Whether it’s Age Demands Action posters in public buses in Serbia or human chains formed by older people in Bangladesh, ADA campaigners have always used a range of innovative methods to raise awareness of older people’s issues.
Alongside meetings with politicians to call for change, older people have taken ground-breaking action to ensure they are heard across the world. Now, in its fifth year, Age Demands Action has its very own song!
Meeting the President
The song was written and broadcast in Nepal where a delegation of older people met the country’s President at a meeting organised by Nepal Participatory Action Network (NEPAN), together with the Nepal Senior Citizen’s Network of Nepal and other partners.
At the meeting, a memorandum calling for changes to improve the lives of older people, including full implementation of the 2006 Senior Citizens Act and the expansion of the Old Age Allowance was presented to the President.
Marches, street drama and talk shows
A march from the Basantpur Dabala district of Kathmandu to the City Hall was organised and the campaign was covered on a number of radio stations including Metro FM. It also featured in national newspapers, such as “Gorkhapatra”.
Elsewhere, a series of talks focusing on older people and social protection were attended by politicians including the Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare, Dan Bahadur Chaudhary and a member of the National Commission for Human Rights, Ram Nagina Singh.
And, if all that wasn’t enough, street drama presenting postive ageing messages was performed in Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur.
A song for ADA
The ADA jingle was regularly broadcast on Sagarmartha FM between 26 September and 2 October. You can listen to the jingle and view a selection of photos from this year’s campaign by playing the slide show.
The lyrics to the radio jingle are as follows:
“Love and respect older people,
Give importance to ageing,
Young and old, we are all part of the mould
Young people will be old tomorrow
There are no age limits to human rights
Let’s come together and respect older people”.