PROMOTING AND PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF OLDER PERSONS IN PAKISTAN

This seminar will present the findings of the report ‘Moving from the Margins: Promoting and protecting the rights of older persons in Pakistan’, drawn from the project commissioned by the Research, Evaluation, and Monitoring Unit (REMU) of British Council Islamabad. The report evidences those human rights for the older population which are neglected in Pakistan and sets out policies and programmes required to protect and promote these rights. It contributes to generating data on the lives of older people in Pakistan, an essential requirement in monitoring progress in meeting the pledge ‘Leave no one behind’ of the 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development. The data for research undertaken in the project included a nationwide survey on Pakistan’s older people, which is a unique survey in collecting data on human rights of older persons. In addition, qualitative analysis of personal interviews and focus group discussions with older persons and other stakeholders, and reviews of national and provincial level legislations, policies and programmes, have also been undertaken.

More details about the research can be found in the following Oxford University Blog:

https://www.ageing.ox.ac.uk/blog/protecting-the-rights-of-older-people-in-Pakistan

The speaker, Asghar Zaidi, is Professor of Social Gerontology at Seoul National University, South Korea and a Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing, the UK. He is also a visiting professor at the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, London School of Economics and Political Science, London. Previously, he was Professor in International Social Policy at University of Southampton (UK); Director Research at European Centre Vienna (Austria); Senior Economist at OECD Paris; Civil Servant at UK’s Department for Work and Pensions in London; and a researcher at London School of Economics and the University of Oxford (UK) and at Erasmus University and Tilburg University (the Netherlands).

His research interests span measurement of active and healthy ageing and the wellbeing of older persons, and data on ageing and older persons. Since 2012, he has led the research work of the Active Ageing Index Project for the European Commission and the UNECE. He also led the research work of the Global AgeWatch Index project for HelpAge International during 2012-2015. He has recently completed projects on human rights of older persons in Pakistan (for British Council Islamabad) and on experiences of dementia in Pakistan (for Age International UK). He is a Steering Committee member of the ASEM Global Ageing Centre in Seoul and a member of the Steering Group of the UN Titchfield City Group on Ageing.