OKAKARARA –Namibia’s premier mobile telecommunications services provider, MTC, through the Okakarara Town Council donated 100 brand new phones (with simcards) to the elders of the Okakarara community, during a belated World Elders Abuse Awareness Day, held at the mid central town on Tuesday.

MTC also handed over a sponsorship of N$30 000 towards the Okakarara horse racing event. According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, elderly abuse is a global social issue, which affects millions of older persons around the world, and an issue, which deserves the attention of the international community. 

Statistics indicate that around 1 in 6 older people (141 million people) experienced some form of abuse in the community during the past year.  If the proportion of elder abuse victims remains constant, the number of people affected in their communities will increase rapidly due to population ageing, growing to 320 million victims by 2050, according to World Health Organisation (WHO).

Joseph Mundjindi – Sponsorship and Promotions Manager at MTC explained, “The core essence and gist of our existence is to make the connection, and giving these new phones to these elders translates exactly into what we stand for. Too little attention is given to preventing elder abuse and raising awareness. We believe that this will assist the elders to keep in touch with their children, family members, and report abuse and any other illicit acts.” 

“At MTC, we will always try to plough back to the people, for it is owed to them the company is in existence as a corporate citizen, we do not just have the responsibility to provide quality telecommunications services, but also a sustainable social accountability through our corporate social responsibility,” concluded Mundjindi.