ATC211201: Report of the Select Committee on Health and Social Services on the Ratification of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Older Persons in Africa, dated 01 December 2023
NCOP Health and Social Services
Report of the Select Committee on Health and Social Services on the Ratification of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Older Persons in Africa, dated 01 December 2023:
The Select Committee on Health and Social Services (henceforth, the Committee), having considered the ratification of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Older Persons in Africa, reports as follows:
Background
The Government of the Republic of South Africa is one of the African Union (AU) Member States that adopted the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Older Persons in Africa on 31 January 2016. This took place at the Twenty Sixth (XXVI) Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly of Heads of States and Government in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The Protocol is a product of years of consultations to enshrine the commitments made by African States in the 2002 AU Policy Framework and Plan of Action on ageing into regional human rights law. This is crucial given that older women and men in Africa continue to experience discrimination, abuse, neglect, and violence in all spheres of life.
Purpose
The Protocol is a transformative legal instrument providing norms and standards in ensuring respect and protection of the rights of older persons in Africa. The purpose of the Protocol is to promote and protect the rights of older persons. It also guarantees that older persons are enabled to contribute and participate in society.
The adoption of the Protocol would ensure that older persons are treated with dignity and respect, and as equal members of society. It will serve as a tool for the development of age-friendly policies and legislation that recognise the potential and talents of older persons. This will ensure the full enjoyment of the human rights and freedoms in increasingly ageing societies. The Protocol will set standards necessary for the elimination of age discrimination to ensure access to justice and equal protection before the law.
Role-players
To date, about 18 AU Member States have ratified the Protocol. This includes Zambia, Mozambique, and Lesotho.
Value proposition for South Africa
Signing and ratifying this Protocol strengthens the multilateral and international measures created in Africa for the safeguarding of the interests of older persons. In addition, it will demonstrate South Africa’s commitment to human rights in this area while also providing further impetus to the consolidation of the protection of the rights of older persons domestically.
Parliament Process
The ratification for the Protocol was tabled in Parliament on the 26 October 2023, and referred to the Committee on 08 November 2023. The Committee received a briefing on the Protocol from the Department of Social Development on the 01 December 2023.
The Committee recommends that the House, in terms of Section 231(2) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996, approves the Protocol.
Report to be considered.