Author : Harrison Nnoko Ngaaje

International Istanbul Initiative on Ageing 4 – 6 OCTOBER, 2013

Istanbul, Turkey WOW INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTER

The Country Cameroon Cameroon is located in West Africa, bounded by the Atlantic Ocean in the

South West, Nigeria in the west, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Congo in the south, Central African Republic in the east and Chad in the north. It is situated between longitude 80E and 160E of the Greenwich Meridian and between latitude 20N and 130N of the Equator.

It has a presidential system and divided into 10 administrative regions, each headed each by a Governor.

Cameroon is “Africa in miniature”. Cameroon has 5 main relief features:

The altitudes range from sea level to about 4,095m (Mount Cameroon). The dominant economic activities include: agriculture, livestock, forestry,

mining and ecotourism. Population 20,129,878 (July 2012 est.) Age structure 55-64 years: 4.3% (male 409,011/female 455,327)

65 years and over: 3.4% (male 310,129/female 368,797) With over 2.4% residing in rural Areas. (2012 est.) Population growth rate 2.082% (2012 est.)

AJESH (AJEMALEBU SELF HELP) AJESH is a Civil Society Organisation recognized under the

law NO 90/053 of 19th December 1990 governing freedom of Associations in Cameroon. It was founded on June 4, 2006 and approved by the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation through Prefectoral Order No. 298/AR/G.42/162/BAPP as a non-political not for profit making organization.

Goal and Objectives Mission: To move towards a humane and self sustaining

environment, free from poverty and injustice. Goal: To promote sustainable Development through self reliant

efforts, education, and training to reduce the impact of societal poverty.

Area of Operation: National territory

Ageing in the Rural Areas

The rural areas of Cameroon are inhabited by the bulk of the nation’s elderly population. In general terms, the rural areas engage in primary activities that form the foundation for any economic development.

Attempts at solving the rural problems had been the main objective of development planning in Cameroon since the inception of planning periods. The intention of policy makers is that rural infrastructure, if adequately provided, can enhance the quality of rural life.

The Values of Elderly in Rural Community

In traditional Cameroonian society where self-help activities dominate government efforts, ageing is seen as a source of numerous opportunities as a result of the very important role played by older persons.

The problems and needs of the elderly in Cameroon, which are regrouped as follows:

Health and well-being. Health and well-being stand out as priority problems of elderly persons in Cameroon with emphasis on the following challenges:

- Inaccessibility to health care - Inadequate care of elderly ailments due to insufficient specialists in

geriatrics, and ignorance; - Poor feeding and nutrition due to ignorance, absence of certain foods and

poverty; - HIV/AIDS and STIs infect or affect the elderly, and no specific programme

of care exists for those infected by this group in Cameroon. - Absence of a national policy on ageing in Cameroon. Older persons’ participation in the communities. One of the major

dissatisfactions of older persons in Cameroon is their low participation in community development initiatives due to difficult access to resources and credits, the difficulty of having jobs as well as the scarcity of training opportunities and literacy programmes in the area of social gerontology and ageing.

Social environment of older persons. The social environment of older

persons in Cameroon is characterised by difficulties linked to lodging and standard of living, poor social perception, violence and ill treatment, poverty and an inadequate social security system (only10% of active population benefit).

Civil Society Actions AJESH provides short term innovative service delivery to

elderly people. Elderly care activities in rural communities are a combination of grassroots implementation of elderly persons’ Association, self-help Income Generating Activities, and capacity development supported by strategic advocacy activities.

Outcomes include: 1. Social inclusion: 2. Rights. 3. Livelihood. 4. Welfare. Projects in the domain of elderly also promote

volunteering by family members and young people, who provide assistance in personal hygiene and sanitation, household chores and the repair of dilapidated homes.

While ensuring social inclusion, rights and welfare, the youth and adult have significant roles to play in enhancing the livelihoods of the elderly.

In Cameroon, family ties are intimate and long lasting, so the elderly rely so much on the family for the greatest security.

Living arrangements with the elderly is a common phenomenon in both the rural and urban areas.

Long-term solutions: AJESH is carrying out advocacy actions with

local government services to lobby appropriate quarters for policy makers to review the policies on social security with focus on the ageing.

In a bit to enforce this, these government social service heads, local administrators, parliamentarians, mayors, elites, CSOs, etc, are always part of our meetings with the ageing. This approach is a sensitisation strategies to get both public and private sectors involve in clamoring for improvement of government policies/programs, on the ageing

Proposals for the future:

AJESH have also resulted to forming ageing social groupings. These associations are registered with the Local Delegations of Social affairs enhancing collaboration between communities and government agencies.

Networking between ageing associations and youth and adult groups is encouraged especially in rural communities. This concept is also innovative as synergies are gradually emerging.

Conclusion

The situation of the elderly has been explored which indicates that little is still being done to cater for the needs of the elderly.

Policy considerations suggest that the elderly can be changed from drain resources to build-up of human social, economic and environmental capital.

Collaboration between the various stakeholders involved in assisting the elderly is necessary to better improve their situation.

Considering the fact that the informal sector plays a vital role in assisting the elderly, these institutions can be empowered to ameliorate their services.

Thank you for your kind attention