Ageing Policy: Panelists identify lack of information, understanding
Ageing Policy: Panelists identify lack of information, understanding
By Chinenye Offor
Policy
Abuja, Nov. 5, 2018 (NAN) Panelists at the maiden edition of SGA African Regional Conference on Ageing on Monday in Abuja identified inadequate information, statistics and understanding of Ageing issues as some of the factors militatating against formulating welfare policies for senior citizens.
Mr Sham Ochola, HelpAge International, Head of Network Coordination and Development/African Regional Office, said that lack of adequate education was hampering against policies on ageing in Africa.
Ocholla said this while presenting a paper on the challenges and prospects of establishing legal policy and programmatic frameworks on ageing, adding that lack of political will across Africa was one of the factors that hinders implementation of ageing policies.
He noted that most of the personnel lack adequate education and understanding on ageing issues, stressing that there is need to look at it uniformly and taken seriously.
He also said that most plans on ageing had moral weight but not legally binded and also not been able to address the specific rights of older persons required.
Ochola however said that government deos not provide independent monitoring or accountability mechanisms, adding that only five countries had signed the AU Protocol on the rights of older persons agenda.
Similarly, Amal Abou Rafah, Chief, Programme on Ageing Unit, Social Inclusion and Participaton Branch, United Nations Department of Economics and Social Affairs (UNDESA), noted that MDGss lack of integration among sectors hindered ageing implementation.
Rafah also said that UN understood that age was a determinant factor of life and people’s living were set by sex and age, among others.
She also said that older persons often work in low paying jobs, lives off family support, stigmatised , descriminated from accessing health services that resulted in reduced quality of care as well as recieved limited income from pensions.
Rafah further said that negative attitudes, inadequate data abd research, disparities among older persons themslves and dependency also affects the older persons.
She however said that expected result for mainstreamimg was integration, national strategies and plans and provision of overall national framework for action.
She also said that it waa important to increase job opportunities for older persons, adding that older persons job opportunities does not decrease the johs of younger people.
She however advocated for older persons inclusion in decision making, creating spaces and mechanisms to ensure participation on other relevant stakeholders, NGOs and the private sectors.
She also urged for awareness raising, saying that campaign helps sensitize the public for the concerns and conditions of older persons to overcome negative approach and ageism.
Rafah therefore said that agenda 2030 was forcing the UN ways of working to developing guidelines on leaving no one behind and the guidelines had brought in expectations from different countries that would be a life document and all social groups were included.
Earlier, Mr Andrew Kavala, CEO, Malawi Network of Older People’s Organisation (MANEPO), Malawi/Southern Africa Regional Age Network, Southern Africa, said that social accountability required citizens recieved quality services.
He noted that the voices of older persons were not been heard and stressed the need for older persons across Africa to be trained and build their capacity to enabel them speak on what affected them.
He therefore advised senior citizens to identify the gaps that affected them. (NAN)
CSO/MST
Edited by Muhammad Tola