Edna Mbesa is an Age Demands Action activist who works for Muthande Society in South Africa. Here she talks about their ADA activities:
“Last year was an amazing one for us in South Africa as we all went and marched through the city as part of Age Demands Action. Roads were even blocked for us!
Government officials took our demands from the delegation of older people and promised that they would make changes. Older people asked for better housing, roads and piped water.
Empowering older people
We have been running advocacy programmes with older people so they are now much more able to talk about their needs and their demands. Before, they were not brave enough to stand up for themselves but now they feel able to stand up and advocate for their rights. I think this is wonderful.
Change is happening!
Through Age Demands Action, we have kept pushing the government and now we are definitely starting to see changes that will help older people. The old age pension has been increased nationally, mobile health clinics have been set up to reach people in rural areas and activities have been created for the elderly. We are very pleased with this progress but we still need to do more to ensure that older people are not discriminated against.
Myself, I am very old but still very strong and I want to push forward to show that Age Demands Action!”
Hear the full story here:
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