“Front ah di line” – a New Campaign for Older Persons
The National Council on Ageing wants older persons, persons with disabilities, pregnant women and women with young children to have more access to essential services. To do this, the council partnered with BAPDA and the Ministry of Human Development to launch a campaign called “Front ah di line.” The campaign will see work done with businesses and an awareness component with the public. Reporter Andrea Polanco tells us more about the campaign.
Andrea Polanco, Reporting
October first is being observed as International Day of Older Persons under the theme “Journey to Age Equality.” And so starting today the National Council on Aging wants you to put older persons and other vulnerable groups “front ah di line.”
Ixchel Poot
Ixchel Poot, Executive Director, National Council on Ageing
“Front of the line, it seeks to put a priority service – a visible priority service line in all the essential service offices across the country for older persons, persons with disabilities, pregnant mothers and mothers with small children in tow between the ages of zero and two.”
It is a campaign they launched today for these groups to have equal access to meet their basic needs. But to get everyone on board, the National Council on Aging is rolling out the campaign in two phases:
Ixchel Poot
“One, we are working along with the Bureau of Standards and essential service providers to develop a national standard for service providers. This means that there will be a minimum set of services that you will receive at a priority service window. That is the first phase and so the second phase we launched today is the public education. We launched our posters, t-shirt, and official campaign jingle. We are also working along with older persons organizations, BAPDA and other stakeholders to sensitize the public in general as to why priority service is important for these key populations.”
So, “Front ah di line” will not only give older persons and other participating groups equal access, but it will also help to empower them and improve their quality of life which benefits society:
Ixchel Poot
“It is looking at the where the inequalities exist in our community. One of the things that do affect older persons is accessibility and being able to carry out their activities independently. Many organizations, many establishments would have a priority service line but we would get persons saying there is no sign up or the priority service line wasn’t working today or when they pulled me out of the priority service line all the people were upset that I was given priority service. Priority service is a very simple way to ensure respect and independence for older persons. An older person who is able to carry out his or her own banking is less likely to be the victim of financial abuse. An older person who is able to go out and be a part of their community, pay their own bills, become networked, they learn where things are happening and they become a part of that community.”
C.E.O. in the Ministry of Human Development Judith Alpuche says that to include these often overlooked groups is really all about respect and consideration.
Judith Alpuche
Judith Alpuche, C.E.O., Ministry of Human Development
“I think the issue of being respectful, being considerate and being civil may sound like old fashion values but it is things we need to get back to and things we need to preserve in our culture. These are the foundational principles which we want our society to be based and this puts it right front and center again in terms of the kind of society that I think we all want to be. I know these are values that those of us with good “broughtupsy” can all relate to. So, I hope we will remember our home training and remember that in our small society we look out for one another because at the core this is what this is about and really support this Front of the line campaign.”
Reporting for News Five, I’m Andrea Polanco.
