Old people celebrated

The Deputy Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Mrs Benita Okity- Duah has pledged the government’s commitment to promote the welfare of older persons across the country.
That, she said, was a way to compensate them for contributing their quota to the development of the country,especially when they were young.

The deputy minister said this at a mini-durbar held at the Helpage Ghana Day Centre at Osu in Accra on Tuesday, to mark this year’s United Nations Day for Older Persons.

Mrs Okity-Duah said the celebration, dubbed, “The Future We Want, What the Older People are Saying”, was very significant because it drew attention to the need for the active participation of old people in national development.

She acknowledged that old people had contributed a lot and were still supporting the socio-economic development of the country, for which reason it was appropriate that the government facilitate their continuous participation in the country’s development.

She said the re-alignment of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, among other things, was to ensure the mainstreaming of issues of elderly persons into the developmentagenda.

Mrs Okity-Duah called on all segments of the society to contribute their quota to ensure a better future, adding, “It behoves all of us to support the aged, since all of us will grow old someday.”

Ban Ki-Moon

A message from the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, said ageing presented both a significant opportunity and a challenge.

He said while society benefited from the numerous contributions of old people, there was the need to adopt policies that promoted their social inclusion and intergenerational solidarity.

By Vida Essel/Daily Graphic/Ghana