Uganda to mark day for the elderly

By Vision Reporter

OLDER people in more than 50 countries will on Thursday come together on the International Day of Older Persons to celebrate the ageing and draw attention to the issues they face. 

Among the actions planned, campaigners will be sheltering under umbrellas to symbolise the protection of their rights.

The actions are part of HelpAge International’s Age Demands Action campaign calling for the UN and its member states to work towards adopting a convention on the rights of older people. 

According to HelpAge International, older people suffer widespread discrimination and are frequently let down by governments failing to safeguard their rights.

The campaign will see a range of events focusing on raising awareness of older people’s issues. 

In Sri Lanka, older people will meet health and social services ministers and lobby for separate hospital wards for older people. 

In the Philippines, activists will organise a ‘walk for life’ and an exhibition on the importance of social pensions. In Argentina, older people will call for cities to become more age friendly.

“The Age Demands Action campaign highlights the energy and dedication of older activists,” said Toby Porter, Chief Executive Officer at HelpAge International.

The Open-ended Working Group on Ageing, a UN committee, met in July for the sixth time. At this meeting, there was consensus among member states to change the format of the working group. This would enable the group to change the format of the meeting so it can fulfil its mandate to discuss the main elements of a convention. 

The actions follow the successes of older activists in the action/2015 campaign, who called for people of all ages to be included in the Sustainable Development Goals. 

The goals, adopted last week at the UN, commit 193 world leaders to ending extreme poverty, combatting inequality and injustice and fighting climate change over the next 15 years.