The director-general of the National Senior Citizens Centre, Emem Omokaro, has called on African nations to establish a legal framework to accelerate the Madrid Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA) implementation.

Ms Omokaro, who made the call on Wednesday at the ongoing 61st session of the Commission for Social Development (CSocD61) in New York, said implementation of MIPAA hinged on effective policies backed by a strong legal framework.

Ms Omokaro, a panellist at the High-level panel discussion on the Fourth Review and Appraisal of the MPAA, an event held on the sidelines of CSoCD61, presented a statement on behalf of 54 African countries.

“For MIPAA to move forward, there has to be legal backing; Nigeria is an example, for a long time, 20 years, we didn’t know what MIPAA was, we never used MIPAA but with the National Senior Citizens Act and the setting up of a legal entity in-charge of ageing, there is no coordination,” she stated. “Now, there is multisectoral coordination, and review and appraisal of MIPAA was very easy so African countries should really emphasise the establishment of legal frameworks to back up policies framework.”

According to her, to accelerate localisation and achieve the aspiration of MIPAA, national and regional planning and ageing frameworks established by the African Union must be aligned with MIPAA.

Adopted in 2002, MIPAA offers a comprehensive action plan for handling the issue of ageing in the 21st century and building a society for all ages.

“The continent should sustain the gains already made by using national budget processes and increase domestic financing, international financing remains crucial to complement and catalyse domestic financing of ageing programmes,” Ms Omokaro stressed.

The panellist, however, recommended that MIPAA have a specific Monitoring and Evaluation tool and structure that would ensure its consistent implementation and reporting at national, regional and global levels.

In addition, she said that technology would play an important role in supporting older persons and accelerating the implementation of MIPAA, saying African countries should embrace technology.

“It should embrace technology to help its ageing population stay economically and socially active, access health and other services, and live independently with dignity,” explained Ms Omokaro. 

She revealed that about one-third of African countries (18) had developed comprehensive national policies on ageing, strategies and various programmes to implement the targets set in the three priority areas.

(NAN)