ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Human Rights in collaboration with the British Council and Help Age International on Tuesday launched a report on the status of aged persons in Pakistan.

The report “Moving from the margins: promoting and protecting the rights of older persons in Pakistan” has been commissioned by the British Council and authored by Asghar Zaidi, a senior fellow at the University of Oxford and professor of social gerontology at Seoul National University, Korea.

The report delves into the current state of human rights of elderly people. It discusses possible drivers that affect the subgroups of Pakistani elderly, policies and programmes that the country needs to consider and interventions required.

This is the first study on the state of older women and men in Pakistan using a human rights lens.

Key policy recommendations for the protection of rights of older persons included the need to improve access to economic opportunities, facilitating access to health, expanding and simplifying pension provisions and establishing leadership for ageing.

With 12.5 million older men and women, Pakistan is one of the 15 countries with an old person population of over 10 million projected to rise to 44 million by 2050.

The report suggests an urgent need in Pakistan for socio-economic policies, legislations and programmes that safeguard the rights of older people.

Speaking at the launch ceremony, Secretary Ministry of Human Rights Rabiya Javeri Agha noted: “While Pakistan’s culture and religion gives deference to the elderly, changing demographics, industrialisation, rising inflation and urban-rural migration are seeing a shift to more independent ways of living, shrinking family structures and a slow deterioration of inter-generational ties and thus the treatment of elderly.”

But she announced that this would be remedied at the earliest.

“We have already drafted a bill at the federal level which is currently under review and will be introducing it very soon.

“This research and its findings have been truly valuable and will continue to be so when designing policies and programme initiatives both at the federal and provincial level,” she said.

Speaking on the occasion, Country Director British Council Rosemary Hilhorst said: “We need to create an age friendly environment and address this issue by working together in order to improve access to economic opportunities for all, regardless of age.”

Lead Partner and Director Education British Council Andrew Zerzen believed that the youth of today would be a part of the older people’s population and that there was a need to act now to protect their rights.

Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2019