Older persons are ignored in Burundi

October 1st is the International Day for Older Persons. The Association for the Support and Accompaniment for Older persons (URISANZE) will celebrate 10 days later in Mwaro Province, and start an awareness week about the situation of older persons in Burundi.–By Lorraine Josiane Manishatse

Béatrice Niragira, the Chairwoman of the Association for the Support and Accompaniment for Older persons (URISANZE) ©Iwacu

“Older people in Burundi live in critical conditions. They are ignored. Some of them are homeless because they have been driven from their land by their neighbors or even by their own children”, deplores Béatrice Niragira, the Chairwoman of URISANZE.
She indicates that in the countryside, especially in Muyinga Province, old people are often killed after being accused of witchcraft. Whereas in reality, people just want to occupy their land. “They are victim of being ignored and not protected”, she regrets.

Old people encounter many different problems. Often they find themselves socially isolated without any assistance or support. Other times they are in charge of their grandchildren whose parents have died because of the civil war,HIV/AIDS or another disease. “We are vulnerable people, our health is delicate, we often get sick, and we need to be supported”, says the chairwoman, who is 66 years old herself.

She asks the Burundi government to offer older persons the benefit of free health care. She also asks the government to support them in their project of building a center for receiving vulnerable older persons at Carama. They have a plot but they lack means for building.
Lastly, she calls on (inter)national and communities to help older people who are often ignored and rejected.