Ten years of Age Demands Action (ADA) campaign marked by a visit of a delegation of older women to the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs

Ten years ago, following the initiative of HelpAge International a global campaign was started. Entitled Age Demands Action – ADA – it aimed to use the 1 October, International Day of Older Persons, as an opportunity to have older people meet decision makers and talk about their problems and challenges they face, as well as to emphasise the importance of their participation in the society. This year, in more than 55 countries across the globe older people endeavoured to present to decision makers the contribution older people make to the society. The Red Cross of Serbia, representatives of HumanaS network members and older women of Serbia met the Assistant Minister of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs, Mr. Milos Jankovic.

This year the delegation consisted exclusively of women, in a conscious effort to underline the contribution made by older women, to their families, communities and the society as a whole. Among the older women, volunteers of the Red Cross of Serbia were Miroslava Matic, one of the two older women volunteers who participated at the Eighth Session of the Open Ended Working Group on Ageing in the United Nations New York Headquarters in July this year, and Danica Smic, laureate of the humanity prize of the magazine Hello. All present older women emphasised the importance of volunteering and intergenerational solidarity that promotes working together and ensures that no person in Serbia, female or male, is left behind. Natasa Todorovic of the Red Cross of Serbia talked about the importance of HumanaS network and the work on improving the quality of life of older people through advocacy and research activities and familiarised the Assistant Minister about the activities of the Red Cross of Serbia related to supporting older people in Serbia. The delegation also included representatives of HumanaS network members, associations Bread of Life and Amity. The representative of Bread of Life talked about her association currently being in the procedure of obtaining licence for providing home care services to adults and older people. Amity representative talked about the campaign lead by Amity this year – “Stop the abuse and discrimination of older women” as well as about the research into the situation and needs of older households in Novi Beograd.

The delegation members also mentioned the importance of including the civil sector and older people themselves in the process of creating legislative framework in order to improve the quality of life of older people and ensure adequate support to family members providing care to their older, sick relatives, as well as to encourage solidarity between generations and thus lay the foundations for a more cohesive society.

The Assistant Minister presented the efforts made by Serbian Government to improve the quality of life of older vulnerable people as well as to change the perception of older people in the public in order for their contributions to the society to be recognised. He also emphasised the importance of partnership between public institutions and civil society organisations in working on these important social issues.