We need to unleash the potential of the elderly and harness their knowledge: FM Shahid

Maldives Minister of Foreign Affairs and the President of the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Abdulla Shahid has said that the potential of the elderly must be unleashed, their knowledge must be harnessed and their invaluable contributions to societies must be made use of.

The Maldivian Foreign Minister made this remark at the 12th session of the Open-ended Working Group on Ageing, for the purpose of strengthening the protection of the human rights of older persons, on Monday.

As such, in his message, FM Shahid said that the aspiration to a life of dignity, free of fear and want must never be a privilege, but a “common right for us all”.

Highlighting that the mandate of the working group addresses the key factors vital to protect human rights of all older persons, FM Shahid noted that the session focuses on preserving their economic security and harnessing their contribution to sustainable development as well.

FM Shahid went on to highlight that the number of elderly aged 65 and above is expected to double to 1.5 billion by 2050.

He stressed that while durability is a display of the progress achieved in human development and health over the last decades, the demographic shift has also shed the spotlight on the lack of adequate protection mechanisms to address the situation of older persons.

With this being said, he urged the world to prioritize protecting and providing for the elderly as efforts are undertaken to rebuild sustainably from the Covid-19 pandemic and to strengthen economic resilience.

FM Shahid pushed the people to use and strengthen relations with the existing international frameworks and multilateral instruments.

Highlighting that worldwide we must all access wisdom and experience of the elderly to recover better, FM Shahid said that the elderly represents a diverse group that are key development actors as well as partners.