Yogyakarta, May 16th 2024─Based on United Nations (UN) projections, the number of people aged over 60 years will increase by 12% to 22% from the initial number of 901 million in 2015 to 2,100 million by 2050. This indicates that the demographic of the world is aging. Therefore, various initiatives and efforts to create an environment friendly to the elderly population are important. Moreover, the realization of an inclusive environment for the elderly also supports the implementation of the 11th Sustainable Development Goal (TPB) concerning Sustainable Cities and Settlements.
Based on the importance of inclusiveness towards the elderly group, the Department of Social Development and Welfare (PSdK) Fisipol UGM held a Workshop and Seminar: Building an Elderly Friendly City with the theme “Empowering Communities for a Better Future” on Thursday (16/5). In organizing this event, PSdK Department also collaborated with Lingnan University’s School of Graduate Studies, ERAT, Yogyakarta City Bappeda, and Universitas Gunung Kidul.
At this seminar, Emily Wong, Manager of the School of Graduate Studies & Institute of Policy Studies, Lingnan University, shared her experience in empowering communities through the Age-Friendly City (AFC) implemented in Hong Kong. “The AFC concept, which was first introduced by the World Health Organization (WHO), encourages health, participation, and safety for the elderly and emphasizes activeness and involvement in various aspects of life even when they enter old age,” explained Emily.
In line with Emily’s explanation, Agus Salim, Head of Government and Human Development, Yogyakarta City Bappeda, also said that the health and activeness of the elderly need to be maintained and is of concern to the government. The city of Yogyakarta itself has Integrated Elderly Services (LLT) which functions to connect elderly service needs with service providers. The services provided cover health, social and economic aspects.
“However, there is still the issue of affordability. Not all segments can be covered by this service. “For example, there are elderly people who live alone and don’t know about this service so they can’t access it,” said Agus.
Furthermore, Agus also emphasized the importance of more comprehensive and holistic interventions. “Currently, the interventions carried out are still sectoral in nature. “Bappenas itself is currently preparing an umbrella framework for improving the welfare of the elderly which connects ministries so that interventions are more comprehensive,” he said.
The initiative to improve the welfare of the elderly came not only from the government but also from the philanthropic institution Rumah Zakat through the Elderly Friendly Village Program. An Elderly Friendly Village is a village that accommodates elderly people to have a social and physical environment that supports the elderly’s needs to remain healthy, active, and productive. “Our big goal is to make elderly people who initially need help become independent, which at first was a ‘problem’ to become competent,” said Muhammad Sobirin, Chief Program Officer of Rumah Zakat. With this spirit, program volunteers become facilitators to intervene in the lives of the elderly in 7 dimensions; intellectual; physique; professional; environment; social-community; emotional; and spiritual.