The Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Services Tongai Muzenda was recently quoted in the media as claiming that older persons in Zimbabwe were better off than those in Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia. The deputy minister did not furnish his interlocutors with empirical evidence to support his claim. It is very difficult to compare countries in terms of their recognition and assistance to older persons without an agreed framework for comparing or probably grouping them.
One main barrier that prevents older people from accessing social pensions is the assumption that someone out there, not Government, is looking after them.
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