News
Ageing with Security and Dignity
Ghana's first ever policy on ageing was launched on Tuesday 20 of December 2011 at the Accra International Conference Center. The launch spearheaded by the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare in collaboration with the National Population Council (NPC) and the United Population Fund (UNFPA), was witnessed by all categories of people including the youth. Dr Stephen Kwankye the Executive Director of NPC said ageing starts the moment one comes out of the womb hence the issue of ageing should be a matter of concern to everyone.
Mr. E.T Mensah the Minister for Employment and Social Welfare in his address said the Policy and its Implementation Action Plan under the theme: "Ageing with Security and Dignity" seeks to eliminate and protect older persons from all kinds of discriminatory acts such as tagging old people as witchcrafts and ostracised. He observed that the sad aspect of such acts is that majority of the victims acts are women.
Launching the policy the Chairman of the Council of State Prof Kofi Awoonor said it is good to grow old in a place where old-age is honoured. Ghana should therefore strive to provide a conducive environment for Older Persons as the country make efforts to create an all-inclusive society he emphasized.
Dr Bernard Coquelin of UNFPA cautioned that policy documents do not necessarily translate in to action. He encouraged government to allocate sufficient resources and have the political will to ensure that the policy on ageing is effectively implemented.
