Protection of the Human Rights of Older Persons in the Americas and the Caribbean

Authors

• Gloria Monique de Mees, University of Suriname

Abstract

The Americas and the Caribbean are undergoing rapid demographic aging amid structural inequality, widespread informality, and fragile social protection, exposing older persons to heightened risks of disease, poverty, exclusion, and abuse while reinforcing their construction as dependents rather than autonomous rights-holders. Grounded in the Inter-American Human Rights System, and complemented by empirical evidence, the analysis situates demographic aging as a structural human rights priority and traces the evolution of regional standards culminating in the Inter-American Convention on Protecting the Human Rights of Older Persons. It then examines advances and gaps in national protection systems in Latin America and the Caribbean highlighting advances in legislation, pensions, and institutional design alongside persistent fragmentation, weak access to remedies, limited care services, and intersectional inequalities. The Reflection concludes that a rights-based, life-course approach to aging—grounded in Inter-American standards, intersectional policies, robust participation, quality care, and accountability—can transform aging from a vector of vulnerability into a driver of dignity, autonomy, and more equal societies across the region.

Recommended Citation

Gloria Monique de Mees, Protection of the Human Rights of Older Persons in the Americas and the Caribbean, 33 U. MIA. Int'l & Compar. L. Rev. 487 (2026).
Available at: https://repository.law.miami.edu/umiclr/vol33/iss2/8