By Memory Khutuliwa

Blantyre June 10, Mana: Malawi will on June 15 this year join the rest of the world in commemorating world elder abuse awareness day which will be held under the theme: “Seniors deserve our respect and our attention.”

Malawi Network of Older Persons Organisation (MANEPO), Programme Technical Lead, Goodwell Thunga told Malawi News Agency (Mana) on Monday that world elder abuse awareness day (WEAAD) is observed annually on June 15.

The day was established by the United Nations in 2006 to raise awareness about the abuse, neglect and exploitation of older individuals, according to Thunga.

“The day serves as a call to action for individuals, organizations and governments to recognize the importance of rights of the elderly and to ensure that senior citizens can live with dignity and security,” he said.

Thunga said the theme was relevant to Malawi because the country is still in infant stages of explicitly recognizing the rights of older people especially after the recent enactment of the Older Persons' Law.

“The nation needs to change its view of older people. They are not a burden but rather a precious resource and the financiers of whatever progress the younger generation is enjoying today,” Thunga said.

He noted that the number of cases of elderly abuse and death resulting from abuse has been on the rise, pointing out that 13 people were killed in 2021, 15 in 2022, 25 in 2023 and 18 in 2024.

“Our view is that the number represents increased reporting especially with the increased access to smart phones and social media. We also believe there exists a lot of emotional and economic abuses that go unreported,” he said.

“It is, therefore, important to continue raising awareness on the various forms of abuse faced by older people,” Thunga said.

“The WEAAD commemoration is therefore important for spreading the messages and an opportunity to call key stakeholders to action,” he said, adding that strategies for combating elderly abuse included collaboration with key stakeholders.

According to Thunga, there is a National Response Plan against Elderly Abuse which is being coordinated by the Malawi Human Rights Commission whose task force comprises members from civil society organisations, judiciary, police and faith leaders.

“There has been the establishment of groups of older people called Older Persons' Associations (OPAs) where we have over 150 OPAs in about 8 districts.  Where we have these structures, issues of abuse are curbed in early stages and older people feel safer in those communities,” he observed.

Wonderful Mkhutche, a social commentator, said this is an important day as it reminds people of their responsibility to keep the elderly safe.

“We have seen the elderly being accused of things like witchcraft and then being tortured or killed, through this commemoration, we will discuss how as a society we can move away from such practices and how we can best take care of the elderly citizens,” he said.

“We still need to mete out punishments to perpetrators of violence to the elderly; we also need to look into building safer homes for the senior citizens and also plant a positive narrative in the younger generation not to tolerate negative perceptions of the elderly because this exacerbates violence,” Mkhutche said.