By Francis H. Murray
The Ministry of Labour and Social Security under its National Social Safety Net (NSSN) program has met stakeholders and other development partners to popularize the country’s first National Ageing Policy.
The Deputy Director of Occupational Safety and Health at the Ministry Chiblee Francis Kamara told participants at the Sierra Leone Labour Congress that the issues of the aged are very important throughout the world, citing international instruments such as the UN document on ageing of 1982 and the UN principle for older persons of 1991.
He said in Africa, there are more than sixty million people living (60,000,000) that belong to the category of the aged with the number expected to increase to two hundred and fifteen million (215,000,000) by the year 2050, which he said demands that mechanisms be put in place by way of legislation by governments around the world to ensure that the rights of old people are secured.
Speaking at the event, Ms. Glynnis Cummings-John, Consultant and policy developer described the policy as a good step forward and in conformity with other international and regional human rights frameworks such as the African Union Policy Framework and Plan of Action on the Ageing, African Union Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Older Persons in Africa and the Madrid international Plan of Action on Ageing (2002) among others.
She said there was so much evidence indicating that the rights of older people have been neglected in Sierra Leone which has exposed them to discrimination, abuse and marginalization in times of humanitarian or emergency needs.
She added that even the Constitution of the country does not make any provision for the older people on such crucial matters like access to loan or credit.
The Consultant explained that the process of producing the document included data collection through desk based review of existing policies, visitation of all sixteen districts, thirty focus groups discussions with the older people with a total of 1,300 older people, 30 chiefs, 77 stakeholders including district councils representatives, International and Local Non -Governmental Organizations and government Ministries.
Mustapha Bunduka, from the office of the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, said the health sector is challenged in many areas, making access to quality care for the aged key issue.
While he assured the participants of the Ministry’s support, he urged that further steps be taken to transform the policy into a bill which should go through parliament for it to be sustainable.
Rashid Bah, Senior Director of Programmes at the National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA) argued that the traditional mechanisms to care for the elderly have dwindled over the years but should now be revived. He said negative attitudes towards the aged are on the increase. He added that because there will be no such funds to take care of every elderly person in the country, there is a need for collaboration between the public and private sector in achieving the objectives of the policy.
Representing the Dorwontony Organization for the Aged (Dofa), the country’s first local organization advocacy group on issues of the aged, Doreen Barrie, founder and CEO, praised the venture which she said was long overdue and called on other organizations to prioritize the wellbeing of the aged.
Several other organizations, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA’s) including the Office of National Security, the Sierra Leone Police, Ministry of Technical and Higher Education, Native Consortium, and NASSIT contributed to the discussions.
In general, the policy seeks to ensure that old people are recognized, have access to basic services and are accorded the opportunity to fully participate in the daily life of their communities.
It also seeks to empowerment the aged so that they can raise their grandchildren without fear of plunging themselves into further poverty because of their circumstances.
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