Rising to challenges across the world
Annual report 2021/22
We are here to make sure every older person, everywhere, can lead a healthy, dignified and secure life. This report highlights our actions and progress throughout 2021 and early 2022.
A letter from the Chair and CEO
The year 2021/22 has been a time of real change at HelpAge International: change in the way we work and changes in the world around us.
A letter from the Chair and CEO
The last year has been a time of real change at HelpAge International: change in the way we work and changes in the world around us.
We started the year adapting our work to support older people impacted by the military coup in Myanmar and closed it with a scaled-up response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, where one in four people are over the age of 60.
We also had a spirit of hope as Covid-19 vaccines began to roll out across the world, promising an end to the isolation and restrictions caused by the pandemic. Unfortunately, vaccine distribution between rich and poor nations proved highly inequitable and millions of older people in low- and middle-income countries remain unvaccinated today.
The pledges to vaccinate 70 per cent of the world, however, ring hollow in many parts of the world where people continue to live in the shadow of the pandemic. In ‘low-income’ countries, almost three quarters of older people remained unvaccinated as we closed the year, highlighting the significant gaps in the global health system.
This inequity only spurs us on to continue the work we do, driving for a world where we can all get older with dignity. We are privileged at HelpAge as we witness every day the amazing achievements and contributions of older people. We know what a difference can be made when communities come together – as they did during the pandemic – and listen to the voices of older people.
We called on the world to do the same, as representatives and activists gathered at the COP-26 climate summit to agree how to tackle the climate
crisis. Many older people have experienced the direct impact on communities of the climate crisis. They have directly felt the consequences of climate change on their daily lives and have witnessed first-hand the changes sweeping across our planet.
Our own climate pledge includes a commitment to show the world how older people are confronting climate change, making sure they are included
in any response to climate disasters, and promoting intergenerational collaboration.
This commitment is one of many changes we are making to adapt our work to deliver on our Strategy 2030. This has included a key shift in the way we work, rolling out a new global operating model in 2021. This was developed to enable us to deliver on our strategic goals, working towards a world where older people everywhere can live in dignity and wellbeing, knowing that their voice is heard.
We are, as ever, thankful for the work of the members of the HelpAge global network and all our partners. We are privileged to be part of such an active and engaged network who make it possible for us to reach older people and implement our programmes and activities. This will only increase as we further embrace locally-led development.
Our work on a national and local level is made stronger through the support and collaboration we enjoy with global operators like the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), Irish Aid, the WHO, and UNHCR.
The geo-political shifts that swept the world in the last year look set to continue and the impact they are going to have on the lives of older people everywhere must not be underestimated. We know we will have our work cut out for us, but we are proud of our achievements and optimistic that progress is being made towards a world that increasingly respects the rights of older people.
Our year
in numbers
supported
in total
almost
Our work
in action
In 2021/22 we focused on seven main thematic areas, to ensure we protected the wellbeing, dignity and rights of the older people we work with.
Inclusive humanitarian action
In 2021 the world faced numerous humanitarian challenges, every one of them magnified by Covid-19. Older people struggled in already extreme circumstances, their lives and rights increasingly threatened and reduced. We are determined to do what we can to ensure older people are seen, heard, and respected whenever and wherever an emergency hits.
Snapshot of inclusive humanitarian action
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18We responded to emergencies in 18 countries
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15kolder people accessed livelihood support and cash transfers
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441kolder people accessed health, shelter, water and sanitation
Find out more
Across the world
Through our Global Emergency Fund, backed by Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies (MACP), we funded partners in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Haiti, Indonesia, India, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, South Sudan, Uganda, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen and Zimbabwe to provide urgent support in 19 disaster responses including floods, volcanoes, droughts, cyclones, fires and earthquakes.
We established a digital learning platform to help partners across the world understand and implement inclusive humanitarian action. The portal was developed on KAYA, a global learning platform, and was developed in collaboration with Humanitarian Learning Academy, offering accessible, high-quality learning to the humanitarian sector for free.
Advocacy is key to spreading awareness of the needs of older people in humanitarian situations. We worked with organisations including Human Rights Watch, Humanity and Inclusion, the UN and Overseas Development Institute to lobby for older and disabled people to be visible and placed at the heart of all future humanitarian responses.
