibilities.
States Parties shall adopt legislative, administrative, and other measures to
promote formal work for older persons and to regulate the various forms of
self-employment and domestic work, with a view to preventing abuse and ensuring
them adequate social coverage and recognition for unremunerated work.
States Parties shall promote programs and measures that will facilitate a
gradual transition into retirement, for which they may rely on the participation
of organizations representing employers and workers, as well as of other
interested agencies.
States Parties shall promote labor policies that take account of the needs and
characteristics of older persons, with the aim of fostering workplaces that are
suitable in terms of working conditions, environment, work hours, and
organization of tasks.
States Parties shall encourage the design of training and
knowledge-certification programs in order to promote access for older persons to
more-inclusive labor markets.
Article 19
Right to health
Older persons have the right to physical and mental health without
discrimination of any kind.
States Parties shall design and implement comprehensive-care oriented
intersectoral public health policies that include health promotion, prevention
and care of disease at all stages, and rehabilitation and palliative care for
older persons, in order to promote enjoyment of the highest level of physical,
mental and social well-being. To give effect to this right, States Parties
undertake to:
a. Ensure preferential care and universal, equitable and timely access to
quality, comprehensive, primary care-based social and health care services, and
take advantage of traditional, alternative, and complementary medicine, in
accordance with domestic laws and with practices and customs.
b. Formulate, implement, strengthen, and assess public policies, plans, and
strategies to foster active and healthy ageing.
c. Foster public policies on the sexual and reproductive health of older
persons.
d. Encourage, where appropriate, international cooperation in the design of
public policies, plans, strategies and legislation, and in the exchange of
capacities and resources for implementing health programs for older persons and
their process of ageing.
e. Strengthen prevention measures through health authorities and disease
prevention, including courses on health education, knowledge of pathologies, and
the informed opinion of the older person in the treatment of chronic illnesses
and other health problems.
f. Ensure access to affordable and quality health care benefits and services for
older persons with non-communicable and communicable diseases, including
sexually transmitted diseases.
g. Strengthen implementation of public policies to improve nutrition in older
persons.
h. Promote the development of specialized integrated social and health care
services for older persons with diseases that generate dependency, including
chronic degenerative diseases, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease.
i. Strengthen the capacities of health, social, and integrated social and health
care workers, as well as those of other actors, to provide care to older persons
based on the principles set forth in this Convention.
j. Promote and strengthen research and academic training for specialized health
professionals in geriatrics, gerontology, and palliative care.
k. Formulate, adapt, and implement, in accordance with domestic law, policies on
training in and the use of traditional, alternative, and complementary medicine
in connection with comprehensive care for older persons.
l. Promote the necessary measures to ensure that palliative care services are
available and accessible for older persons, as well as to support their
families.
m. Ensure that medicines recognized as essential by the World Health
Organization, including controlled medicines needed for palliative care, are
available and accessible for older persons.
n. Ensure access for older persons to the information contained in their
personal records, whether physical or digital.
o. Promote and gradually ensure, in accordance with their capabilities, coaching
and training for persons who provide care to older persons, including family
members, in order to ensure their health and well-being.
Article 20
Right to education
Older persons have the right to education, on an equal basis with other sectors
of the population and without discrimination, in the modalities determined by
each State Party; to participate in existing educational programs at all levels;
and to share their knowledge and experience with all generations.
States Parties shall ensure effective exercise of the right to education for
older persons and shall:
a) Facilitate access for older persons to appropriate educational and training
programs that provide access, inter alia, to the different levels of the
education cycle, to literacy, post-literacy, technical and professional
training, and to continuing education, especially for groups in situations of
vulnerability.
b) Promote the development of accessible and suitable educational programs,
materials, and formats for older persons that fit their needs, preferences,
skills, motivations, and cultural identities.
c) Adopt the necessary measures to reduce and progressively eliminate barriers
and obstacles to educational goods and services in rural areas.
d) Promote education and training for older persons in the use of new
information and communication technologies (ICTs) in order to bridge the
digital, generational, and geographical divide and to increase social and
community integration.
e) Design and implement active policies to eradicate illiteracy among older
persons, especially women and groups in situations of vulnerability.
f) Foster and facilitate the active participation of older persons in both
formal and non-formal educational activities.
