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Speakers for collective efforts to face problems of the aged population
12/27/2005
Speakers at a workshop on Monday suggested an organised way by the civil societies, NGOs and voluntary organisations and private entities to supplement government initiatives to tackle problems of the aged, reports UNB.
They also underscored the need for creating a social obligation for the young folk of society to take care of their elders so that they don't feel they are being a social burden.
Elderly Initiative for Development (EID), a humanitarian organisation working mainly for distressed and disadvantaged elderly women, organised the workshop in collaboration with the Institute of Statistical Research and Training (ISRT) of Dhaka University at IDB Bhaban in the city.
Speaking at the inaugural session, University Grants Commission Chairman Prof Asaduzzaman said Bangladesh with its 140 million people, including over 10 million elderly (60+), is facing a daunting challenge of providing social security, healthcare and other supports to the senior citizens.
"The situation of the elderly women is much worse than their male counterparts partly because they have a longer life expectancy and their income-earning capacity is extremely limited," he told the function.
Prof Ashraf Ahmed of Morgan State University, Maryland, USA, presented keynote paper in the inaugural session while EID Chairman Prof Abdus Samad and ISRT acting Director Prof M Shuaib also spoke on the occasion.
Asaduzzaman said the government of Bangladesh has introduced social security and welfare programmes for the aged. "But it will be impossible for the government alone to find an answer to this enormous problem." This is where a great deal needs to be done in an organised way, he added.
In his keynote paper, Prof Ashraf said women are most vulnerable in their old age. "While family support is on the verge of losing its ground, there is a need to develop programmes to supplement and complement such a gap of support."
He recommended developing community-based support systems as more of an effective approach for providing supplementary care for the elderly people.
MA Samad, former chief, Population and Development Section, UN ESCAP (Economic and Social Council for Asia and the Pacific) and Chairman of EID, said all would have to come forward to ensure the elders' social security, including healthcare, in recognition of their contribution to society.
Prof M Shuaib said the elderly people are facing more difficulties in society with the gradual destruction of joint-family system. Elderly people become hapless due to this change.
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