Address

23 Karlsbad Close, Sunningdale, 7441
South Africa

Contact

jadkins@agerightsinternational.com ; jill.adkins@gmail.com

+27 74 803 6608

Biosketch

Ms Adkins is a lawyer and independent legal consultant operating under Age Rights International.  She practised elder law in the United States for 20 years before moving to South Africa in 2008.  She holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in political science from South Dakota State University, a juris doctorate (JD) degree from the University of Minnesota Law School, and a masters in law (LLM) degree in human rights law from the University of Cape Town. She wrote her masters dissertation on the human rights of older persons and her consulting services focus on the use and impact of law and human rights on the lives of older persons.  Ms. Adkins recently completed a United Nations research consultancy on the human rights of older persons for OHCHR/DESA in support of the 2010 reports of the Secretary General and participated in expert group meetings in Geneva and Washington DC.

Key research / capacity building interests

Research Interests

• Implementation of international and regional human rights (of older persons) through national policy and legislation.
• Developing a framework for translating the Legal Empowerment of the Poor development theory into a human rights empowerment of older persons project.
• Identification of gaps in the legal protection of the rights of older persons and development of solutions, legal or otherwise.
• The impact of customary law on the human rights of older persons.

Capacity Building Interests

• Developing elder abuse awareness and training curriculum/protocol for professionals (i.e. lawyers, judicial personnel, law enforcement)
• Developing legal literacy interventions for older persons
• Drafting of legislation, policy, regulations
• Human rights training

Key methodological skills

• Literature (primary and secondary) review and analysis

Current/planned research

• National and regional implementation of the MIPAA
• Law and policy which impacts older persons in South Africa

Current engagement in capacity building

• Elder abuse education with psychiatric nurse in South Africa