Old age is one of the inevitable phases of life that many people aspire to attain and cannot escape.
In the public sector of Ghana, old age begins at sixty where one is required to retire even if that person is healthy in every sense of the word.
The issue is compounded if the ‘retiree’ for some circumstances was unable to put certain structures in place to make his or her retirement enjoyable.
In the absence of this, the person’s old age care, health, physical, social, economical among others needs become the sole burden of the state.
The state then must intervene with pro-age programs and initiatives to serve as a support system for such people.
It is for this reason that the paper supports the suggestion by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) that the aged must be factored into mainstream development policies.
In a statement to mark the International Day of Older Persons under the theme “Resilience of older persons in a changing world, CHRAJ expressed appreciation for the policy interventions in place for the elderly in society.
“Prominent among these are the National Ageing Policy (NAP), which sought to address several ageing issues, The National Pension Scheme, and the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP). These have worked to improve the rights and well-being of older persons in Ghana.”
“For instance, the NAP which was promulgated in 2010 with the aim to achieve the overall social, economic, and cultural re-integration of older persons into mainstream society is yet to be fully implemented. The National Pension Scheme has a limiting scope, as a majority of older persons in Ghana who work in the informal sector and are unable to contribute to the scheme are excluded from any pension benefits or any other income support in their old age.”
“Also, the National Ageing Bill, which is to integrate the rights and needs of older persons into national policies, is yet to be finalized and passed into law. In addition, Ghana is yet to ratify the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Older Persons.”
The Commission also wants ageing issues to be mainstreamed into national development policies.
The Ghanaian Publisher supports this call.
The aged wherever they find themselves-formal or the informal sector of the country have played their part and have to be supported.
Programs, policies and initiatives should factor their concerns because we will all grow old and be like them one day.
When we fail to make a case for an all inclusive system, we will grow one day and be fed with the same dose of the medicine we are giving then today by sitting aloof and watching the system exclude them.
Let’s support the aged in society. In life, you only get what you give!