Photo: Marilyn Ordonez, Chairperson for HelpAge Belize City

by Charles Gladden

BELIZE CITY, Tues. Oct. 3, 2023

This week — starting Sunday, October 1, which was recognized as International Day of Older Persons, and extending to Saturday, October 6 — is being observed in Belize as Older Persons Week under the theme, “Fulfilling the Promises of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights for Older Persons: Across Generations.”

On December 14, 1990, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) declared October 1 as the International Day of Older Persons, which then paved the way for the Vienna International Plan of Action on Ageing (VIPAA), which was adopted by the World Assembly on Ageing (WAA) in 1982 and approved by the UN General Assembly later in the same year.

An older person is classified as anyone 65 years of age or older. According to the United Nations, the number of persons in this age group tripled from an estimated 260 million worldwide in 1980 to 761 million in 2021, and it is believed that from then to 2050 the percentage of the world population who are within this age range is expected to increase from less than 10% to around 17%

“The perception is that we get old. It is no longer that, because we can still function, we have a lot of experience; and I think as you get older, you gain experience compared to someone young who is just starting in life,” said Chairperson for HelpAge Belize City Branch, Marilyn Ordonez.

While speaking to Amandala, Ordonez highlighted that as we age it is important to keep our minds active to prevent memory loss.

“If we don’t do anything, then we get old and cannot function; but once we are active, that’s important. It’s important to keep elderly persons active, because age steps in [and] we have different underlying illnesses that can take over, especially dementia and Alzheimer’s,” she noted.

In observation of International Older Persons Week, HelpAge lined up several activities for the members of the NGO. When Amandala visited HelpAge on Wilson Street, we were informed that their members were given legal advice by two lawyers to assist them in their lives as seniors. Other activities scheduled for the week are a pampering day, an outreach to the shut-ins, and a field trip.

HelpAge Belize has been providing services to older persons across the country since 1984, when it was first recognized as an NGO, and has a total of 11 branches throughout the country.