Babushka Adoption

A roundtable discussion on “Improving the status of the elderly in society” was held on 24 October 2011 at the Park Hotel conference hall in Bishkek. Issues of the current status of the elderly, factors affecting the image of the elderly, activity of state and non-governmental organizations dealing with the elderly, charitable activity of business organizations as well as attitudes to the elderly in the society were addressed at the roundtable discussion. There were 27 participants in the discussion, including elderly people, representatives of the Ministry of Social Security of the Population and the Ministry of Health, representatives from four social security departments of the city, representatives of the business sector (Demir Bank, Mol Bulak Finance, Alliance Product), the media and more.
Roundtable participants watched a video clip portraying the current situation and image of the elderly. This was followed by several speakers: people's artist of KR, Aldasheva Ainura Abdulkhairovna, who emphasized the necessity of attitude formation towards the elderly within the family, school and via mass media; Nemykh Aleksey Petrovich, associate professor of KRSU; Aidai Kadyrova, director of the charity Babushka Adoption Roundation; and Uskenbaev Bakyt, executive director of business organization Alliance Product.
Participants noted the necessity to involve the elderly in social activities go give them a chance to influence political developments and change existing stereotypes towards elderly people. It should be noted that participants of the roundtable discussion expressed different opinions and offered particular views on improving the status of elderly people.