411008_Report_BaselineAssessment_NRCS_final

Nepal Red Cross Society Ageing & Health Project Baseline Study Report
1. Introduction and background
The Senior Citizens Acts 2063, Nepal defines the senior citizens (older people population) as "a citizen
of Nepal having completed the age of Sixty years". About 9% of the total population accounts for 60+
population and the number is projected to be around 20% by 2050. The increase in the population of
older people has given rise to challenges in both developmental and humanitarian areas in terms of
promoting their well-being by meeting their social, emotional, health, financial and developmental
needs. Various observations show that the proportion of older people population is high in Mountain
and Hilly regions in comparison to Terai. Similarly, it is noted that the female older people population
is higher than the male older people population among three ecological regions 2 .
The Constitution of Nepal (2015) recognises the right to health and the social security as fundamental
rights. As such number of policies and programmes are being implemented, such as social security
allowance (old age allowance); free or subsidised health package for senior citizen, geriatric beds in
hospitals, gender friendly infrastructure (as a part of National Health Policy 2019 which aims to devise
different strategies to effectively implement Universal Health Coverage); concession in travel fare etc.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development sets out a universal plan of action to achieve
sustainable development in a uniform manner and aspires to realize the human rights of all people. It
calls for ensuring that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are met for every component of the
society, at all ages, with a discreet focus on the most vulnerable population group, which includes the
older people. Moreover, much earlier in 2002, a global agreement was reached at Madrid, called
Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPPA) which offers a comprehensive action plan for
governments and civil society, amongst other groups, for building a society for all ages 3 . Similarly, UN
has declared the decade of 2021 – 2030 as UN Decade of Healthy Ageing that brings together
governments, civil society, international agencies, professionals, academia, the media, and the private
sector to improve the lives of older people, their families, and the communities in which they live 4 .
Likewise, government of Nepal developed a Plan of Action for Ageing in 2005 and revised in 2013 in
line with international commitments and declarations 5 .
Keeping this in view and in recognition of challenging in ageing population, Nepal Red Cross Society
has included ageing as one of the key programme in its five year development plan and prioritised
ageing group as priority beneficiaries of its development interventions. Besides, NRCS with
collaboration with Swiss Red Cross intends to initiate a pilot on Ageing and Health at Suryabinayak
Municipality, ward no 2 (Balkot) with ultimate aim of expanding its understanding on ageing and
health issues so that NRCS can work strategically for the benefit of the older people.
2
Bhandari, K (2020), Trends in Age Structure and Ageing Population in Nepal, Journal of Population and
Development, June 2020
3
https://www.helpage.org/what-we-do/rights/the-madrid-plan-mipaa/
4
United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021–2030), https://documents-ddsny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N20/363/87/PDF/N2036387.pdf?OpenElement
5
GoN, Ministry of Social Welfare, Children and Women. National Plan of Action for Senior Citizens 2062 (2005)
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