GENEVA (27 March 2020) – Society has a duty to exercise solidarity and better protect older persons who are bearing the lion's share of the COVID-19 pandemic, a UN human rights expert said.
"Reports of abandoned older persons in care homes or of dead corpses found in nursing homes are alarming. This is unacceptable," said Rosa Kornfeld-Matte, UN Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons. "We all have the obligation to exercise solidarity and protect older persons from such harm."
Older persons do not only face a disproportionate risk of death but they are further threatened by COVID-19 due to their care support needs or by living in high-risk environments such as institutions, the expert said.
Kornfeld-Matte expressed particular concerns about older persons with underlying health conditions and those who are already socially excluded, living in poverty, having limited access to health services, or living in confined spaces such as prisons and residential care homes.
Foreign Policy Analytics
Direct Link to 2020 2-PAGE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Link to FULL 56-Page Report: https://womenasleversofchange.com/static/pdf/Women-As-Levers-Of-Change.pdf
This blog post is co-authored by Dr. Ilaria Bottigliero, Director, Policy, Research and Learning, International Development Law Organization (IDLO) and Françoise Trine, Senior Food Security Officer, Secretariat of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS).
March 5, 2020 - In societies where there is a high degree of gender inequality, there is also a significantly higher proportion of undernourishment among women and girls.
In order to effectively tackle food insecurity, it is necessary to address gender inequality more broadly, particularly the discriminatory policies, laws and social norms that prevent women and girls from participating in society on an equal basis.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and a growing number of other international policy and legal instruments emphasize the mutually reinforcing relationship between gender equality and the realization of women’s rights to food, land, social security and work.
UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing – Website: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Housing/Pages/HousingIndex.aspx
2020 Special Rapporteur Report to the UN Human Rights Council IS ATTACHED: ACCESS TO JUSTICE FOR THE RIGHT TO HOUSING
Full Article: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25727&LangID=E
Menopause: The Taboo Topic We Need To Talk About
Between sexism and ageism, menopause gives rise to many stereotypes that have consequences for women’s private and professional lives.
By Marine Le Breton - HuffPost France
March 12, 2020 - About half of French women do not discuss menopause with their partner. That may be because 40% of women in the country consider it a “difficult” topic “which they don’t want to think about” themselves, according to a survey released late last year.
While the perception of menstruation is changing and the topic is becoming increasingly less of a taboo, it’s clear that the same cannot be said about menopause — which is not a disease, but a natural phenomenon when a woman’s period stops, generally around 50 years old. And menopause continues to contribute to women’s inequality.
