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From Okwe Obi, Abuja
The National Senior Citizens Centre (NSCC) has decried the myriad of challenges confronting older persons such as marginalisation, unavailability of healthcare insurance, witchcraft stereotyping, unfriendly services (transportation, housing and sports and recreation).
NSCC’s Director General, Emem Omokaro, marshalled out the challenges at a 2-day workshop for desk officers drawn from 32 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA) on ageing policy, planning and implemention, yesterday in Abuja.
The event was organised in partnership with the United Nations Population Funds (UNFPA).
Omokaro said: “There are yawning gaps in older persons’ inclusion. Older persons still remain marginalized.
“Health and wellbeing, income security, continuing engagement of capacities of older persons, and age friendly services including, transportation, housing and sports and recreation as well as social programs for the vulnerable, are major domains.
Weak capacity due to dearth of knowledge about issues affecting older persons, systemic gaps and stereotypes that have sustainably breached the inclusion of older persons in sector policies and strategic plans threat the SDGs’ commitment to “Leaving no one behind’.
She, however, pointed out that setting up of the 34 officers desks would enable government solve most of their socio-economic problems
“This is the final step in NSCC’s establishment of Ageing Desks in 32 MDAs to accelerate and effectively include older persons in strategic plans, programs, activities, budget lines, as well as monitoring and evaluation frameworks of MDAs.
“The initiative commenced with the mapping of MDAs with intersecting statutory mandates, high level courtesy and advocacy visits by DG NSCC and request for structured partnerships and nomination of middle level officers to undergo training,” she said.
She explained that, the objectives of training and setting Ageing Desks is to “enhance knowledge of population Ageing, and to stem stereotypes and. Institutional discrimination against older people and to enhance appreciation of the rights of older persons to inclusion in development agendas;
“Increase understanding of Ageing and older persons aspects MDA’s substantive mandates and where these issues, intersect with NSCC’S mandate.”
