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16.07.2015 Diaspora (USA)

Ghana Makes Progress In Promoting Elderly Welfare

By Ghana UN Mission
Ghana Makes Progress In Promoting Elderly Welfare
16.07.2015 LISTEN

Ghana has informed the United Nations about the modest progress made in the past two years in promoting the welfare of older persons, following the creation of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection.

A focal desk on Elderly Persons has been created to coordinate activities on elderly persons and to ensure the full implementation of the National Ageing Policy.

Nana Oye Lithur, the sector Minister announced this in her address at the sixth working session of the Open Ended Working Group on ageing at the United Nations Headquarters, New York today (July 14, 2015).

The three-day session is considering the existing international framework of the human rights of older persons and identify possible gaps and how best to address them, including by considering, as appropriate, the feasibility of further instruments and measures. It will also look at existing international framework on the human rights of older persons and identification of existing gaps at the international level and the participation of non-governmental organizations in the work of the Open ended Working Group,Elect officers and adopt the agenda for 2017 and other organizational matters.

The Minister,who is Leading of Ghana's delegation to the session mentioned that Ghana early this year launched a programme for people above 60 years called the "Eban" Elderly welfare Card Programme, an initiative which provides priority access to social services in health, transportation and other services.

"The programme seeks to use social safety net to ensure that the elderly lived in dignity", Nana Oye Lithur pointed out, adding that "under the programme, older persons receive 50 per cent discount on public transport fares to any destination in Ghana, they also receive priority access to services at the hospitals, banks, transport terminals and other social services that older persons might require".

A total of 25,000 elderly persons nationwide are expected to be added to the list this year, the Minister revealed further.

More than 5000 elderly persons have been registered for free onto the National Insurance Scheme, she mentioned.

Coupled with these, she stated that "We established an Advisory Committee on Ageing which has developed drafting instructions for the Attorney General's Office to initiate the drafting of an Act, giving legal backing for the implementation of pro-elderly interventions and also establish a council to manage the affairs of the aged".

,Aside all these, a memorandum of Understanding(MOU) has also been signed between Ghana and Aahus Social health Care College of Denmark to support the introduction and mainstreaming of geriatrics at the various health training schools in Ghana as well as health care delivery system.

As part of efforts to deal with the abuse and discrimination against older persons and older women in particular, the Minister mentioned for example the closing down of a witches camp with older women and the reintegration of the inmates into the society.

Going forward with the gains made, she proposed that specific international standards on older persons' rights will ensure the prohibition of all forms of discrimination against older persons on the basis of old age alone or in combination with other factors,

The Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing was established by the General Assembly by resolution 65/182 on December 21, 2010.

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