In January 2016, the African Union adopted a new Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Older Persons in Africa. The protocol is now open for ratification. It reinforces shared regional values on older people’s equal rights, creating new legally binding standards on the rights of older people. Article 4 of the Protocol on the Rights of Older Persons requires that states parties “ensure the provision of legal assistance to Older Persons in order to protect their rights.”117 The protocol calls for states parties to: Put in place legislation and other measures that guarantee protection of older women against abuses related to property and land rights; and adopt appropriate legislation to protect the right of inheritance of older women.118 It also states that “all necessary measures should be taken to eliminate harmful traditional practices affecting older persons.”119 Through this protocol, the African Union recognizes the importance of older people’s enjoyment of human rights on an equal basis as others. Zimbabwe has also made political commitments to gender equality by signing the Southern Africa Development Community’s Protocol on Gender and Development, which aims to “eliminate discrimination and to achieve gender equality and equity through the development and implementation of gender responsive legislation, policies, programmes and projects.”120 This protocol also refers to widows’ rights, including to inheritance, and calls for registration of all marriages.121 UN Standards on the Rights of Widows Most older people in the world are women, and many of these are widows. There is no specific age at which a person becomes old. International human rights law clearly 117 Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Older Persons in Africa, adopted by the 26th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union, Addis Ababa, 31 January 2016, art. 4.2. 118 Ibid., art. 9. 119 Ibid., art. 8. 120 See, Southern Africa Development Community, “Protocol on Gender and Development,” 2008, http://www.sadc.int/documents-publications/show/Protocol_on_Gender_and_Development_2008.pdf (accessed July 28, 2016). 121 Protocol to the African Charter on Human Rights and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Older Persons in Africa, arts. 8 and 10. “YOU WILL GET NOTHING” 44