Social Development Minister calls for ‘focus on elderly’

AMMAN — Deputising for Prime Minister Hani Mulki, Social Development Minister Hala Lattouf on Sunday attended a ceremony held by the White Beds Society’s (Al Asirra Al Baydaa) elderly home on the occasion of the International Day of Older Persons.

During the ceremony, co-organised by the ministry, the National Council for Family Affairs (NCFA) and the society, Lattouf stressed the government’s keenness to reform the social protection sector, with a special focus on the elderly, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

She noted that the number of elderly people in Jordan stands at 540,000, and that the number of beneficiaries from the services of social care homes does not exceed 355, of which 185 are women.

The ministry fully incurs the expenses of hosting 134 of these beneficiaries, Lattouf said, noting that the ministry also provides financial and in-kind assistance to elderly homes, to enable them to play their important social role.

Hayfa Bashir, head of the society, stressed the Kingdom’s keenness on providing care for the elderly in their families and within society through providing them with shelters that suit their needs when necessary.

During the ceremony, Fadel Al Hmoud, the NCFA secretary general, provided Lattouf with the National Strategy for the Elderly, which was prepared by the council in cooperation with the national committee entrusted with following up on its implementation, according to Petra. 

Meanwhile, the National Centre for Human Rights recommended drafting a law to protect the rights of elderly people as part of the centre’s report on the situation of elderly homes across the Kingdom.