Jordan joins the world tomorrow, Friday, in the celebration commemorating International Day for Older Persons, which is observed on the first of October of each year. The theme of the 2021 commemoration is “Digital Equity for All Ages”, with the aim of emphasizing the need to enable the elderly to access and have a meaningful participation in the digital world.
In a special press release on the occasion, Secretary General of the Higher Population Council, Dr. Abla Amawi, emphasized the importance of this day within the framework of the interest of the Higher Population Council in the population dimension as an important factor for development in Jordan, and that the elderly are an important population segment in society, have the right to live in dignity at this stage of their lives, and that they are in possession of skills, knowledge and experience. Dr. Abla Amawi went on to say that it is important to enable them to continue to contribute to society effectively, as this is an engagement in achieving the goals of the National Strategy for Older Persons (2018-2022), and the international track in achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, specifically the tenth goal which stipulates enabling and promoting the social, economic and political involvement of all, including the elderly.

Amawi explained that the World Health Organization defines the elderly as those who have reached 60 years of age and above. WHO indicates that the proportion of the elderly will nearly double from 12% in 2015 to 22% in 2050, and that 80% of this group live in middle and low-income zones. At the Arab level, the proportion of the elderly reached 6.6% in 2019, and is expected to grow up to 9.3% by 2030. In Jordan, those aged 60 years and above were officially defined as ‘elderly’ according to the National Strategy of the Elderly (2018-2022) prepared by the National Council for Family Affairs.

Estimates of the Department of Statistics (2020) indicate that the number of old people in Jordan was 588,109 people (299,450 males, 288,659 females), which constitutes (5.4%) of the total population of the Kingdom, while in previous years, the number of elderly Jordanians was (459,286) people, of which 231,428 were males, 227,858 females), which constitutes (6.1%) of the total Jordanian population.

Future projections issued by the Department of Statistics indicate that the number of old people in Jordan (60 years and above) will go up respectively, according to the average scenario, to (929114) people in 2030 and (1619076) people in 2050, at a rate of (7.7%, 13.5) %) of the total population of the Kingdom, for the years 2030 and 2050.

Amawi noted that Jordan gives great attention to this segment in accordance with the National Strategy for the Elderly, hosted by the National Council for Family Affairs (2018-2022), where the National Committee for the Elderly was formed by a decree of the Prime Ministry with the aim of raising the level of coordination amongst members of the committee and the institutions they act on behalf of in the application of the executive plan of the Jordanian national strategy for the elderly and constantly updating and developing it, as well as contributing to improving the state of affairs of the elderly in the economic, scientific, health, social, developmental, environmental and spiritual fields, and improving them based on “demographic” developments within the framework of our system of values and progress, as well as by making use of international standards.

The government has recently approved a fund to protect the elderly, which came in line with the updated national strategy for the elderly and its executive plan for the years (2018-2022), which included topics, procedures and priorities aimed at protecting and safeguarding the elderly and their right to enjoy a decent life under any circumstances. The fund will work on purchasing specialized medical and accommodation/ shelter services, nursing services to secure home care, and psychological counseling services for the elderly, in addition to providing them with visual and audio equipment. The fund will cover awareness and guidance campaigns directed at elderly issues, in addition to the possibility of supporting meetings and dialogues between generations to benefit from the experiences of the elderly. A monetary limitation will be set to support the elderly, according to foundations and conditions to be decided upon.

Amawi stressed that despite the role that the elderly play as leaders and guardians, they are prone to face challenges of their own. During a symposium on the economic impact of the Corona pandemic on the elderly in 2020, the National Council for Family Affairs pointed out that the lack of knowledge of many elderly people with technology limits their abilities to work remotely, thus making them vulnerable to losing their jobs during the pandemic the world has and is still going through, and that this challenge is the same slogan raised by the International Day for Older Persons, indicating that according to the survey of the prevalence and use of communications and information technology prepared by the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship in 2018, only 3.8% of the elderly can use computers. The report also linked the use of computers to the educational level of individuals. When looking at the educational level of elderly Jordanians and according to the Department of Statistics, we find in the employment and unemployment survey of 2020 that illiteracy was the largest (23.3%) of the other remaining educational levels. But this situation varies according to gender. Although illiteracy was more prevalent among older females at 36.2%, the situation is different for males, where the illiteracy rate among elderly males was 10%, which is the fourth highest percentage of the educational level attained by the elderly, where the preparatory level was the most prevalent among them at 26.8%, followed by a “bachelor’s degree and above” at 23%, and then primary at a rate of 14%.

Amawi pointed that Jordan has witnessed a significant increase in the average life expectancy at birth since 1961, according to statistical reports issued by the Department of Statistics, where the number of years added to the life expectancy was 19.3 years (from 54 years in 1961 to 73.3 years in 2019). This increase came as a result of the noticeable improvement in the living and health conditions of the population, which reflected positively on the chances of survival which requires reconsidering the national definition of the elderly segment to ensure that these additional years are employed as years of production in legislation, strategies and policies.

The Higher Population Council recommended continuing issuing reports that put in view the condition of the elderly, and following up on the implementation of the Jordanian National Strategy Document for the Elderly (2018-2022), in addition to evaluating the activities included in the executive plan of the strategy which highlight the achievements and obstacles facing institutions in providing services to this category, showing the importance of strengthening health services and preventing diseases, and providing appropriate technology and rehabilitation by training employees in taking care of and raising awareness of the importance of preventive and curative care for the elderly.