Article 21
Right to culture
Older persons have the right to their cultural identity, to participate in the
cultural and artistic life of the community, to enjoy the benefits of scientific
and technological progress and those resulting from cultural diversity, and to
share their knowledge and experience with other generations in any of the
contexts in which they participate.
States Parties shall recognize, ensure, and protect the intellectual property
rights of older persons on an equal basis with other sectors of the population
and in accordance with domestic laws and international instruments adopted in
this area.
States Parties shall promote the necessary measures to ensure preferential
access for older persons to cultural goods and services in accessible formats
and conditions.
States Parties shall promote cultural programs to enable older persons to
develop and utilize their creative, artistic, and intellectual potential for
their own benefit as well as for the enrichment of society as conduits of
values, knowledge, and culture.
States Parties shall foster the participation of older persons’ organizations in
the planning, execution, and dissemination of educational and cultural projects.
States Parties shall, through acts of recognition and incentives, encourage the
contributions of older persons to different artistic and cultural expressions.
Article 22
Right to recreation, leisure, and sports
Older persons are entitled to recreation, physical activity, leisure, and
sports.
States Parties shall promote the development of recreational services and
programs, including tourism, as well as leisure and sports activities, taking
into account the interests and needs of older persons, particularly those
receiving long-term care, in order to improve their health and quality of life
in all respects and to promote their self-fulfillment, independence, autonomy,
and inclusion in the community.
Older persons shall be able to participate in the creation, management, and
evaluation of such services, programs, or activities.
Article 23
Right to property
All older persons have the right to the use and enjoyment of their property and
not to be deprived of said property on the grounds of age. The law may
subordinate such use and enjoyment to the interests of society.
No older person shall be deprived of their property except upon payment of just
compensation, for reasons of public utility or social interest, or in the cases
and according to the forms established by the law.
States Parties shall adopt all necessary measures to ensure the effective
exercise of older persons’ right to property, including the right to freely
dispose of their property, and to prevent the abuse or illegal transfer thereof.
States Parties undertake to eliminate all administrative or financial practices
that discriminate against older persons—especially older women and groups in
situations of vulnerability—where the exercise of their right to property is
concerned.
Article 24
Right to housing
Older persons have the right to decent and adequate housing and to live in safe,
healthy, and accessible environments that can be adapted to their preferences
and needs.
States Parties shall adopt appropriate measures to promote the full enjoyment of
this right and facilitate access for older persons to integrated social and
health care services and to home care services that enable them to reside in
their own home, should they wish.
States Parties shall ensure the right of older persons to decent and adequate
housing and shall adopt policies to promote the right to housing and access to
land, recognizing the needs of older persons and the priority of allocating to
those in situations of vulnerability. Likewise, States Parties shall
progressively foster access to home loans and other forms of financing without
discrimination, promoting, inter alia, collaboration with the private sector,
civil society and other social actors. Such policies should pay particular
attention to:
a) The need to build or progressively adapt housing solutions, so that they are
architecturally suitable and accessible for older persons with disabilities and
restricted mobility;
b) The specific needs of older persons, particularly those who live alone, by
means of rent subsidies, support for housing renovations, and other pertinent
measures, within the capacities of States Parties.
States Parties shall promote the adoption of expedited procedures for complaints
and redress in the event of evictions of older persons and shall adopt the
necessary measures to protect them against illegal forced evictions.
States Parties shall promote programs to prevent accidents inside and in the
vicinity of older persons’ homes.
Article 25
Right to a healthy environment
Older persons have the right to live in a healthy environment with access to
basic public services. To that end, States Parties shall adopt appropriate
measures to safeguard and promote the exercise of this right, inter alia:
a. To foster the development of older persons to their full potential in harmony
with nature;
b. To ensure access for older persons, on an equal basis with others, to basic
public drinking water and sanitation services, among others.
Article 26
Right to accessibility and personal mobility
Older persons have the right to accessibility to the physical, social, economic,
and cultural environment, as well as to personal mobility.
In order to ensure accessibility and personal mobility for older persons, so
that they may live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life,
States Parties shall progressively adopt appropriate measures to ensure for
older persons access, on an equal basis with others, to the physical
environment, to transportation, to information and communications, including
information and communications technologies and systems, and to other facilities
and services open or provided to the public, both in urban and in rural areas.
