A/HRC/41/32 25 (b) on health; and art. 28, para. 2 (b), on an adequate standard of living and social protection) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (art. 11, para. 1 (e), on the right to social security). 6. In the absence of a well-established international protection regime, the treaty bodies have issued interpretations and guidance for the application of their respective treaties with regard to older persons, including general comment No. 6 (1995) on the economic, social and cultural rights of older persons of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (E/1996/22, annex IV) and general recommendation No. 27 (2010) on older women and the protection of their human rights of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW/C/GC/27). The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights also considered the rights of older persons in its general comment No. 19 (2007) on the right to social security (E/C.12/GC/19) and general comment No. 20 (2009) on non-discrimination in economic, social and cultural rights (E/C.12/GC/20). 7. The mandate of the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons was established by the Council in September 2013, and the mandate holder, Rosa Kornfeld-Matte, was appointed in May 2014. Since her appointment, the Independent Expert has been assessing the implementation of existing international instruments concerning older persons and of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing while identifying best practices and gaps. As part of her assessment, she has been paying particular attention to specific groups: older women, persons with disabilities, persons of African descent, individuals belonging to indigenous peoples, persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, rural persons, persons living on the streets and refugees. Her country visit reports and the recommendations contained therein include a focus on capacity-building and technical cooperation. Other thematic special procedures mandate holders have also focused on relevant dimensions of the human rights of older persons in their activities, including the independent expert on the question of human rights and extreme poverty in her report on the social protection of older persons (A/HRC/14/31) and the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health in his thematic study on the realization of the right to health of older persons (A/HRC/18/37). 8. Progress has been made at the regional level, with the adoption of two legally binding regional instruments: the Inter-American Convention on Protecting the Human Rights of Older Persons, which was adopted in 2015 and entered into force in January 2017, and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Older Persons in Africa, which was adopted in 2016 but is not yet in force, pending ratifications. Those regional instruments provide guidance on developing policies and legislation to address the challenges faced by older persons in the exercise of their human rights, including useful tools in that regard. For example, the Inter-American Convention provides a normative framework that will help to remove the stigma around older persons, promote more positive images of ageing and create greater awareness of their positive contributions to society. The Convention also stipulates specific measures that should be taken to regulate areas related to healthy ageing, such as the protection of the older population’s right to have information related to treatments and palliative care and the right to be protected against discrimination and abuse. 9. At the global policy level, the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, adopted at the Second World Assembly on Ageing in 2002, represents a major international commitment made by Member States under the framework of the United Nations in order to respond to the opportunities and challenges of population ageing in the twenty-first century. The Plan calls for all-inclusive and simultaneous action to achieve a society for all ages, with a focus on three priority areas: older persons and development, advancing health and well-being into old age and ensuring enabling and supportive environments. The Plan also calls for the mainstreaming of issues relating to ageing and older persons into development agendas and highlights the need for enhanced international and technical cooperation in its implementation. While the Plan is a development-focused document, it reflects key human rights principles and contains several useful references to the human rights of older persons. In her 2016 report (A/HRC/33/44), the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons concluded that the implementation of the 3