In collaboration with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), we undertook a major investigation to cast light on the challenges and risks faced by older people on the move in Latin America. We consulted almost 900 older people across Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras and Peru, and learned about their experiences of fleeing gang violence, surviving with no legal status, accessing food and support – and how Covid-19 had worsened access to rights and services. The report and website A Claim to Dignity: Ageing on the Move launched
in April 2021.
We participated in three different appeals led by the UK’s Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), for Afghanistan, Covid-19 global response, and the war in Ukraine. With their support – and the generous donations they received – we were able to work with our partners to deliver much needed aid to older people in crisis, delivering services and support at times
when it was most needed.
Countries in focus
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Afghanistan
Our humanitarian response took us to Afghanistan for the first time, through the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Afghanistan appeal. With eight million people at risk of starvation from drought and economic collapse, we partnered with Humanity and Inclusion (HI) to distribute cash grants in Herat, targeting households that included older people and people with disabilities. We also promoted the inclusion of older people and people with disabilities in the work of UN agencies, delivering training for local staff in Afghanistan’s challenging environment.
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Bangladesh
We worked with the older Rohingya refugees who continue to be persecuted in Myanmar to ensure a better quality of life. We provided assistive products, integrated health care services such as regular health screening, medicine, mental health and psychosocial care, nutrition support and malnutrition treatment to enhance physical, mental, and mental health and well-being.
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Colombia
Every year, thousands of lives and livelihoods are threatened by extreme flooding in the remote and harsh conditions of La Guajira. Alongside GOAL Colombia and World Vision, we provided older people living in the region with psychosocial and legal care, as well as sanitary kits, toilets and disaster risk reduction information. Thanks to our partners Malteser and Cid Salud, more than 800 people were treated and supplied with medicines, hygiene kits and water tanks at health days.
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Ethiopia
We partnered with four national NGOs - the Rehabilitation and Development Organization (RaDO), Action for Development (AFD), the Ethiopian Center for Disability Development (ECDD) and the Rift Valley Children and Women Development Organization (RCWDO) – and one international NGO – Plan International – to develop support programmes for the more than 800,000 refugees and asylum seekers who have fled to Ethiopia to escape conflict, floods, disease, and displacement. We supported their work to provide older people and people with disabilities with health services in 10 refugee camps and 14 drought and conflict-affected regions.
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Haiti
In August a powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck south-west Haiti, killing more than 2,200 people and affecting over three million. With funding from the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), we worked with Church World Service to identify the most urgent needs of older people affected by the quake, and then provided reaching 1,698 people with cash transfers, hygiene kits, food and seeds to replant their crops. We also distributed kits to help them cope in the difficult circumstances, including solar lamps and radios.
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Jordan
We worked with our partner, the Noor Hussein Foundation, to provide host and refugee communities with mental health and protection services. This included building intergenerational support groups, case management and referral, and making home
visits to provide emotional support.We also conducted virtual and face-to-face trainings on ‘Age Inclusive Humanitarian Interventions’. Trainings were conducted with national and international organisations to enhance the inclusion of older men and women within their programmes and activities.
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Kenya
As Kenya experienced its worst drought in 40 years, we worked with partners Echami A Ito and Pastoral Integrated Support Program to deliver a two-month drought response. We distributed cash transfers to provide relief to the 1,000 most at-risk older households from the worst effects of the drought in the north of the country.
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Lebanon
Alongside our partner IDRAAC – Institute for Development, Research, Advocacy and Applied Care – we provided protection and mental health support for almost 5,000 older Syrian refugees and host communities, including people with disabilities and their families. Services included specialised mental health consultations, a telephone hotline, home visits, and case management support and referrals.
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Mozambique
After cyclone Eloise caused destruction across the country, we supported 12,500 older people with food, health services and door-to-door psychosocial support. Many people were still struggling to rebuild their lives after cyclone Idai hit the same area in 2019, so with UNDP funds we set up training for a further 20,000 older people on financial management, community savings schemes, livestock and fish farming to help them rebuild their businesses.
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Palestine
During the 2021 bombardment of Gaza, we escalated our support to our partner El Wedad’s work with older people in their community who were already struggling with the impact of Covid-19. We supported their Rapid Needs Assessment of 500 older people to establish their needs which led to the distribution of hygiene kits, food baskets, walking sticks, hearing aids and emotional support to those most at-risk.