These measures, which shall include the identification and elimination of
obstacles and barriers to accessibility, shall apply to, inter alia:
a. Buildings, roads, transportation, and other indoor and outdoor facilities,
including centers of education, housing, medical facilities, and workplaces;
b. Information, communications, and other services, including electronic
services and emergency services.
States Parties shall also take appropriate measures to:
a. Develop, promulgate, and monitor the implementation of minimum standards and
guidelines for the accessibility of facilities and services open or provided to
the public;
b. Ensure that public and private entities that offer facilities and services
which are open or provided to the public take into account all aspects of
accessibility for older persons;
c. Provide training for all stakeholders on accessibility issues facing older
persons;
d. Promote other appropriate forms of assistance and support to older persons to
ensure their access to information;
e. Promote access for older persons, at the lowest possible cost, to new
information and communications technologies and systems, including the Internet;
f. Foster access for older persons to preferential fees, or no fees, for
transportation services open or provided to the public;
g) Promote initiatives, in transportation services open or provided to the
public, for the provision of reserved seats for older persons, which should be
identified by appropriate signs;
h) In buildings and other facilities open to the public, provide signage in
formats that are easy to read and understand, and are appropriate for older
persons.
Article 27
Political rights
Older persons have the right to participate in political and public life on an
equal basis with others and not to be discriminated against for reasons of age.
Older persons have the right to vote freely and to be elected. The State shall
facilitate the conditions and the means for exercising those rights.
States Parties shall ensure for older persons full and effective enjoyment of
their right to vote. To that end, they shall adopt the following pertinent
measures:
a) Ensure that electoral procedures, facilities, and materials are appropriate,
accessible, and easy to understand and use;
b) Protect the right of older persons to cast their votes in secret and without
intimidation in elections and public referendums;
c) Ensure that older persons are able to freely express their will as voters
and, to that end, when necessary and with their consent, to allow a person of
their choice to assist them in voting;
d) Create and strengthen mechanisms for citizen participation with a view to
including the opinions, contributions, and demands of older persons and their
groups and associations in decision-making processes at all levels of
government.
Article 28
Freedom of association and assembly
Older persons have the right to assemble peacefully and to freely form their own
groups and associations, in accordance with international human rights law.
To that end, States Parties undertake to:
a) Facilitate the creation and legal recognition of said groups or associations,
respecting their freedom of initiative and lending them support for their
formation and activities, within the capacities of States Parties;
b) Strengthen older persons’ associations and the development of positive
leadership to facilitate the achievement of their objectives and dissemination
of the rights enunciated in this Convention.
Article 29
Situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies
States Parties shall adopt all necessary specific measures to ensure the safety
and rights of older persons in situations of risk, including situations of armed
conflict, humanitarian emergencies, and disasters, in accordance with the norms
of international law, particularly international human rights law and
international humanitarian law.
States Parties shall adopt assistance measures specific to the needs of older
persons in preparedness, prevention, reconstruction, and recovery activities
associated with emergencies, disasters, and conflict situations.
States Parties shall foster the participation of interested older persons in
civil protection protocols in the event of natural disasters.
Article 30
Equal recognition before the law
States Parties reaffirm that older persons have the right to recognition as
persons before the law.
States Parties shall recognize that older persons enjoy legal capacity on an
equal basis with others in all aspects of life.
States Parties shall take appropriate measures to provide access by older
persons to the support they may require in exercising their legal capacity.
States Parties shall ensure that all measures that relate to the exercise of
legal capacity provide for appropriate and effective safeguards to prevent abuse
in accordance with international human rights law. Such safeguards shall ensure
that measures relating to the exercise of legal capacity respect the rights,
will, and preferences of older persons, are free of conflict of interest and
undue influence, are proportional and tailored to older persons’ circumstances,
apply for the shortest time possible, and are subject to regular review by a
competent, independent and impartial authority or judicial body. The safeguards
shall be proportional to the degree to which such measures affect older persons’
rights and interests.
