Older peoples’ rights should be protected through legislation

Islamabad The rights of older people need to be protected through legislation. With population ageing becoming a global phenomenon, Pakistan needs to ensure that policies and laws, both existing and new ones, are implemented in letter and spirit so that older Pakistanis aged above 60 years, whose number currently stands

By our correspondents
June 21, 2015
Islamabad
The rights of older people need to be protected through legislation. With population ageing becoming a global phenomenon, Pakistan needs to ensure that policies and laws, both existing and new ones, are implemented in letter and spirit so that older Pakistanis aged above 60 years, whose number currently stands at 11.6 million, do not feel discriminated against.
Views to this effect were heard at a consultative workshop organised by the ministry of law, justice and human rights and HelpAge International. The workshop was arranged in connection with World Elder Abuse Awareness Day and was chaired by Muhammad Arshad, director general of human rights at organising ministry.
Arshad informed the audience about role of government and population ageing. He shared that a national policy has been finalized and passed on to the Ministry of CAAD, which will soon approve the document. He also informed that the government of KP has approved the Senior Citizens Act 2014, and that the Punjab government has also finalized the bill, which is only awaiting Cabinet approval. The bill has also been presented in Sindh Assembly.
Muhammad Hassan Mangi, director general for international cooperation, who was chief guest on the occasion, said older people are an important part of the society, and as such, it is necessary that their rights should be protected through legislation. He also emphasised on implementation of policies and laws both existing and new ones.
Zulfiqar Ali, deputy director of human rights wing of the Ministry facilitated the workshop and highlighting the importance of debating older people’s issues.
Ajeeba Aslam, country director of HelpAge International, informed the audience that population ageing is becoming a global phenomenon, and that there is an urgent need for new policies and laws. She also focused on the importance of Pakistan government’s participation at the UN Open Ended Working Group meeting.
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Ghafoor Chaudhary, in-charge of the anthropology department at Pir Mehar Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi, shared findings of a research titled ‘Well being of older people in Rawalpindi,’ which shows that a majority of the older people is worried about health and money. Moreover, there are also cases of abuse and discrimination.
“Population ageing can be celebrated as well. It is good that the number of older people is increasing as wisdom and experience is also increasing in the society, but we have to provide opportunities to older people so that this experience can be utilized. We have to support older people to support themselves,” said Waqas A Qureshi, advocacy and communications Coordinator at HelpAge International.
Journalist Shaukat Paracha focused on the role media and population ageing. He informed that the media has been highlighting different issues of older people, including having to wait in long queues for receiving pension. He also said that it will be great if the media, civil society and government work together for the cause.
Khalid Saeed, a retired professor, who will represent the civil society at the UN Open Ended Wrking Group, highlighted role of civil society.
Social Protection is a key issues faced by older men and women in Pakistan. Arif Shamim, director for social welfare at the Ministry of CADD presented the scenario of Pakistan in context of social protection and older people. It was highlighted that there is no scheme or programme specifically designed for older people and therefore older people are facing a number of social protection issues, and moving towards exclusion.
In 2010, the United Nations created the first ever Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing (OEWGA). It is the only place where the rights of older people are discussed on a global level by national government representatives who have the power to bring about change.
This working group’s mission is to consider the existing international framework of instruments as they apply to the human rights of older people and to identify and address the critical gaps that exist. In 2012, the General Assembly adopted a resolution tasking the OEWGA to consider and report on what should go into a new international legal instrument on older people’s rights. In 2014 the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution establishing that there will be a sixth session of the OEWGA in 2015.
Pakistan’s has participated in the OEWGA, although it has made statements at two of the five sessions, calling for a welfare and development approach. Given its influence in the region, more emphasis on a rights-based approach to ageing would be desirable.
World is ageing and experiencing a demographic shift, the number of people of over 60 will be more than children under 14 by 2050. According to a UNFPA and HelpAge International report, there are 11.6 million people over 60 in Pakistan and this figure will rise to 43.3 million by 2050 making 15.8% of the total population. Old age is neither a disease nor a problem, and older people are an asset to the community but age discrimination exists in our society and older people face violence.

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