Sharjah progresses as age-friendly city
sharjah — Sharjah has taken yet another step in its efforts to make the emirate truly age-friendly since it joined the World Health Organisation’s Global Network for Age-Friendly Cities and Communities this year.
The higher follow-up committee for Sharjah’s membership in the Age-Friendly Cities Global Network met on Monday with coordinators from various government entities to monitor and follow up on the emirate’s efforts as the first Arab city to join the network and also present the committee’s strategic plan 20172020, which is to be implemented across all sectors with the participation of all government entities in the emirate.
Among those attending the meeting were Sheikh Mohammed bin Humaid Al Qasimi, head of statistics and community development department; Ahmad Al Meil, the rapporteur of the committee; and Asma Al Khodari, director of the committee’s executive office, as well as coordinators and officials from Sharjah government institutions and departments.
The meeting outlined four main objectives of the committee’s four-year strategic plan. These include improving services offered to older members of society across various sectors and ensuring their sustainability, preparing the community for a demographic shift in favour of the elderly as a result of rapid aging of the population, expansion of cities and advanced care, achieving administrative excellence at the level of the committee’s work to ensure implementation of initiatives and enabling the elderly to integrate into society and share their experiences by strengthening the legislative cities have joined WHO’s Global Network of AgeFriendly Cities environment that supports and protects their rights.
Sharjah is the first Arab city among 414 major cities from around the world and one of the two Middle Eastern cities, the other one being Tehran, to join the World Health Organisation’s Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities.
In January this year, His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, issued a decree, formally heralding the emirate’s decision to join the Global Network for AgeFriendly Cities and Communities.
The emirate has been working for years in order to turn itself into a city that cares for and is friendly to all age groups in general and the elderly and infirm in particular. This envisages creating worldclass infrastructure, utilities and social services that take care of the needs and concerns of the elderly.
The administrative decree issued by the Ruler of Sharjah underlines the importance of environment in determining healthy ageing and encouraging the creation of age-friendly environment in the emirate. It aims to create a physical, healthy, social, economic and culturally sustainable environment in Sharjah, making the emirate the best place for the elderly people to be and enjoy a quality life. — Wam