WE, MEMBER STATES OF THE AFRICAN
UNION:
CONSIDERING that Article 66 of the African Charter provides for special
protocols or agreements, if necessary, to supplement the provisions of that
Charter;
CONSIDERING that the African Charter makes specific provisions for the
protection of the rights of Older Persons, under Article 18(4) which stipulates
that, “Ofder Persons and people with disabilities shall also have the right to
special measures of protection in keeping with their physical or moral needs’;
NOTING Article 2 of the African Charter which states that, “Every individual shall
be
entitled to the
enjoyment
of the rights and
freedoms
recognized
and
guaranteed in the present Charter without distinction of any kind such as race,
ethnic group, colour, sex, language, religion, political or any other opinion,
national and social origin, fortune, birth or other status”;
RECALLING Article 22 of the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of
Women in Africa which provides for the special protection of elderly women;
CONSIDERING recommendation (1) contained in paragraph 4.1 of the African
Union Policy Framework and Plan of Action on Ageing (2002) which states that
“Member States recognise the fundamental rights of Older Persons and commit
themselves to abolish all forms of discrimination based on age; that they
undertake to ensure that the rights of Older Persons are protected by appropriate
legislation; including the right to organise themselves in groups and to
representation in order to advance their interests’,
CONSIDERING recommendation (1) (a) contained in paragraph 4.1 of the same
Policy Framework and Plan of Action ‘which calls for the elaboration and adoption
of “an additional Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights
relating to the rights of Older Persons”.
CONSIDERING
FURTHER
paragraph 20 of the Kigali Declaration on Human
Rights (2003), which “calls upon States Parties to develop a Protocol on the
protection of the rights of the elderly and persons with disabilities’,
RECALLING section 2.2.11 of the African Union Social Policy Framework (2009)
which calls for the implementation of all the tenets of the AU Policy Framework
and Plan of Action on Ageing (2002), other international instruments that deal
with the issues of ageing and Older Persons, the 1991 United Nations Principles
for Older Persons,
the 1992
United Nations
Proclamation on Ageing,
and the
2002 Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing and which promotes the
rights of Older Persons;
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