We draw attention to the fact that one out of every 5 voters in our country is elderly or aging, that producing services for the elderly has become a priority for politicians, and we call on politicians running for office in the Local Elections on March 31st to sign the “Age-Friendly City Charter”, which includes a series of concrete goals that they will include in their action plans if elected.
You can see the full text of the agreement below.
Age-Friendly City Charter
As mayor,
I commit in two years:
- To create a unit that the elderly who receive services from our municipality can easily access and handle their work at a single point
- To make special arrangements for the elderly in the use of the Municipality’s Call Center / Service Line
- To ensure that the Municipality’s services such as home care, medical support, hot meals reaching the residences of our elderly citizens are run in the most inclusive and transparent way
- To Establish an alarm system and operating it 24/7 for our elderly people living alone or with their elderly spouses, separated from their family members
- To organize elderly awareness trainings for our municipal employees, starting with those who are in direct communication and contact with our elderly citizens, to raise awareness against violence, neglect, abuse and exploitation, especially against the elderly
- To determine the necessary competencies for our employees who provide services to the elderly, to organize in-house training in accordance with these competencies, to prioritize the employment of people who have received special training on aging in these positions
- To plan our municipality’s services such as lifelong education, active living and personal development courses in a way that is sustainable, accessible and able to meet the needs and expectations of the elderly
- To ensure that areas frequently used by the elderly in daily life such as parks, gardens, waterfronts, squares, public buildings, places of worship are barrier-free and accessible
- To plan the social and cultural activities of our municipality open to everyone and providing special opportunties to elderly, instead of activities that segregate the elderly and are made exclusively for them
- To initiate a program to make the residences of our elderly citizens living alone safe and elderly-friendly by providing financial support to elderly people in need and technical support to all.
- Securing the right to free public transportation for our elderly citizens, which is a legal obligation of municipalities
I commit in five years:
- To open at least one elderly life center with accessibility in our district that can provide basic health services such as psychologists, physical therapist, social and legal support services, skills courses in several fields, and cultural activities, and to add one more if one already exists.
- To launch a program to provide free caregiver assistance to our fellow citizens who provide care services to their own elderly so that they can have at least half a day, once a week for themselves.
- To start an intergenerational program that will bring together our volunteer youth and elderly citizens in our elderly life center
- To make necessary efforts to close the digital divide that makes it difficult for the elderly to participate in daily life, social environment and access to municipal services
- To establish shuttle systems that will facilitate the transportation of the elderly and their relatives to municipalities, district governorships and similar public buildings, health centers, main transportation networks and neighborhood markets
- To produce and implement institutional solutions that will enable our elderly citizens to participate in decision-making processes related to themselves and their environment, and to eliminate obstacles in this field
- To protect buildings, monuments and similar cultural heritage that have a symbolic value in our city In order to keep the spatial memory of the elderly alive,
- To include these activities in the strategic plan of our municipality, to determine performance targets and to allocate resources in the budget
- To apply for membership to the World Health Organization Age-Friendly Cities network by showing these activities as indicators