The Association of the Aged (TAFTA) formidable leader, CEO Femada Shamam, was recently been part of an international delegation of eight that attended the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kigali, Rwanda.
Shamam, represents the organisation on various local and international platforms including the Commonwealth Association for the Ageing (CommonAge) and Global Ageing Network, profiling the elders’ needs in South Africa. She also serves as the Africa Ambassador for CommonAge.
These efforts are further strengthened through TAFTA’s recent membership to the Global Alliance for the Rights of Older Persons (GAROP) which was established in 2011, to strengthen the voice for the rights of Older People Globally with a current network of 380 members across 80 countries.
“In South Africa, TAFTA is the only elder care organisation advocating for the rights of our senior citizens at local, national and international level. This positions TAFTA as an organisation that is at the forefront of a global movement towards an inclusive future for older people ensuring that, as an organisation, province and country we remain in touch with lobbying efforts, best practices and innovation with a strategic global focus to include, care for, and provide accessible support for older people in our communities,” said Shamam.
She said this was an important platform to lobby and advocate on an international stage for the inclusion of older people’s issues on the development agenda. “It was important because we can only expect the relevant allocation of resources and support if the leaders of the world agree to see it as a critical issue. As part of the delegation, they asked that the CommonWealth countries which has a bias towards youth, to also consider and recognise the role of older people. They were asking for an all age-friendly CommonWealth,” added Shamam.
The TAFTA CEO said while at the meeting she attended the various plenaries to ensure that the voice of older people was heard. In addition, she also gave an interview on Rwanda News on the role older women have to play in achieving sustainable development by sharing experience and wisdom.
Shamam went on to urge people to change the narrative around the inclusion of older people in the development agenda and stated that older people should be seen as partners of this journey in their efforts to see an inclusive Commonwealth.
