Grassroots Development and Empowerment Action Platform is engaged in Expanding Knowledge on Respect and Responsibilities towards our elderly ageing population in grassroots community in Cameroon. This program aims to help create awareness not only to community leaders and policies markers, but to the youths and all members of the grassroots. Grassroots Development and Empowerment Action Platform recently became involved in a program that will support initiatives geared towards helping elderly Cameroonians generate income. As community members are ageing, the less active they become. In most cases, elderly people are isolated, vulnerable and prone to minute health related difficulties which goes most often unnoticed because social security does not cover everyone especially those at the grassroots. That is why in support of June 15th which marks World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, a day campaigners from every part of the world mobilize to raise awareness of elder abuse, and October 1st which is the International Day of Older Persons, GDEAP finds it important to be part of the grassroots organization involved in the Age Demands Action campaign.

Grassroots Development and Empowerment Action Platform understands that old age should not be likened to any illness. After all, old age is going to affect each one of us. However, Cameroon is a country where the rights of elderly population are not adequately understood and protected. Most old people in the country are always neglected. They do not get much help from their families or communities and the government also does not show any concern for the well-being of the elderly.

One priority area for GDEAP in our fight for the rights of the elderly is our VISION 2025 Environmental Protection Project for the Elderly in grassroots communities in Cameroon. Communities at the grassroots with older people have been used to a particular way of life where they fetch fuel wood, medicinal plants, and food from the surrounding environment. With climate change affecting every community and resources becoming scarce, it’s only the strongest that are capable now and in the future to get these resources .in fact a majority of medical plants have been wiped out which is a great loss for our elderly parents who have been so close to nature. Not doing something to preserve the legacy and conserve existing resources will mean a lot for the future these elderly population. Therefore GDEAP through a 10 years Environmental Protection Program for the Elderly will be working with partners to develop a framework through which to implement this program, with an additional 2 years of evaluation .

Together with other actors in the ageing campaign, GDEAP hopes that while working now to create more awareness on elderly rights and ageing friendly policies, GDEAP’s Vision 2025 will eventually see more people and especially the youths leading the campaign for elderly rights. It is part of GDEAP’s vision to see that through its networks, more social amenities including activity centers will begin coming up with projects to group ageing people at grassroots so that together they can share ideas for their wellbeing.