neglect

International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression

In recent years, the number of violations perpetrated against children have, in many conflict zones, increased. More needs to be done to protect the 250 million children living in countries and areas affected by conflict. More must be done to protect children from targeting by violent extremists, to promote international humanitarian and human rights law, and to ensure accountability for violations of the rights of children.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provides us with the universal masterplan to secure a better future for children. The new agenda includes for the first time a specific target (16.2) to end all forms of violence against children, and ending the abuse, neglect and exploitation of children is mainstreamed across several other violence-related targets.

To learn more about how and why the UN commemorates the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression, please visit un.org/en/observances/child-victim-day.

Background:

Following on the ground-breaking Graça Machel report, which drew global attention to the devastating impact of armed conflict on children, in 1997 The General Assembly adopted 51/77 Resolution on the Rights of the Child. It was a landmark development in efforts to improve the protection of children in conflict situations. This signaled the start of a new consensus among Member States, on the need for dedicated attention, advocacy and coordinated effort, by the international community, to address the vulnerabilities and violations faced by children in conflict-related situations.

Resolution 51/77 built on existing General Assembly efforts to protect the rights of children, including through the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocol, and the annual Rights of the Child resolutions. And it established the mandate of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Children’s Rights-NY, please visit childrightsny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bobbinassar@yahoo.com or bknotts@uua.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com.

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day: Access to Justice

Participate in part of the UN’s observance of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day on Tuesday, 15 June at 15:00-  16:15 Geneva time/ 9:00 – 10:15 NY time!
The International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (INPEA) founded the first World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) in 2006. WEAAD was designated as a United Nation’s International Day in 2011 in GA resolution A/ RES/66/127. This year’s theme is Access to Justice.
COVID-19 highlighted distressing reports of abuse and neglect of older persons in long-term care institutions and in the community where the majority of older persons live. Older persons who have experienced situations of violence, abuse and neglect face multiple barriers in accessing judicial remedies such as issues of accessibility, affordability, excessive delays and backlogs in judicial processes, impact of digitalization, gender bias, discrimination, and entrenched ageism in policy, norms and practices.
Access to justice is a fundamental right in itself and an essential prerequisite for the protection and promotion of all human rights. An expert panel will discuss ways to overcome the barriers and showcase examples of access to justice by older persons who suffered violence, abuse and neglect, including during the current COVID 19 pandemic. Register here today: https://bit.ly/3x3YiSj
Program:
Opening words:
  • Susan Somers, President of INPEA
  • HE Mr. Federico Villegas, Permanent Representative of Argentina to the UN in Geneva, co-chair of the Group of Friends of the human rights of older persons, Geneva
  • HE Mr. Enrique Austria MANALO, Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the UN, New York (TBC)
Panelists:
  • Claudia Mahler, Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons
  • Maria Soledad Cisternas Reyes, Special Envoy of the UN SG on Disability and Accessibility
  • Etienne Krug, Director of the department of Social Determinants of Health, World Health Organization
  • Tlaleng Mofokeng, Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health (TBC)
  • Natasa Todorovic, Health and Care Program Manager, Red Cross of Serbia and INPEA Europe
  • Bill Mitchell, Principal Solicitor, Townsville Community Law Inc, Australia
Moderator: Silvia Perel-Levin, INPEA representative to the UN and Chair of the NGO Committee on Ageing, Geneva
The event will be accessible with sign language and captioning. It will have French, Spanish, German and Russian interpretation. It will also be webcast on webtv.un.org.
This event is funded by the European Union’s Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme (2014-2020). The content represents the views of the participants only and is their sole responsibility. The European Commission does not accept any responsibility for use that may be made of the information it contains.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing-NY, please visit ngocoa-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing-Vienna, please visit ngoageingvie.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing-Geneva, please visit ageingcommitteegeneva.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Intergenerational Solidarity, please email the vice chair at susanneseperson@gmail.com. 

Elder Abuse Awareness Day: The Impact of COVID-19 on Violence, Abuse, & Neglect of Older Persons

Virtual Event
Tuesday, 16 June 2020 at 08:00-09:00 EST (NY), 14:00-15:00 CET (Geneva)

Registration is required. REGISTER HERE

The UN General Assembly designated 15 June as World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (res. A/RES/66/127).  According to WHO estimates, 1 in 6 people aged over 60 suffers from abuse. That means nearly 141 million people globally. This number might be much higher as elder abuse is one of the most hidden and underreported violations. 

COVID-19 has put a spotlight on older persons including distressing reports of instances of abuse and neglect of older persons in long term care institutions. Not only older persons are at a high risk of serious illness and mortality, but they are also stigmatized through abusive language in both the conventional and social media. 

Despite the lack of reliable data on the actual scale of elder abuse in the community where the majority of older persons live, emerging reports reveal the high impact of the COVID-19 pandemic both in the rise of cases of abuse and in the disruption of the services and protective measures.

The UN Secretary-General in his Policy Brief: The Impact of Covid-19 on Older Persons warned that measures to restrict movement may trigger greater incidence of violence against older persons and all types of abuse – physical, emotional, financial and sexual as well as neglect. He also claimed that the lack of adequate legislation at national level to protect the rights of older persons and the absence of a dedicated internationally agreed legal framework, contribute to the vulnerability of older persons and may have contributed to the inadequate responses to the COVID-19 crisis and that these gaps must be filled.  

There is an urgent need to combat and prevent this serious human rights violation. Many Member States’ delegations at sessions of the Open-ended Working Group on Ageing expressed the need to develop universally applicable normative standards for the protection of older persons against violence, neglect and abuse, which would contribute to providing a comprehensive response and would also provide guidance for the development of a reporting, accountability and remedy mechanism for such violations suffered by older persons.

Verbal abuse and hate speech: Do they lead to other types of abuse? When do under or/and over-protection become abuse? Have lockdowns increased the risk of financial exploitation. What are examples of passive and active neglect?

Opening words by H.E. Mr. Alejandro Verdier, Deputy Permanent Representative of Argentina to the UN in NY
Panelists:

  • Ms Claudia Mahler, Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons
  • Dr Etienne Krug, Director of the department of Social Determinants of Health, World Health Organization: WHO’s new guidance on elder abuse and COVID-19
  • Jillenne Gunther, AARP Bank Safe: Fighting financial exploitation
  • Michael S. Mulvey, University of Ottawa: Tracing an outbreak of ageist discourse in social media

Co-Moderators: Amal Rafeh (UN DESA) and Monica Ferro (UNFPA)

The panel will be followed by a session of questions and answers with the audience.

Register here

Support for this program provided by Apple Bank and Hebrew Home
CoNGO Notes:
For more information on the NGO Committee of Ageing – NY, please visit ngocoa-ny.org.

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