Happy International Day of Older Persons 1 October 2021 - Sustainable lifestyle challenge by Sofonie Dala - Day 4. Theme: Digital Equity for All Ages

2021 Theme: Digital Equity for All Ages

Good morning ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the fourth day of our sustainable lifestyle campaign.

The 2021 theme “Digital Equity for All Ages” affirms the need for access and meaningful participation in the digital world by older persons.

There's a need to create a social inclusion policy to incorporate core issues in ageing such as civil engagement, an ageing workforce, age-friendly communities, and Civic involvement.

Digital inclusion projects must be developed for more older people to be enabled to access the internet and technology that will benefit them in their later life.

With the right lifestyle, the chances are that you could live up to a decade longer. But what's the best prescription for long health? Is there a stand-out combination of diet and supplements that enhances lifespan and quality of life?

Our everyday motto is: "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food"

Today we are visiting a 116 year old woman. She is called grandmother Graciana Nambuano. We came to her to understand the secret of a long life.

The video also shows beautiful trays and various decorations that this elderly woman makes in her daily routine.

According to her children and grandchildren, long time ago grandmother Graciana used to sell her works of art, but now she offers it to people for love.

Grandma couldn't talk to us because she was resting, but her grandchildren told us about the sustainable lifestyle she lives.

A conversation with her grandchildren

The grandmother lives in Luanda at her children's house and does not speak Portuguese, she is 116 years old and has given birth to 8 children. 6 died and she was left with only 2 sons.

She still has the strength to work, manufactures baskets with her own hands, sweeps the yard and cooks when she wants. When at home there is no one to cook, she takes the stove and prepares her food.

She eats almost everything, eats beans, but salt and oil can no longer be used in her food.

Does she consume something that harms her health?

She doesn't consume any of this. She doesn't smoke and doesn't drink alcohol, the only thing she consumes is soda, she really likes to drink soda but we are already cutting it due to the gas that can harm her. But she normally drinks traditional drinks, for example Quiissangua - tree juice drink and kissângua or ocissangua (a typical southern drink made from corn).

Recent reports by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) indicate that women and older persons experience digital inequity to a greater extent than other groups in society; they either lack access to technologies, or are often not benefitting fully from the opportunities provided by technological progress.

Meanwhile, as efforts to connect more people are currently under way, new risks have become apparent. For example, cybercrimes and misinformation threaten the human rights, privacy, and security of older people. The rapid speed of adoption of digital technology has outpaced policy and governance at the national, regional, and global levels. The Secretary-General’s Roadmap seeks to address these challenges by recommending concrete action to harness the best of these technologies and mitigate their risks.

Objectives of #UNIDOP2021:

• To bring awareness of the importance of digital inclusion of older persons, while tackling stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination associated with digitalization, taking into account sociocultural norms and the right to autonomy.
• To highlight policies to leverage digital technologies for full achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs).
• To address public and private interests, in the areas of availability, connectivity, design, affordability, capacity building, infrastructure, and innovation.
• To explore the role of policies and legal frameworks to ensure privacy and safety of older persons in the digital world.
• To highlight the need for a legally binding instrument on the rights of older persons and an intersectional person-centered human rights approach for a society for all ages.

#AnatomyOfAction

#ActNow

#GlobalGoals

#ProteinSwaps

We have gone through the FOOD domain now it's time to think about the STUFF we buy: do I really need this new item? Could I find what I need through friends, family or in my community? If not, can I find this item in second-hand shops? By reshaping our needs and wants, we can collectively make the difference in reaching Sustainable Development Goal 12, to ensure responsible consumption and production.

Call for Code - Education Innovation Case Competition! APPLY NOW

 Bringing students together to design solutions that make education a right, not a privilege.

The competition theme is, "A future of education that ensures accessible and equitable quality education and promotes lifelong learning opportunities for all," inspired by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 (https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal4).

https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal4

Your solution should address one of the diverse challenges aligned to this theme and demonstrate how technology can help communities in need around the world. While solution submissions do not need to include working code, you will need to describe the technologies required and how those technologies fit into the solution. 

Design solutions that... 

• Broaden educational opportunity for women, who continue to face steep structural and societal barriers
• Relieve the burden of educational inequality that falls disproportionally on under-served communities
• Democratize access to quality learning for all, in an increasingly digital world

Build the future of education and new skills. How will you answer the call?

* Source: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2021/goal-04/

Who should participate

Successful teams require diverse skillsets to design unique solutions. Explore some of the personas that are often successful in case competitions, but remember: there is no one way to build a great team. In order to participate, you must meet all eligibility criteria.

Click here to apply: 

https://callforcode.bemyapp.com/?utm_source=bma&utm_medium=1to1&leadid={{lead_id}}&utm_campaign=Call+for+Code

Covid-19: EU vaccine cert opens for Irish passport holders in NI

 Irish passport holders who live and were vaccinated in Northern Ireland can now access the EU Digital Covid Certificate.

The vaccine “passport”, which allows international travel, came into effect in the Republic of Ireland in July.

Most Irish passport holders in Northern Ireland were not able to access the certificate because they were vaccinated outside of the Republic.

People in Northern Ireland can now apply for the certificate online.

The move is the first of a two-phased approach, Irish health officials said.

• What is the EU vaccine ‘passport’ and can I use it?
• NI vaccine app ‘built for overseas travel only’

During phase one, the portal will accept applications from passport-holding Irish citizens vaccinated in Northern Ireland who hold a Covid vaccination certificate with a QR code issued by the Department of Health.

The Irish Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, said he was “delighted” to expand the service.

Irish Minister of State for Public Procurement and eGovernment, Ossian Smyth, said the certificate had been “key to opening up indoor hospitality within the country and enabled international travel outside of Ireland”.

