As the world prepares to mark the UN International
Day for the Older People, the aged in six African countries will take action in
seeking the right to better social protection policies, health care and for an
opportunity to engage in development of their respective countries.
Older people remain amongst one of the poorest and
most vulnerable groups in society, with 100 million older people living on less
than $USD1 a day. According to HelpAge International, of the current total
world population of over 6.9 billion, 793 million people are aged 60 and over. By
2050, the over-60 population is predicted to be just over 2 billion. Every
month, one million people in the world turn 60. By about 2015, the number of
people over 60 will have overtaken the number of children (0 to14).
Age Demands Action (ADA), the worldwide grassroots
campaign jointly organised by HelpAge International and older people, for older
people, will also be marking the international celebrations. ADA has spent five
years making positive changes for older people who are often marginalised from
society. “We older people have been removed from a very dark pit and put on the
surface where there is light,” says Ms. Rhoda Ngima, 75, an ADA activist from
Kenya.
ADA activists are this year calling on all
governments and international donors to put older people higher up on
development priority lists. Age Demands Action is the first global campaign of
its kind, launched in 2007 by HelpAge International, the global network
fighting for the rights of older people. Visit
http://www.helpage.org/get-involved/campaigns/age-demands-action/
The campaign is supported by figures such as
Archbishop Desmond Tutu; the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams; Dr.
Sarah Obama, the step-grandmother of President Barack Obama; and Professor
Miriam Were, the Hideyo Noguchi Africa prize laureate.
People can say no to age discrimination and support
the Age Demands Action campaign by signing an open petition at
http://www.helpage.org/get-involved/campaigns/age-demands-action/sign-the-ada-petition/