Kenya is in the process of fast tracking the enactment of a new policy and legislative instruments to shield older citizens from abuse, an official said Thursday.

Susan Mochache, Principal Secretary for Labour and Society Services, said that psychological and physical violence that the elderly people go through will henceforth stop.

"The guidelines are being drafted in line with local and global statutes that guide the elderly people," she said during the celebrations marking the World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.

Mochache said that the regulations will help tame cases of elderly abuse that are often underestimated in the country.

She noted that often elderly people's abuse is hidden, underestimated and ignored, considered a private matter between relatives hence widely underreported.

"Elders' abuse is an enormous problem for older people around the world and makes them feel humiliated, devalued and dehumanized," Jemma Stovell, Campaigns Manager at HelpAge International.

Prafulla Mishra, Regional Director of HelpAge International, Age Demands Action (ADA), a campaign platform for older people, has been formed to help challenge assumptions and prejudices.

"This is the platform that they use to push for policy changes that promote their rights and protect them from all forms of violence and abuse," Mishra said.

The UN has also formed Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing (OEWG) to find ways to better protect older people's rights, including the possibility of an internationally-binding convention to protect the rights of older people.

(Xinhua News Agency June 16, 2017)