‘EU benefits for EU citizens’

However, another government minister conceded there had been problems for some people from Northern Ireland accessing the certificate.

Speaking in the Seanad (upper house of Irish parliament) Mary Butler, the junior health minister with responsibility for mental health and older people, said that “obviously with anything new it just takes a little bit to bed down but I think this is a really welcome development.”

Ms Butler said there were also “impediments” that were ironed out for people in the Republic of Ireland when the certificate was first made available in July.

She said that people in Northern Ireland seeking the EU certificate had to apply to the Irish government’s portal with their Irish passport details and Covid certificate with a QR code issued by Northern Ireland’s Department of Health before giving their consent to their data being used.

The issue was raised in the chamber by Sinn Féin Senator Niall O’Donnghaile and Fine Gael Senator Emer Currie, both of whom suggested a public information campaign.

Senator O’Donnghaile also suggested a helpline.

“This is about EU citizens being entitled to EU benefits,” Ms Currie said.

What’s the EU Digital Covid Certificate?

The EU Digital Covid Certificate makes journeys within the EU easier for people who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

It is available in all 27 member nations – plus Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.

EU citizens (and those of Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein), can download it or obtain a paper copy – at no cost. It is also available to non-EU nationals living legally in member states who have the right to travel to other member states.

Because the UK is no longer in the EU, the certificate is not available to most Britons.

EU nationals vaccinated in the UK must check with their home countries to see if they are eligible.

Travellers will still need to carry a passport or other identification.

Read more here.

On 21 October, the Irish government will move into phase two of the scheme, which will accept applications from Irish citizens vaccinated in countries outside of the EU.

In phase two applicants will be required to hold:

• A valid Irish passport
• Proof of vaccination from the relevant issuing authority in the country of vaccination

Ireland’s Department of Health said it was assessing vaccine certificates from other countries and that specific requirements for vaccination proof “will be published in line with the portal launch” in October.

IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES

Minister for Overseas Development Aid and Diaspora Colm Brophy said it was hoped this would bring “renewed hope to our diaspora who have endured long and painful separations from their families and friends”.

“It is part of our commitment to the diaspora to address and remove barriers to them returning home,” he added.

Those who meet the requirements can apply at via the Irish government’s EU Covid certificate portal.

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Sarkozy: Ex-French president gets jail sentence over campaign funding

 Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to a year in prison for illegally funding his unsuccessful 2012 re-election campaign.

The 66-year-old was found guilty in a Paris court of spending tens of millions of euros more on his campaign than was permitted under the law.

He will not be jailed, however, and can serve his sentence at home with an electronic bracelet, the court ruled.

Mr Sarkozy has denied any wrongdoing and is expected to appeal the ruling.

It is his second one-year prison term. In March, he became the first former president of France to receive a custodial sentence – for corruption and influence peddling – but remains free pending an appeal of that sentence.

• France’s Nicolas Sarkozy: ‘Bling’ and legal woes

In the latest trial, Mr Sarkozy was accused with 13 other defendants over their role in the so-called “Bygmalion” scandal.

Prosecutors said the former president’s UMP party splurged nearly double the €22.5m (£19.4m) cap on lavish campaign rallies and events, then tried to hide the costs by hiring a PR firm called Bygmalion to invoice the party, not the campaign.

On Thursday, the court in Paris ruled that though the former president may not have known the full details of the fraud, he must have seen that limits were breached and did nothing about it.

It is the latest legal challenge for Mr Sarkozy, who served a five-year term as president from 2007.

In 2012, he lost his re-election bid to socialist François Hollande. Since then he has been targeted by several criminal investigations.

Earlier this year he was given a suspended prison sentence for trying to bribe a judge in 2014.

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Truth and Reconciliation: Canada marks first national day

 Canada is observing its newest federal holiday on Thursday: the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

The day honours victims and survivors of Canada’s residential schools, which sought to forcefully assimilate indigenous children.

The discovery of hundreds of unmarked burial sites of students earlier this year sparked national outrage.

The new holiday will coincide with Orange Shirt Day – an indigenous grassroots-led day of remembrance.

All Canadians have been encouraged to mark the occasion by wearing orange, to commemorate the thousands of indigenous children robbed of their culture and freedoms.

• The child graves behind Canada’s national reckoning
• ‘Canada lacks the political will for real change’
• ‘I was one of the lucky ones that got away’

Orange was the colour worn by First Nations residential school survivor Phyllis Webstad on her first day; later, her clothing would be taken from her and her hair cut off.

“The colour orange has always reminded me of that and how my feelings didn’t matter, how no one cared and how I felt like I was worth nothing,” Ms Webstad, the creator of Orange Shirt Day, has said.

“All of us little children were crying and no one cared.”

Delivering remarks to mark the new holiday during a ceremony on Wednesday night, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged all Canadians to take a moment to listen to the stories of residential school survivors.

There were 140 government and church-backed indigenous boarding schools operating in Canada through the 19th and 20th centuries. At least 150,000 children were forcibly separated from their families to attend the schools.

Creating a new federal holiday to honour survivors, their families and their communities was among 94 calls to action delivered in a landmark 2015 report by the government’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

The discovery of more than 1,000 unmarked graves over the summer inspired calls anew for reconciliation.

Parliament approved a bill to create the holiday a few days after the first discovery: an estimated 215 burial sites near the country’s largest residential school in Kamloops, British Columbia.

Governor General Mary May Simon, the first indigenous woman in the role, said in a statement the day would be about “learning from our lived experiences” and “creating the necessary space for us to heal”.

“These are uncomfortable truths, and often hard to accept,” she wrote in a statement. “But the truth also unites us as a nation, brings us together to dispel anger and despair, and embrace justice, harmony and trust instead.”

Public sector workplaces in most parts of Canada will be closed for the day.

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