Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Submits Findings on Right to Health of Older Persons to UN Special Rapporteur

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON, DC, March 9, 2011 – On Monday, March 7, Claudia Martin and Diego Rodríguez Pinzón, the Co-directors of the Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, and Vladislav Michalčík, Research Scholar-in-Residence, joined the Gender, Human Rights and Culture Branch of UNFPA and submitted a compilation of the examples of legal and institutional frameworks to protect and realize the right to health of older persons to the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.

The objective of the joint contribution is to provide input for the thematic study on the realization of the right to health of older persons, including the main existing challenges and best practices. The Special Rapporteur was mandated to develop the thematic study by the Human Rights Council’s Resolution 15/22 adopted on Sept. 30, 2010.

The findings included in the joint contribution have for the most part resulted from a research project implemented based on the partnership agreement between UNFPA and the Academy in 2009-10. The objective of the research activities has been to develop a handbook with a comparative analysis of the global and regional human rights systems regarding the rights of older persons, as well as examples of good practices at national levels.

The joint contribution includes five regional sections that highlight good practices in the selected countries in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Arab countries, Europe, and Latin America and the Caribbean.  The sections focused on the realization of the right to health of older persons, themes included in national human rights and policy plans, the standards entrenched in constitutional and organic laws, and institutional and protection mechanisms.

The Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law at American University Washington College of Law was created to promote practical approaches to human rights and humanitarian law as well as to strengthen links between human rights organizations, practitioners, and educators worldwide. The Academy enhances the culture and prominence of human rights and humanitarian law around the world by offering relevant, empowering training for scholars, practitioners, and students interested in the international human rights system and laws. The Academy accomplishes these tasks through its programs, partnerships, and scholarly endeavors.

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