“I built the house, took care of my children and suffered all the hardship, but eventually the children threw me out.”
Sixty-year-old Hajera leans dejectedly on the wall of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) office in Kabul. “I have three sons and two daughters, and when their father died I took care of them alone. Now there is no one to give me a mouthful of food or a place to sleep at night.”
Increasingly, the old find themselves abandoned by children who are unwilling to care for them.
Mir Ahmad, 70, has an only son who was has gone to Iran with his wife. “He is living and working there, he doesn’t help me at all. I push a wheelbarrow with loads for people in the market to earn money to support my wife and myself,” he says.
There are an estimated one million Afghans who are above 65 years. The Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Martyrs & Disabled (MoLSAMD) counts pension earners, those who have worked with the government and now retired, in a separate category.
It is those who are unable to work because of their age, and have no financial support, that Dr Abdul Rahimzai, assistant director of social safety, says is worrying the government. He claims MoLSAMD has drafted a plan to support them. “The plan has been finalised by the ministry’s leadership committee, and it will be sent to the cabinet and then to Parliament,” he says. Assistance would include cash and health services.
A 2014 proposal by India that it would build old age homes had been opposed in Parliament, which insisted it was against Afghan “national values”.
Cultural restrictions
It is the first time that the elderly are the focus of the government’s social welfare, which has so far covered the disabled, widows and children.
Rafiaullah Bedar, regional head of AIHRC, says Afghanistan faces twin problems: children who refuse to look after parents and elders in the family and the elderly who oppose the establishment of old age homes. Bedar feels that only where the elderly have land and properties are they confident of children helping them in the hope they will inherit their wealth. There are UN conventions for the protection of the rights of the elderly, and the government must enforce these, he adds. He rues the fact that the government, which gives pension only to a minority, claims there is no budget to cover all elderly citizens.
Non-governmental organisations, which are more sensitive to the issue, have not been able to raise awareness about old age care. Three years ago, the Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) had introduced a draft proposal for shelters for the elderly but there were serious objections including from the Senate.
Mohammad Tayeb Yusufzai, head of ARCS’ publications department, believes the draft plan had addressed a serious need. “While attending to victims of natural and man-made disasters are our primary responsibility, we must pay attention to women, children and the elderly,” he says. Yusufzai says ARCS cannot now focus on the elderly “(since) a big part of our annual budget has been allocated to assisting those who are affected by war.”
However, Nesar Ahmad, a member of the Senate social insurance organising committee, thinks ARCS has the money. Senator Ahmed acknowledges that two years ago when its proposal was submitted, some committee members had opposed it. The situation has changed, he feels, and if ARCS was to resubmit the plan, which must not be short-term, “I would support (it) in the Senate”, he asserts.
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