A/HRC/24/25 identify older persons as a vulnerable group, and the level of awareness of legislative measures for protection against family violence was low. 69. Ms. Minja stated that the United Republic of Tanzania was party to a number of international human rights instruments, and reported periodically on the situation of human rights in the country. These reports did not, however, take into consideration the rights of older persons. 70. Ms. Minja illustrated some specific human rights issues faced by older persons in the United Republic of Tanzania. Thousands of older persons had been killed between 2005 and 2011 after having been accused of witchcraft. Elderly widows had also been killed in order to facilitate property inheritance by younger members of the family. Poverty was prevalent among older persons, and social protection coverage was very low. An initiative to pay a universal pension to persons over 60 years of age had been approved and would take effect in July 2013. This would help older persons to cover their basic needs, including food and medical assistance, and to care for the vulnerable children living with them (53 per cent of all orphans and vulnerable children were cared for by older persons). Physical integrity was also an issue, particularly with older persons living in rural areas, where 80 per cent of them live. Isolation and loneliness made older persons particularly vulnerable to attacks. 71. Older persons were also discriminated against in labour. In the United Republic of Tanzania, the mandatory age of retirement was 60 years. Most retirees lived the rest of their lives in poverty, as the small amount that they received as a pension did not cover their basic needs. With regard to health, even though the country had, since 2003, a national ageing policy that stated that older persons of 60 years of age or over should receive health services free of charge in all government health facilities, many obstacles still prevented effective access. These included distance, lack of drugs, a shortage of qualified doctors and a lack of sensitivity on the part of health workers. 72. Ms. Minja pointed out that an international convention on the protection of the rights of older persons should be adopted to ensure that older persons were no longer discriminated against for reasons of age. Such a convention would allow for specific reporting on the situation of older persons, as was already the case with women, children and persons with disabilities. 73. During the discussion, HelpAge International underscored the fact that, in a meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women held in March 2013, the risk of violence against older women had been significantly highlighted. Paying attention to violence against older women should not, however, be done at the expense of equal attention to violence experienced by older men. 74. The European Union supported active and healthy ageing by promoting equality of care in institutional and home settings. A major conference had been held in March 2012 for the protection and dignity of older persons, in order to understand the phenomenon and how it could be addressed. A similar seminar would be held in Brussels in June 2013, together with the European Commission and OHCHR. Similarly, the European Union was funding several pilot projects focusing on protecting older persons and monitoring elder abuse in public health and long-term care systems. 75. Argentina stressed that there was a lack of systematic information on violence against older persons. Older persons were invisible and did not appear sufficiently in country statistics or in development programmes. A human rights instrument devoted to older persons would be a valuable contribution to visibility and an improvement in data collection. 15