7 October 2008

The Ethiopian delegation organised a series of meetings with ministers from a number of relevant ministries. Overall the meetings were succesful and some tangible outcomes can be taken forward over the next 12 months.

The delegates were particularly pleased to hear that the Minister for Water Resources Development (whom they met with in 2007) had commissioned a proposal to give poor older people living in urban areas better and more affordable access to clean water. He assured them that the proposal will be put to parliament as soon as it is finalised.

Click here to read more about the successes in Ethiopia on the country profile page.

3 October 2008

HelpAge India arranged for 850 older persons to travel on a specially comissioned train from Cuddalore to New Delhi. Once there, they lobbied the government to acknowledge their rights to healthcare, transport and pensions.

Last year, the government promised to make the pension available to the poorest older people but as yet no viable method of identifying who is "poor" has been decided upon.

Click here to read more on the India country profile page.

1 October 2008

1,500 older people in the Philippines marched to Parliament to demand social pensions

Today is the UN International Day of Older People. Around the world, older people are uniting for HelpAge International’s Age Demands Action campaign.

This year, 36 countries across four continents are taking part. Delegations of older people will meet with their national governments to demand recognition and support of older people’s vital contribution to society.

They will call for action to deliver improvements to ageing policies in their countries, including better access to healthcare, pensions, and income-generating activities.

Global action

Around the world, older people will be making their voices heard.

• In Ghana, a delegation of older people will meet with President John Kufuor, to call for better access to healthcare.
• In Nepal, older people will present a petition to the Constitutional Assembly to demand the secured rights of older people.
• In the refugee camps of West Darfur, older people will be giving speeches and taking part in celebrations. They will also meet with UN agencies and NGOs to raise awareness of older people’s issues.

Commitments for change

Some events have already taken place.

• In the Philippines, 1,500 older people marched to Congress on Tuesday to demand the passing of a bill to extend social pensions.
• In Kenya, 200 older people marched in the streets of Nairobi and met with ministers to call for greater support in caring for the sick and those orphaned by HIV and AIDS.
• In Indonesia, older people have secured government commitments to develop social pensions and set up activity centres for older people.

Many more activities are still to come in this week of global action.

Henry Matthews, Campaigns Coordinator at HelpAge International, says: “This year’s Age Demands Action has been a fantastic success! Even more countries are taking part than last year, and the voice of older people is becoming louder and harder to ignore.

“Some real commitments for change have already been secured, and we expect more over the coming days. Our hope is that both governments and the international community are finally waking up to the vital role of older people, and will start supporting them in order to realise the massive potential they possess.”

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon, has echoed Age Demands Action's message in his message on the International Day of Older Persons in which he said:

"...much more needs to be done at the national level to support older persons, promote their income security and social protection, and ensure quality health care as well as the provision of long-term care services.

"To make this possible, national ageing-specific policies must be improved substantially and the concerns of older persons mainstreamed into a wider policy framework."

Critical role

Older people are among the poorest and most vulnerable groups in many societies, with over 100 million worldwide living on less than US$1 a day.

Their critical role as carers for those affected by HIV and AIDS and workers feeding extended families is both undervalued and unsupported. Age Demands Action is calling for change.

Globally, HelpAge International is calling on the international community to include older people in three key areas of the international development agenda: HIV and AIDS, the Millennium Development Goals and human rights.

Sign our global petition

Age Demands Action 2008 is supported by Archbishop Desmond, Nigerian Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, South African poet, playwright and author Gcina Mhlophe, and Stephen Lewis, former UN Special Envoy for HIV and AIDS in Africa and Director of the Stephen Lewis Foundation.

Add your support by signing the Age Demands Action pledge

South African Delegates learn how to Blog

Delegates from South Africa took part in a training session on blogging last week. The session was facilitated by trainers from the Global Voices network- an online not for profit blogging site that seeks to "aggregate, curate, and amplify the global conversation online - shining light on places and people other media often ignore."

The delegates have said that they experience and feel that they took a lot away from the session, some had never used a computer before and were excited to take away new skills that will enable them to make their voices heard.

Watch the short video below to see how they got on.

Links to their blogs are featured in the right-hand column and will be updated after their day of action and throughout the year.

To read the full story on the Rising Voices website click here.

22nd September

Delegates met for the final time before their meeting with policy makers next week.

They discussed the issues that they felt were the most pressing and finalised the agenda for their meeting.

