CESCR General Comment No. 6: The Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of
Older Persons
Adopted at the Thirteenth Session of the Committee on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights, on 8 December 1995
(Contained in Document E/1996/22)
1. Introduction
1.
The world population is ageing at a steady, quite spectacular rate. The total
number of persons aged 60 and above rose from 200 million in 1950 to 400 million in
1982 and is projected to reach 600 million in the year 2001 and 1.2 billion by the year
2025, at which time over 70 per cent of them will be living in what are today’s
developing countries. The number of people aged 80 and above has grown and
continues to grow even more dramatically, going from 13 million in 1950 to over
50 million today and projected to increase to 137 million in 2025. This is the fastest
growing population group in the world, projected to increase by a factor
of 10 between 1950 and 2025, compared with a factor of 6 for the group aged 60 and
above and a factor of little more than 3 for the total population. 1
2.
These figures are illustrations of a quiet revolution, but one which has
far-reaching and unpredictable consequences and which is now affecting the social
and economic structures of societies both at the world level and at the country level,
and will affect them even more in future.
3.
Most of the States parties to the Covenant, and the industrialized countries in
particular, are faced with the task of adapting their social and economic policies to the
ageing of their populations, especially as regards social security. In the developing
countries, the absence or deficiencies of social security coverage are being aggravated
by the emigration of the younger members of the population and the consequent
weakening of the traditional role of the family, the main support of older people.
2. Internationally endorsed policies in relation to older persons
4.
In 1982 the World Assembly on Ageing adopted the Vienna International Plan
of Action on Ageing.
This important document was endorsed by the
General Assembly and is a very useful guide, for it details the measures that should
be taken by Member States to safeguard the rights of older persons within the context
of the rights proclaimed by the International Covenants on Human Rights. It contains
62 recommendations, many of which are of direct relevance to the Covenant. 2
1
Global targets on ageing for the year 2001: a practical strategy. Report of the Secretary-General
(A/47/339), paragraph 5.
2
Report of the World Assembly on Ageing, Vienna, 26 July-6 August 1982; (United Nations
publication, Sales No. E.82.I.16).