Meet the Older Human Rights Champions

This year’s International Day of Older Persons on 1 October will celebrate the older people around the world who dedicate their lives to championing human rights. The year 2018 also marks the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

This year, the theme is “Older Human Rights Champions” – a great opportunity to celebrate their contribution to protecting human rights.

Older human rights champions are as diverse as the societies in which they live: from older people advocating for human rights at the grass roots and community level to high profile figures on the international stage. Each and every one demands respect and acknowledgment for their dedication to advancing human rights.

The celebration of older human rights champions provides an ideal opportunity to raise the visibility of older people as active members of society committed to improving the enjoyment of human rights in many areas of life and not just those that affect them immediately, while also raising awareness of the ageism and age discrimination that older people face.

You can follow social media to discover older human rights champions across the UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) region and participate in the social media celebration of the International Day of Older Persons by acknowledging an older human rights champion you admire.

Using the hashtags #IDOP2018, and #StandUp4HumanRights, you can give visibility to and celebrate older persons who champion human rights around the world.

This could be as simple as posting their picture with a short description of how they stand up for human rights and a link to further information on how they do it.

Courtesy: UNECE