Subject to the provisions of this article, States Parties shall take all
appropriate and effective measures to ensure the equal right of older persons to
own or inherit property, to control their own financial affairs, and to have
equal access to bank loans, mortgages, and other forms of financial credit, and
shall ensure that older persons are not arbitrarily deprived of their property.
Article 31
Access to justice
Older persons have the right to a hearing, with due guarantees and within a
reasonable time, by a competent, independent, and impartial tribunal, previously
established by law, in the substantiation of any accusation of a criminal nature
made against them or for the determination of their rights and obligations of a
civil, labor, fiscal, or any other nature.
States Parties shall ensure effective access to justice for older persons on an
equal basis with others, including through the provision of procedural
accommodations in all legal and administrative proceedings at any stage.
State Parties shall ensure due diligence and preferential treatment for older
persons in processing, settlement of, and enforcement of decisions in
administrative and legal proceedings.
Judicial action must be particularly expedited in instances where the health or
life of the older person may be at risk.
Likewise, States Parties shall develop and strengthen public policies and
programs to promote:
a. Alternative dispute settlement mechanisms;
b. Training in protection of the rights of older persons for personnel
associated with the administration of justice, including police and prison
staff.
CHAPTER V
AWARENESS-RAISING
Article 32
States Parties agree to:
a. Adopt measures to achieve dissemination of, and to progressively educate the
whole of society about, this Convention.
b. Foster a positive attitude to old age and dignified, respectful, and
considerate treatment of older persons, and, based on a culture of peace,
encourage actions to disseminate and promote the rights and empowerment of older
persons, and avoid stereotypical images and language in relation to old age;
c. Develop programs to sensitize the public about the ageing process and older
persons, encouraging the participation of the latter and of their organizations
in the design and formulation of such programs;
d. Promote the inclusion of content that fosters understanding and acceptance of
ageing in study plans and programs at different levels of education, as well as
in academic and research agendas;
e. Promote recognition of the experience, wisdom, productivity, and contribution
to development that older persons offer society as a whole.
CHAPTER VI
FOLLOW-UP MECHANISM TO THE CONVENTION
AND MEANS OF PROTECTION
Article 33
Follow-up Mechanism
In order to monitor the commitments under this Convention and to promote its
effective implementation, a Follow-up Mechanism will be established that shall
comprise a Conference of States Parties and a Committee of Experts.
The Follow-up Mechanism shall be established upon deposit of the tenth
instrument of ratification or accession.
The General Secretariat of the Organization of American States shall serve as
secretariat of the Follow-up Mechanism.
Article 34
Conference of States Parties
The Conference of States Parties, the principal organ of the Follow-up
Mechanism, comprises the States Parties to the Convention and has, inter alia,
the following functions:
a. To monitor progress by States Parties in complying with the commitments under
this Convention;
b. To draft its rules of procedure and adopt them by an absolute majority;
c. To monitor the activities of the Committee of Experts and make
recommendations to improve the workings, rules, and procedures of said
Committee;
d. To receive, analyze, and evaluate the recommendations of the Committee of
Experts and present appropriate observations;
e. To promote the exchange of experiences and best practices as well as
technical cooperation among States Parties, with a view to ensuring the
effective implementation of this Convention;
f. To resolve any matter pertaining to the operations of the Follow-up
Mechanism.
The Secretary General of the Organization of American States shall convene the
first meeting of the Conference of States Parties within 90 days after the
establishment of the Follow-up Mechanism. The first meeting of the Conference,
to adopt its rules of procedure and working methodology, as well as to elect its
officers, will be held at the headquarters of the Organization, unless a State
Party should offer to host the meeting. Said meeting will be chaired by a
representative of the first state to deposit its instrument of ratification of
or accession to the Convention.
Subsequent meetings shall be convened by the Secretary General of the
Organization of American States at the request of any State Party with the
approval of at least two thirds of the States Parties. Other member states of
the Organization may participate as observers in said meetings.
Article 35
Committee of Experts
The Committee of Experts shall comprise experts appointed by each State Party to
the Convention. The quorum for meetings will be established in its rules of
procedure.
