World Elder Abuse Awareness Day: Call for end to discrimination, violence

Speakers call on govt to help elderly become productive.

ISLAMABAD:

Old age is neither a disease nor a problem. In fact, older people are an asset, but due to the existence of age discrimination in society, these people suffer various forms of violence and are deprived of their basic rights.

Speakers at a seminar on Friday expressed these concerns over the absence of age-friendly environment.

The event was organised to mark World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.

They also said that the elderly are deprived of their right to have access to healthcare services, subsidised public transport and other privileges.



The seminar was organised by the HelpAge International.

Speakers called on the National Council of Social Welfare, Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) to table the revised draft of the Senior Citizens Welfare Bill and asked the new government to approve it without any further delay.

HelpAge International Senior Advocacy and Communication Officer Waqas Ashfaq Qureshi said, “Older people’s rights are human rights and we have to protect them to end age discrimination.”

He quoted a United Nations Population Fund - HelpAge International report as saying there are 11.6 million people over 60 in Pakistan and this figure will rise to 43.3 million by 2050, accounting for 15.8 per cent of the total population.

“Most elderly people are capable of performing various routine tasks independently, but the absence of facilities for them makes them dependent on others,” he said.

Qureshi said many public hospitals have no wheelchairs or elevators for the elderly, due to which it becomes very difficult for them to get some forms of treatment.

He said that Pakistan has accepted the United Nations conventions on human rights, but stands in violation of it as many of the rights of the elderly are not provided or enforced.

He said many governments have failed to respond to rights violations and see older people only as recipients of welfare, rather than the holders of rights like other citizens.

A new UN convention on the rights of older people is necessary to change this as it would provide governments with the legal framework, guidance and support to help them end discrimination, said Qureshi.

CADD Additional Secretary Abdul Latif Laghari informed the participants that the senior citizen bill draft has been finalised and will soon be presented in the National Assembly.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 15^th, 2013.