Older people in Africa demand for their rights

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/