AMMAN — The
National Center for Human Rights (NCHR) called for a special legislation to
protect the rights of the elderly.
اضافة اعلان
An NCHR
statement stressed Jordan’s need for special laws to protect senior citizens,
and to have the changes reflected in other legislation, including the Personal
Status Law and Labor Law.
Nahla Al-Momani,
NCHR’s protection commissioner, told
Jordan News that the enactment of
one law covering all the needs and rights of the elderly “will safeguard their
rights much better than having scattered laws”.
“This segment
needs to have one reference law to ensure a greater protection of their rights,
just like the children rights law”, she said.
“Certainly, we
have several instructions in the law of the ministry of social development, but
the law we are proposing is more specific and guarantees an improved standard
of living for the elderly,” Momani explained.
The suggested
law should propose multiple amendments, such as having a future retirement
program for elders through the social security umbrella, Momani said.
She said Jordan
is a signatory to the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural
Rights, which stipulates social and economic security for all segments of the
society.
Momani
emphasized that very few senior citizens have pensions with the
Social Security Corporation. As for the national aid fund, “NCHR has reservations on the rules
of the fund, since the assistance is usually given to the entire family, rather
than the individual.”
Certainly, we have several instructions in the law of the ministry of social development, but the law we are proposing is more specific and guarantees an improved standard of living for the elderly
Muna Al-Zeq, 63
and a mother of five children, said she collects JD180 each month in cash
assistance from the national aid fund, through the supplementary Takaful
program.
“With five
children, and the eldest is only 19 years old, the JD180 could never cover my
family’s monthly expenses,” she sighed.
“After my
husband passed away in 2017, my children took up daily jobs to help make ends
meet,” Zeq said.
“My eldest is
learning to become a technician, and my only fear now is that when he registers
with the Social Security Corporation, the assistance given to me will stop,”
she pointed out.
“This is exactly
what happened to my neighbor,” she noted.
The NCHR
statement also referred to the absence of Geriatrics, or geriatric medicine, a
specialty which focuses on the elderly’s healthcare through preventing, or
diagnosing, and treating diseases and disabilities.
Mosa
Al-Abdallat, the head of the
Jordan Medical Council (JMC), said that the
ministry of health and JMC are reviewing the possibility of adding the
specialty.
“But not having
it now doesn’t mean the elderly do not enjoy proper healthcare,” he pointed
out.
“We are advanced
in the medical field, and we have doctors in various specialties working in our
hospitals, who are capable of treating any illness which old-aged patients may
be inflicted with,” Abdallat said.
The NCHR said
the suggested law would also organize work at the elderly care homes.
Father Farah
Haddad, the head of Princess Muna Al-Hussein Center for Elderly Care, said the
ministry of social development makes regular inspection tours to the center
each month
NCHR has reservations on the rules of the fund, since the assistance is usually given to the entire family, rather than the individual.
Haddad explained that by
tradition, a majority of Jordanians provide lodging to elderly members of the
family, provided that they are mentally and physically healthy. “If not, that’s
the job of care homes,” Haddad noted.
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