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South Sudan
As Covid-19 hit, we offered technical support to the Humanitarian Development Consortium (HDC) to carry out rapid needs assessments for older people so that they could assess what support was required. As a result, 2,000 households received a variety of support, including cash grants, chlorine tables, food hampers and hygiene kits.
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Uganda
We partnered with an older people’s association, Community Aged Foundation (CAFO), to support almost 1,000 older people after flash floods hit in the southwest of the country in July 2021. This included providing cash transfers to enable people to pay medical bills, buy food, and replace livestock swept away in the floods. Health camps were also set up to diagnose and treat disease.
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Venezuela
After landslides caused by heavy rains destroyed people’s homes, belongings, and crops, we supported the response led by our partner Convité. More than 3,500 older people received personal hygiene items, food supplies, medical consultations and medicines. We also worked with them to supply hot meals and medical support to more than 1,200 older people affected by Covid-19.
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Yemen
Through the Yemen Family Care Association (YFCA), we were able to provide emergency cash transfers to older people displaced by ongoing violence, enabling them to buy food, and jerry cans for clean water. They were also provided with access to psychological first aid and information on protecting themselves and their families from Covid-19.
Case study: Ukraine
While we were packing, we heard the sirens and the bombing nearby. We didn’t know how to get out of the house quickly and safely. In my 70s, for the first time in my life, I felt a fear that I cannot explain.
In February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale military assault on Ukraine. With staff already in Ukraine and Moldova and an established volunteer network, we were well positioned to respond immediately.
Once we had ensured the safety of our staff and volunteers, many of whom evacuated from our bases in Kyiv and Slovyansk, we began setting up new offices in Dnipro and Lviv, establishing partnerships and recruiting more staff and volunteers.
The on-going war has had a huge impact on older people – a quarter of Ukraine’s population are over 60, making this conflict the ‘oldest’ humanitarian crisis in the world. Within weeks, our volunteers were delivering food and support to almost 20,000 older people. As people fled to neighbouring Moldova, we helped organise accommodation in refugee centres and delivered hot meals and hygiene kits to 3,000 people.
Watch Valentina, 72, from Kherson in Ukraine talk about her experience as a refugee in Moldova
Healthy ageing
Promoting healthy ageing is about maximising everyone’s ability to continue to do the things that matter to us as we get older. Staying healthy and feeling good is everyone’s right, no matter their age. We work with network members and partners to promote healthy ageing so that everyone, everywhere can continue to do the things that matter to them as they get older.
Snapshot of healthy ageing
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827kolder people supported with health care
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5countries improved national policies on long-term care with our technical assistance
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2khealthcare workers trained to support older people
Find out more
Across the world
Covid-19 vaccine equity was top of our agenda for the year. We launched a manifesto and toolkit to support partners pushing their governments for vaccine policies which prioritised older people. We joined the People’s Vaccine Alliance, and lobbied the World Health Organization (WHO) and UN, sharing leading examples of community-based approaches that could help improve uptake of vaccines in countries across the world.
As part of the EU-funded SUNI-SEA project, we helped improve older people’s wellbeing across southeast Asia. Volunteers were trained to use mobile apps to screen older people at risk of high blood pressure and diabetes, referring them to the nearest health facility. In Myanmar after the coup, mental health screening and psychological first aid were introduced to help older people deal with the increased threat level. The project also created strong links between communities and local health facility staff. In Vietnam, we helped establish a new group of health care volunteers to support health screening and health promotion activities. This enabled more older people to be monitored and encouraged to take part in healthy ageing activities. We also began screening older people for diabetes as standard.
HelpAge International worked with the Africa Population and Research Center and South Africa’s North-West University (NWU) in the development of the revised African Union Plan of Action on Ageing. This is a continent-wide tool that can track countries’ commitments and progress on supporting older people.
Countries in focus
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Brazil
On your bike! Working with the healthy ageing and urban mobility research project team at the Federal University of Santa Catarina, we encouraged healthy activity by adapting tricycles and making them available to older people in a park with safe, wide cycle lanes. Low-cost and innovative, the Blue Bikers project promoted social integration and provided an enjoyable way for older people to improve their physical and mental health.
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Ethiopia
Almost 100,000 people accessed screening and treatment for health issues including strokes, cancer and heart disease, as well as ophthalmic and HIV services, after we established age-friendly outpatient departments, trained health workers and equipped 14 health facilities with modern equipment. A further 3,012 older people received home and community-based care and support services.
