“The Government will take all possible measures to ensure rights of older people and senior citizens. Three provincial governments including Balochistan, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have already enacted legislations for the senior citizens whereas ICT Rights of Senior Citizens Bill, 2019,has been approved by the cabinet for further legislative process.“ This was stated by the Federal Minister for the Human Rights Dr.Shireen M.Mizari on the occasion of International Day of Older People. The world commemorates International Day of Older Persons on October 1 to highlight the important contributions that older people make to society and raise awareness of the opportunities and challenges of ageing in today’s world. The theme for 2019 International Day is "The Journey to Age Equality." In her statement, the Federal Minister said that although in Pakistan, a large segment of population consists of young people but with a population of an estimated 12 million older people, Pakistan is one of the 15 countries in the world that has a population of over 10 million older people. “We are a blessed country where we have the energy and ambitions of young people along with the wisdom of a large number of senior citizens to help guide these energies in the right direction as advisors, mentors, and guardians”. On this special day, she said that Pakistan is celebrating the achievement that ‘we are living longer’. “Our average life expectancy has increased from over 61 years for women and 60 years for men in 1986 to over 68 years for women and 65.8 for men now.” The Federal Minister said that the Government is committed to protect the socio-economic rights of all its citizens and giving an equal opportunity to all segments of the population to develop and prosper. “As signatory of Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, 2002, the government is in the process of formulating relevant legislation to protect the fundamental rights to life with dignity in old age.” The Ministry of Human Rights has drafted a Senior Citizens Bill, 2019 to ensure the protection of the rights of senior citizens at the federal level. The Bill has already been vetted by the Ministry of Law and Justice with their comments incorporated in the Bill and approval of the Cabinet, in principle, for further legislative process. The Draft Bill is based on aright based approach focusing on adequate living standards, social protection, health, social care, dignity and participation. It proposes establishing a Senior Citizen’s Council, providing maintenance to ensure adequate standard of living and giving priority to senior citizens in hospitals and medical facilities. Once passed, a Senior Citizen’s Fund for protection of the rights of senior citizens will also be established under this law. In her message on this special day, Secretary Ministry of Human Rights Rabia Javeri Agha reiterated the Government pledges to ‘Leave No One Behind’ in the development process. “The government is also aware that a lot needs to be done to protect citizen’s dignity in old age, especially older women and those retiring from informal jobs who have contributed to this country all their adult lives. We need to streamline our policies on social pensions, old age allowances, skills development, employment generation, access to financial services and healthcare to ensure that these do not discriminate against the old and benefit us all, the young and the old, equally”. NOT TO BE PUBLISHED/ TELECASTED/BROADCASTED BEFORE THE MORNING OF 1ST OCTOBER, 2019 ?
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