Plans are underway for Older Persons Month in October. Minister of Social
Services and Community Development the Hon. Melanie Griffin is pictured seated
centre. (BIS Photo/Raymond A. Bethel, Sr.)
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NASSAU, The Bahamas – Minister of Social Services and
Community Development, the Hon. Melanie S. Griffin Monday challenged all
organizations, institutions, stakeholders and the wider community to become
equal partners with the Government in its efforts to create conditions that
will further promote and protect the rights and dignity of the country’s senior
citizens.
“The process of
life’s stages can present each of us with various challenges, and it is
inevitable that older persons will be equally, and in some instances, more
challenged by life’s experiences,” Mrs. Griffin said.
“Unfortunately,
very often, we tend to measure the ability and worth of the elderly by their
challenges and frailties, but these are the people upon whose many sacrifices our
country has been built,” Mrs. Griffin added.
Minister
Griffin said the Government continues to hold firm to the United Nation’s Principles
for Older Persons (1991), which states that the elderly have rights, in spite of
their frailties.
Incorporated in
those Principles are the rights of the elderly to live independently; to
participate in family and society; to benefit from social and health care; to experience
fulfillment through access to resources and to be treated with dignity.
Minister
Griffin said to meet the Government’s objectives for the elderly, the
Department of Social Services provides a myriad of services to assist their
financial, emotional and economic needs.
These include
assistance with food, utilities, housing and counseling services.
“These services
have undoubtedly assisted in the empowerment of older persons throughout our
country and have enabled them to remain active participants in society.”
Additionally,
the Senior Citizens Unit was established specifically to address the needs of
the elderly. The Unit works closely with the Residential Care Facilities for
Older Persons and partners such as the National Council for Older Persons and
other Non-Governmental Agencies in addressing the needs of the elderly.
“I believe that
social services, over the years, has been providing a strong safety net for
older persons, but we can always do more.”
That is where
the greater collaboration between Government and non-governmental agencies and
private and public partnerships come in, as “the Government alone cannot do it
all,” Mrs. Griffin added.
Minister
Griffin said global population demographics indicate that world citizens are
ageing much more quickly with recent estimates suggesting that 20 per cent of
the global population will comprise people over the age of 60 by the year 2030,
exceeding the population of children below 10 years of age.
Mrs. Griffin
said in The Bahamas, the group of persons between the ages of 15 to 64 years of
age increased from 197,091 to 234,744 between the years 2000-2010 while persons
65 years and older increased from 15,777 to 21,629.
“Therefore, we
should be encouraged to integrate the older population into our family and
social and national development while being able to benefit from their varied
knowledge and experiences. They deserve a life of dignity.”
Mrs. Griffin
was addressing a press conference Monday held to announce plans for Older
Persons Month, which will be celebrated in October.
The Month will
kick-off with a Church Service at Christ Community Church, Bellot Road at 11am
Wednesday, October 1. The Church Service will be followed by a Summit on
Dementia jointly hosted by officials of the Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre
and the Department of Social Services (Thursday, October 2); a Workshop on
Mental Health and Ageing which will be held at St. Gregory’s Anglican Church
(Wednesday, October 8) before culminating with the Nation Builder Awards
Ceremony at which time 20 persons who are 80 years of age or older, will be
honored for their contributions to nation-building.
