Welcome to the 21st WCP Virtual Congress Program Scheduling

Since the 1947 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, several human rights treaties have addressed various civil, economic, social, cultural and political rights, but older person’s human rights were not specifically addressed until the UN Principles for Older Persons and the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing. The rights of persons with disabilities were given treatment under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. However, the rights of older people under these treaties have not been implemented because of several factors such ageism, systemic inertia and failure to recognize their specific needs. The International Psychogeriatric Association and the WPA Section of Old Age Psychiatric are working together to improve the inclusion of older adults’ mental health topics in the human rights agenda such a recent joint statement for the United Nations Open Ended Working Group on Ageing and answering to the call made by the Independent Expert who is producing reports on older adults for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The symposium will present some results of this IPA & WPA-SOAP collaboration.