The Committee of Experts shall have the following functions:
a. To assist in monitoring progress by States Parties in implementing this
Convention and conduct a technical review of the periodic reports submitted by
States Parties; to that end, States Parties undertake to present a report to the
Committee of Experts on implementation of their obligations under this
Convention, within one year of the first meeting; thereafter, States Parties
shall submit reports every four years.
b. To submit recommendations for progressive compliance with the Convention
based on reports presented by States Parties on the subject matter under review;
c. To draft and adopt its rules of procedure in accordance with the functions
set forth in this article.
The Secretary General of the Organization of American States shall convene the
first meeting of the Committee of Experts within 90 days after the establishment
of the Follow-up Mechanism. The first meeting of the Committee, to adopt its
rules of procedure and working methodology, as well as to elect its officers,
will be held at the headquarters of the Organization, unless a State Party
should offer to host the meeting. Said meeting will be chaired by a
representative of the first state to deposit its instrument of ratification of
or accession to the Convention.
The Committee of Experts shall have its headquarters at the Organization of
American States.
Article 36
System of individual petitions
Any person or group of persons, or nongovernmental entity legally recognized in
one or more member states of the Organization of American States may submit to
the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights petitions containing reports or
complaints of violations of the provisions contained in this Convention by a
State Party.
In implementing the provisions of this article, consideration shall be given to
the progressive nature of the observance of the economic, social and cultural
rights protected under this Convention.
In addition, any State Party, when depositing its instrument of ratification of,
or accession to, this Convention, or at any time thereafter, may declare that it
recognizes the competence of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to
receive and examine communications in which a State Party alleges that another
State Party has committed violations of the human rights established in this
Convention. In such an instance, all the relevant procedural rules contained in
the American Convention on Human Rights shall be applicable.
States Parties may consult the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on
questions related to the effective application of this Convention. They may also
request the Commission’s advisory assistance and technical cooperation to ensure
effective application of any provision of this Convention. The Commission will,
to the extent that it is able, provide the States Parties with the requested
advisory services and assistance.
Any State Party may, when depositing its instrument of ratification of, or
accession to, this Convention, or at any time thereafter, declare that it
recognizes as binding, ipso jure and without any special agreement, the
jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on all matters relating
to the interpretation or application of this Convention. In such an instance,
all relevant procedural rules contained in the American Convention on Human
Rights shall be applicable.
CHAPTER VII
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 37
Signature, ratification, and entry into force
This Convention is open to signature, ratification and accession by all member
states of the Organization of American States. After its entry into force, this
Convention shall be open to accession by all member states that have not signed
it.
This Convention is subject to ratification by the signatory states in accordance
with the procedures set forth in their constitutions. The instruments of
ratification or accession shall be deposited with the General Secretariat of the
Organization of American States.
This Convention shall enter into force on the thirtieth day following the date
on which the second instrument of ratification or accession is deposited with
the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States.
For each state that ratifies or accedes to the Convention after the second
instrument of ratification or accession has been deposited, the Convention shall
enter into force on the thirtieth day following deposit by that state of the
corresponding instrument.
Article 38
Reservations
States Parties may enter reservations to this Convention when signing,
ratifying, or acceding to it, provided that such reservations are not
incompatible with the aim and purpose of the Convention and relate to one or
more specific provisions thereof.
Article 39
Denunciation
This Convention shall remain in force indefinitely, but any State Party may
denounce it through written notification addressed to the Secretary General of
the Organization of American States. The Convention shall cease to have force
and effect for the denouncing state one year after the date of deposit of the
instrument of denunciation, and shall remain in force for the other States
Parties. Denunciation of the Convention shall not exempt the State Party from
its obligations under the Convention in respect of any act or omission that
occurred before the date on which the denunciation took effect.
Article 40
Depository
The original instrument of the Convention, the English, French, Portuguese, and
Spanish texts of which are equally authentic, shall be deposited with the
General Secretariat of the Organization of American States, which shall send a
certified copy thereof to the United Nations Secretariat for registration and
publication pursuant to Article 102 of the United Nations Charter.
Article 41
Amendments
Any State Party may submit proposals for amendment of this Convention to the
Conference of States Parties.
Amendments shall enter into force for the states ratifying them on the date of
deposit of the respective instruments of ratification by two thirds of the
States Parties. For the remaining States Parties, they shall enter into force on
the date of deposit of their respective instruments of ratification.