Elder care: CDA fail to make capital age-friendly city

Civic body signed MoU with WHO five years back, but has made no progress.

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad was among 35 cities around the world which were selected five years back for the Global Age-Friendly Cities (GAFC) project. The goal was to make it more age-friendly while tapping the potential of older people.

But despite the lapse of five years, no work on the project has been done by the Capital Development Authority (CDA). The civic agency inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the World Health Organisation (WHO) five years back, under which the needs of the city’s elderly population would be better met, besides providing a friendly environment for them.

Pakistan National Council of Aging President Dr Haider Zaman, while talking about the salient features of the project, said the project components included outdoor spaces and buildings, transportation, housing schemes, social participation by communities, respect and social inclusion, civic participation and employment, communication and information and community and health services. He said that despite signing the MoU with the WHO, nothing has been done on ground to implement the plan.

Dr Haider hoped that the recommendations of all stakeholders will be incorporated in the draft “Islamabad Capital Territory Senior Citizens Welfare Bill, 2013”, which calls for providing better access to transportation, recreation, medical and other facilities  for senior citizens.

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