Theme: “The Age of Longevity: Rethinking Systems for Longer Lives”
Press release
On 1 October, the world marks the International Day of Older Persons, an opportunity to celebrate older people and to reflect on the opportunities and challenges that come with longer lives.
This year’s theme — “The Age of Longevity: Rethinking Systems for Longer Lives” — invites us to think beyond simply adding years to life. It asks us to consider whether our societies are adapting to the reality that people are living longer, and whether those additional years can be lived with health, dignity, security, purpose and participation. (World Health Organisation)
For Ageing with a Smile Initiative (ASI), this is an important conversation for The Gambia.
What does “rethinking systems” mean?
Put simply, it means asking a very practical question:
“If we’re living longer, how do we make our society more age-friendly?”
An age-friendly society is one in which older people can continue to live with dignity, remain connected to their families and communities, participate in decisions that affect their lives, and contribute their knowledge, experience and skills.
And as important as healthy ageing is, this is about much more than just healthcare. It includes the way we think about social protection, income security, housing, transport, access to information and services, opportunities to work and contribute, community life, the protection of rights and so much more.
The World Health Organization’s approach to age-friendly environments similarly emphasises removing physical and social barriers and creating policies, services and environments that enable older people to remain independent, included and able to do the things they value.
There is reason for encouragement in The Gambia
The conversation about ageing in The Gambia is also beginning to move forward.
In June 2024, the National Assembly ratified the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Older Persons in Africa — an important step in strengthening the recognition and protection of the rights of older persons. The remaining formal step is the deposit of the instrument of ratification with the African Union Commission, after which we will move on to the domestication of the articles of the Protocol.
The Government has also recently launched the National Social Protection Policy 2026–2035, providing a framework for strengthening social protection over the next decade and for identifying older persons among the vulnerable groups requiring attention.
And even at the international level, The Gambia is making a contribution to the discourse on the rights of older people through its membership of the UN Human Rights Council.
These are important developments and deserve recognition.
But they also mark the beginning of a new phase: a phase in which we turn commitments and policies into meaningful improvements in the everyday lives of older Gambians.
The conversation is growing
Government cannot, and should not, be expected to do this alone.
Civil society organisations, national institutions, communities and older people’s organisations all have an important role to play in ensuring that the experiences and voices of older people are heard.
ASI welcomes, in this regard, the work being undertaken by the University of Senior Citizens (USC), with support from the National Human Rights Commission, to engage older persons directly through home visits in the Greater Banjul Area and to raise awareness of their rights. The initiative seeks to listen to older people about their circumstances and concerns and to contribute to a stronger evidence base for future interventions.
Such initiatives remind us of something fundamental:
Older people should not simply be the subjects of policies and programmes. They should be participants in shaping them.
Let us listen to older Gambians
International Day of Older Persons should therefore not simply be a day when we talk about older people.
It should also be a day when we listen to them as they answer important questions.
What is it like to grow older in The Gambia today?
What are the things that make ageing difficult?
What gives older people joy and purpose?
What do older people want younger generations to understand about ageing?
And perhaps most importantly:
What would make The Gambia a better place in which to grow old?
These are questions that deserve to be heard — not only on 1 October, but throughout the year.
We are all ageing
There is another reason why this conversation matters.
Ageing is not somebody else’s issue.
We are all ageing.
The younger person of today is the older person of tomorrow. The decisions we make now about our communities, our health services, our social protection systems, our working lives and our physical environment will shape the society in which all of us will eventually grow older.
Creating an age-friendly society is therefore not simply about doing something for older people. It is about creating a society in which people of all ages can live, participate and grow older with dignity.
A shared responsibility
Making The Gambia more age-friendly will require the contribution of many partners — Government, civil society, communities, families, faith organisations, the private sector, development partners, the media and, most importantly, older people themselves.
ASI sees its role as contributing to this conversation: listening to older people, amplifying their voices, sharing information, promoting their rights and helping to connect people and organisations working towards a society in which ageing is valued rather than overlooked.
We also recognise and welcome the work of others who are contributing to this emerging conversation.
As The Gambia moves forward, we have an opportunity to build on the progress already made and to ensure that longer lives are accompanied by greater dignity, security, participation and wellbeing.
On this International Day of Older Persons, Ageing with a Smile Initiative invites Gambians to consider one simple question:
If we’re living longer, how do we make our society more age-friendly?
Because ageing is not just about getting older.
It is about building a society in which all of us can grow older well.
Ageing with a Smile Initiative (ASI)
The Gambia
