A/HRC/41/32 innovations and best practices were identified, drawing from country experiences across the European region. In the Americas, from 2017 to 2019, WHO provided technical support for the development, adoption and ratification of the Inter-American Convention on Protecting the Human Rights of Older Persons. B. Autonomy and independence 22. The ability to make one’s own decisions and to have control over one’s life is central to human dignity. For many older persons, however, the autonomy and independence they enjoyed earlier in their lives is denied in older age, often because of a belief that older persons can no longer make their own decisions or that their decisions should be disregarded. Ensuring that older persons are in a position to lead autonomous lives to the greatest extent possible – irrespective of their physical, mental and other conditions – requires a radical change in the way in which society perceives ageing. The right to enjoy and exercise legal capacity is a key element of autonomy and independence that allows older persons, when they are unable to look after their own interests, to have supported decision-making arrangements. Effective safeguards and access to effective complaints mechanisms and appropriate remedies are essential in cases in which an older person’s right to autonomy and independence, including the right to legal capacity, has been violated. 23. While autonomy and independence are relatively new legal concepts, normative guidance can be drawn from a number of binding and non-binding international instruments, including the Inter-American Convention on Protecting the Human Rights of Older Persons, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the United Nations Principles for Older Persons. In April 2018, the OHCHR Regional Office for Europe and AGE Platform Europe organized a multi-stakeholder consultation to further develop a conceptual and practical understanding of autonomy and independence and to discuss long-term and palliative care. The outcome of the seminar was submitted to the Open-ended Working Group on Ageing so as to contribute to the thematic discussions on those topics at its ninth session, held in July 2018. In a policy brief on ageing, ECE highlighted possible strategies to safeguard and promote the independence of older persons, drawing from innovations and good practices from 25 member countries. 3 C. Social security and social protection 24. The rights of older persons to social security and to an adequate standard of living to support their health and well-being are grounded in the main international human rights instruments. Specific references to social protection are made in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (art. 25) and in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (arts. 9–11). The content of those rights is further specified in the normative body of standards developed by the International Labour Organization (ILO) that provides concrete guidance to countries on ways to give effect to the right of older persons to social security, from the provision of basic levels of social security to the full realization of that right. Among the standards developed to that effect, the most recent is the Social Protection Floors Recommendation, 2012 (No. 202), which provides an international reference framework setting out the range and levels of social security benefits that are necessary and adequate for ensuring income maintenance and income security, as well as access to health care, in old age. The extension of coverage to all older persons is an underlying objective of the standards, with the aim of achieving universal protection, as explicitly stated in Recommendation No. 202. 25. The 2030 Agenda, in particular target 1.3, calls for the implementation of national social protection systems for all, including floors, with special attention given to the poor and the vulnerable. An important social policy challenge facing ageing societies is to secure an adequate level of income for all people in old age without overstretching the capacities 3 ECE, ���Innovative social services and supportive measures for independent living in advanced age”, Policy brief on ageing No. 20, November 2018. 7