Federal Govt, Centre Mobilise Youths To Protect Senior Citizens’ Rights

To improve the quality of life of Nigerian senior citizens, the National Senior Citizens Centre (NSCC) and the Federal Ministry of Youth have initiated a scheme to mobilise youth support for elderly people.

To get better results, the initiators organised an intergenerational networking event on elder justice advocacy to build a national youth support base for the beneficiaries.

The event, which was held in Abuja yesterday, witnessed the unveiling of the “Elder Justice Charter” campaign to mobilise public-private partnerships to address abuse, neglect and violence against older persons.

The NSCC‘s director-general, Dr Emem Omokaro, said the platform is to mobilise, sensitise, and educate stakeholders on the ageing population, challenges of ageism, rights of older persons, and the power of networking and volunteering to strengthen the protection of their rights.

Omokaro said to strengthen and protect the rights of older persons, there is a need to promote and build support networks for senior citizens through volunteerism for national campaigns.

She said the Elder Justice Charter aims to “establish a concrete framework, procedures and mechanisms to drive attitudinal and behavioural change and to enable advocacy and strategic interventions to stop elder abuse and promote age-friendly services and environments in Nigeria.”

“It is also to build a relatable ecosystem of information, education, and communication to encourage a change of perspective on ageing and old age and strategically ensure increased accessibility and participation of older persons in public spaces with independence,” she said.

Omokaro added that it will “promote public consciousness, receptivity, respect and courtesies to senior citizens and those living with disabilities.”

The permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Mr Abel Enitan, said older persons‘ rights to equity, inclusion, independence, participation, right to access care and support, access to justice, right to non-discrimination, freedom from abuse, neglect and violence are non-negotiable and inalienable rights.

He said it is commendable and significant that stakeholders unveiled the NSCC Elder Justice Charter (NEJC) for consensus adoption.

“The Elder Justice Charter attempts to harness the efforts of all Nigerians to campaign for industries to adopt age-friendly and best practices, which are essential for dignified ageing with rights.“

For his part, the executive secretary of the National Human Rights Commission, Tony Ojukwu, said older persons are people who have used their knowledge to contribute to Nigeria‘s peace and progress and must be respected as such.

Ojukwu, represented by Josephine Onwudiwe, stated that the commission is passionate about promoting the rights of older persons in the country.