HelpAge International (London)
1 October 2008
press release
Older people across Africa will join together on Wednesday 1 October 2008, the UN International Day of Older People, under the banner of Age Demands Action – a global campaign calling for recognition and support of older people’s vital contribution to society.
Representing the African continent will be groups and organisations of older people in Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. They are among 36 countries worldwide who are participating in national activities around 1 October to press for improved ageing policies and practices in their countries.
In Ghana, older people will meet with President John Kufuor to call for improved access to healthcare facilities. In Cameroon, they will meet with ministers to call for training in income generating activities, including mushroom cultivation and bee farming. In Tanzania, they call for a package of measures including social pensions, support for older people caring for orphans and measures to protect older women who are accused of witchcraft. In the IDP camps of West Darfur, older people will be taking part in celebrations including speeches and music.
Across Africa, older people will be making their voices heard.
Amleset Tewodros, HelpAge International Regional Programme Manager for Africa, says:
“Older people are the backbone of families and communities. They work to feed their extended families and they care for grandchildren, often orphaned by HIV and AIDS. Yet 100 million older people worldwide live on less than $1 a day. They are among the poorest and most marginalised groups in many countries.
“Time is running out. By 2050 one in five of the world’s population will be over the age of 60. African governments must act now to invest in and support older people through age-friendly policies and practice in order to realise their true social and economic potential.”
Age Demands Action is the first worldwide campaign of its kind. It was launched in 2007 by HelpAge International, the global network striving for the rights of older people.
Alongside national activities this year, HelpAge International will be lobbying the international development community to include older people in three key policy areas:
* HIV and AIDS – Key United Nations data on HIV and AIDS currently excludes those over the age of 50. This ignores older people as a group at risk of infection and fails to recognise their role as carers for children orphaned by AIDS. Collecting data on how older people are affected is essential to developing an effective global response.
* Millennium Development Goals – These goals aim to tackle issues faced by the world’s poorest, yet largely exclude older people. Age Demands Action is calling for social protection schemes, including social pensions to support older people, to be included in all strategies undertaken to achieve the MDGs.
* Rights – In order to ensure the rights of older people are realised, Age Demands Action is calling for the UN to commission the Office of the High Commission for Human Rights to carry out a study on Human Rights and Older People.
Age Demands Action 2008 is supported by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, South African singer and story teller Gcina Mhlophe and Stephen Lewis, Co-Director of AIDS-Free World and Board Chair of the Stephen Lewis Foundation.
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