Social Committee at the State Council hosts officials of “Ehsan Association”

Muscat: The reality of caring for the elderly in the Sultanate in light of the social and economic changes and their impact on society were discussed at a social committee of the State Council.

The Social Committee of the State Council hosted officials from the Ehsan Association concerned with providing care for the elderly in the Sultanate, as part of the committee's study titled "reality of the elderly in the Sultanate".

The committee held its fifth meeting for the first annual session of the seventh term headed by Ahmed bin Ali bin Abdullah Al Habshi Al Amri, committee head, in the presence of members of the committee and several General Secretariat employees.

The meeting with the association’s officials, focused on the association’s programmes for the care of the elderly.

The discussion touched upon the study, including: a historical overview of the care of the elderly in Islamic and international countries, legislation and policies, statistical trends and policy perspective in the Arab and Gulf countries, international and Gulf legislations and laws that are concerned with the protection and care of the elderly.

In addition, it reviewed the experiences of some Arab countries in terms of legislations related to the care of the elderly and the reality of caring for this group in the Sultanate, with special emphasis on national legislations and policies, social indicators and the efforts of the concerned authorities.

During the meeting, the committee hosted: the Head of the Association, Jokha bint Muhammad Al-Farisi, Hamad bin Hamid Al-Hatimi, Thuraya bint Saeed Al-Mawaliyah, and Zahra bint Thani Assariya , the association members.

The importance of the study comes as a result of the steady increase in the number of elderly, which requires diagnosing the reality of caring for the elderly in the Sultanate in light of the population, social and economic changes taking place and their impact on society, the absence of legislations or a law to protect the rights of the elderly based on global standards and principles to protect them from these changes.

In addition, the study recognizes the importance of planning a safe future for the elderly with the participation of various authorities and civil society and the need to provide integrated and effective services for the elderly to meet their needs.

The study aims to examine the reality of international and domestic policies and legislations in the field of care and protection of the elderly and to identify the efforts made by the concerned authorities in the Sultanate in the field of the elderly, and the most important programs and services provided for their care, and to study the appropriateness of national legislations and policies and social and health services and its adequacy to meet the needs of the elderly due to the rapid urban and population development and the development of proposals and appropriate mechanisms to bridge the legislative and legal gaps in the field of caring for this category.