The creation of what has become known as the international human rights system began with the activities of the United Nations ("UN") when it was first established in the aftermath of World War II and it has since grown to include a comprehensive library of treaties (there are nine core international human rights treaties and several important regional treaties) and domestic laws defining human rights, a global community of international, regional, and national bodies to monitor and interpret human rights and an expanding array of tools to enforce human rights and respond to violations of those rights by States and other actors. Human rights now include civil and political "freedoms", equality and socio-economic rights and collective rights to a healthy environment, self-determination and development. Since 1948 there has been almost 20 declarations, principles, resolutions, plans of action and proclamations issued by the UN and its instrumentalities relating to aging, and UN has identified aging as being among the most important global issues of the 21st Century; however, progress has been slow on drafting and adopting a comprehensive universal legal instrument relating specifically to the human rights of older persons. This book discusses how issues relating to older persons have been integrated into the generic international human rights framework and emerging regional human rights legal systems and the steps that need to be taken in order to gather support for a new international convention.
