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Colombia Adheres to the Inter-American Convention on the Protection of the Human Rights of Older Persons

  September 27, 2022

Colombia Adheres to the Inter-American Convention on the Protection of the Human Rights of Older Persons
Photo: OAS

Colombia today deposited the signature of adherence to the Inter-American Convention on the Protection of the Human Rights of Older Persons, during a ceremony held at the headquarters of the hemispheric institution in Washington, D.C.

The Secretary General of the OAS, Luis Almagro, recalled that in Colombia 14.4 percent of the population - some 7.4 million people - are over 60 years of age. "We congratulate the people and government of Colombia for taking this step, whose objective is to protect and empower older persons, an action whose transcendence will have effects on the well-being of all its citizens," added the OAS Secretary General.

For her part, the Vice Minister of Multilateral Affairs of Colombia, Laura Gil, highlighted the participation of Colombian civil society in the process that culminated in the accession to the Convention. “This is a government of rights and we are going to update ourselves on pending human rights instruments. We are committed to the Inter-American System and to older adults, who celebrated the day we announced that we were going to adhere to this Convention,” Vice Minister Gil added.

For his part, the Permanent Representative of Colombia to the OAS, Luis Ernesto Vargas, said that with this adhesion his government fulfills a social debt with several million of his fellow citizens. “What this Inter-American Convention does is commit to texts that are part of the Colombian Political Constitution, which in its article 46 says that the State, society and the family will concur for the protection and assistance of the elderly and that will promote their integration into active and community life,” said Ambassador Vargas.

On June 15, 2015, the OAS member states adopted the first binding instrument in the world that seeks to protect the human rights of persons over 60 years of age, Inter-American Convention on the Protection of the Human Rights of Older Persons.The Convention addresses the specific needs of older persons, including dignity in old age, personal freedom, privacy and intimacy; and promotes active aging so that adults can "enjoy a full, independent and autonomous life" in various spheres of society.

The Convention entered into force on January 11, 2017 and, from the moment the present instrument of accession is deposited, it will be made up of the following 9 States Parties: Uruguay, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, El Salvador, Ecuador, Peru and today Colombia.

Reference: FNE-122886