Interviews were conducted with the delegation and a journalist from the Guardian was present as part of her tour to Bangladesh and India in preparation for writing an article on social pensions.

Age Demands Action: A truly Global Campaign

As we get closer to the 1st October ADA has taken on a life of its own. With almost 40 countries signed up to take part this year (and more still to come) the HAI network has come out in full force to lobby national governments across the world for policy changes that will positively affect the lives of older people.

We have been impressed by the imagination and enthusiasm that both partners and affiliates have brought to their plans, and we are sure that the campaign is going to see some tangible outcomes this year.

What's going on?

• At least 35 countries taking part.

• Delegations are planning to meet heads of state in eight countries Ethiopia, Ghana, Zambia, Tanzania, Slovenia, Dominica, Nepal, Philippines.

• National petitions have been set up in UK (HTA petition on HIV UNGASS indicators) and Netherlands (WorldGranny / CORDAID on social pensions).

• As well as meetings with ministers, other activities include a photo exhibition in Kyrgyztan, a drama performance in Kenya, marches in South Africa, Nepal and the Philippines, and tree planting in Ethiopia.

• Members of the South Africa delegation and MUSA are being trained in how to blog online so they can record their activities on ADA and future policy changes that will affect older people.

Meetings are taking the form of high level policy meetings in countries like Bangladesh and the Philippines, to more community level discussions in the Sudan where delegates will be meeting leaders within the camps that HAI is working in.

The diversity of the campaign shows the truly inclusive nature of the work that HAI does, and the ongoing strength of the network.

What can you do?
Sign the global petition!!!

This will help our ongoing lobbying work by showing governments around the world the strength of public support for including older people in development.

Pass it on.
Can everyone pass this link on to friends and families so we can get as many people to sign as possible. If anyone has links to well known international figures and development leaders, please let me know so we can promote their support in the media.

I'm sure that you agree that:

Age Demands Action

16th September

77 year old Mount Everest Climber Min Bahadur Sherchan has been confirmed as one of the Nepalese delegates who will be meeting with the President to demand changes to policies that affect older persons in Nepal.

Mr Sherchan beat Japanese 71 year old Katsusuke Yanagisawa to the title in May this year.

To read news stories about Min Bahadur Sherchan click here, here, here, and here.

18 days to go... so far 7 countries have secured meetings with their heads of state including:

Tanzania, Dominica, Ghana, Nepal, Philippines, Slovenia, Ethiopia.

10thSeptember

Delegates in Kenya took part in a training session to improve their public speaking skills and prepare them for their meeting on the 1 October.

They also rehearsed a play, which they will perform as part of the celebrations of older people in the week running up to 1 October.

29 August

RECWAPEC gathered delegation members together for a training session this week. Things are well underway in Cameroon with further meetings planned in the coming weeks.

27 August

The Philippines Age Demands Action delegation is laying the groundwork for their meeting with ministers in October. Yesterday they met with Cong Zialcita, the sponsor of the social pensions bill in congress. He has agreed to take part in the meeting on 1 October.

26 August

Archbishop Desmond Tutu supports Age Demands Action.
We have received a letter of support for the campaign from Archbishop Desmond Tutu. In the letter he outlines the importance of recognising the demographic shift towards ageing populations, and of aligning development policy with this.
We are grateful to the Archbishop for recognising the importance of the activities our partners and affiliates are engaging in as part of the campaign.
Read Archbishop Tutu's letter.

17 August

The Coalition Services for the Elderly (COSE) in the Philippines held a training and discussion session with 60 leaders of older people's associations in Manila.

At the meeting they discussed a bill that is currently being debated in both houses of parliament. The bill could exempt older people from paying VAT.

If passed, the bill could also pave the way for the introduction of a universal social pension – one of COSE's primary objectives for Age Demands Action 2008.

Attendees also discussed their timetable and plans for their meeting with representatives of the senate on 1 October.

11 August

The Age Demands Action campaign in Ghana has got off to a great start.
HelpAge Ghana held meetings with older people's community associations throughout July and August. HelpAge Ghana has visited associations in the Ashanti, Volta and Western Regions, and in Greater Accra.
These visits are really important for older people to highlight the issues they are facing, and for HelpAge Ghana to identify older people who could become part of the Age Demands Action delegation. The delegation will meet with Ghana's President John Kuffour on 1 October.
More pictures, videos and delegate diaries are expected soon!