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Kenya
Issues such as diabetes and high blood pressure can be very dangerous for older people. Through network members KDCCE and KARIKA, and partner CiPHEDs, we enabled 18,775 older people to access health information and services including screening, care and treatment.
As part of the Better Health for Older Persons in Africa (BHOPA) programme, funded by Age International, we worked with members of Older People’s Associations in Kenya to develop programmes to improve their wellbeing. Members met weekly or bi-weekly to take part in gentle exercise, singing and dancing, to enable them to better manage their health risks. Many participants reported feeling happier and more active as a result of these sessions.
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Mozambique
We developed mobile health buses and community health fairs to reach older people in remote communities which are poorly served by the national health system which enabled more than 3,000 older people to attend consultations and health screenings, as well as receiving their Covid-19 vaccinations.
We also helped train more than 200 health staff in geriatric care and managing non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and chronic lung disease.
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Pakistan
Care homes across the country were legally bound to higher standards after our partner FAID launched UN Decade of Healthy Ageing Initiatives, in partnership with the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO). Achievements included developing minimum standards for care homes and drafting a national framework on healthy ageing for the government.
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Tanzania
Through working in partnership with MAPERECE and the African Women Aids Working Group (AFRIWAG), more than one million older people were able to access age-friendly health treatment. This was enhanced by changes in government policy which created a favourable environment for older people access to health services which has been partly attributed to our interventions focusing on strengthening health systems.
We supported the training of primary health care workers, home based care health providers, and older peoples monitoring groups, developing simple guidelines for a healthy diet and healthy lifestyle.
Case study: Tanzania
In September 2021, only 1.6 per cent of older people in Tanzania had been vaccinated against Covid-19, a result of misinformation, ageism and limited exposure to reliable news in mainstream media.
Working alongside UNICEF, we embarked on a holistic programme to encourage people to get vaccinated. Our staff travelled to communities to speak to leaders and communities, worked with young volunteers and government health workers to spread the message, and distributed clear, accurate information through our network of home-based care providers and Active Ageing Clubs. We then organised eight mobile vaccination clinics in the most remote areas. The results were amazing: almost 7,000 older people in the project area received their vaccination, while demand in other age groups increased by 88 per cent.
Anthony Kijavala, an 85-year-old man from Korogwe District Tanga region, who took the vaccine as a result of the project affirmed:
We decided to take the vaccine after being educated and encouraged by our peers in the older people’s active aging club where we meet weekly. They provided us with a lot of information and knowledge about Covid-19 and the importance of taking the vaccine, especially for us older people. But personally, I took this decision because I have seen people dying in my neighbourhood not once but many times and many of these people are older people like me, although the authorities were not saying anything about it, I was old enough to see and realise that I need to decide for myself to protect my myself my family and my community.
Covid-19
Covid-19 continued to have a devastating effect on older people around the world, especially as a result of vaccine inequity and ageist lockdown policies. Much of our work focused on ensuring older and at-risk people had access to information, personal protective equipment, health screening and vaccinations when and where needed.
Snapshot of Covid-19
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181kpeople received support with health care in response to Covid-19
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443kpeople received humanitarian assistance via HelpAge network emergency responses
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9.5molder people received additional income support from their government
Find out more
Across the world
Our Covid-19 research, Bearing the brunt, commissioned by UNFPA, found that older people were at higher risk of serious illness and their odds of survival lowest. Many lost their livelihoods and were unable to buy the food or medicine they needed to survive. It also unearthed how the pandemic exposed ageism like never before. Older people were separated and isolated, portrayed as weak and helpless, and
their rights ignored, taking an unacceptable toll on
their health and wellbeing.
Our advocacy brief, Confronting the shadow pandemic, highlighted how the conditions created by Covid-19 increased the risks of violence, abuse and neglect older people faced. Based on research across Malawi, Moldova and Pakistan, older people provided testimonies of the impact the pandemic had on their lives, revealing that increased confinement during the pandemic put them at greater risk of violence in all three countries.
We connected and consulted with more than 30 network members in 20 countries to design, develop and launch a vaccine manifesto, advocacy and policy influencing plan and Covid-19 vaccine toolkit.
Countries in focus
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Bangladesh
More than 23,500 older Rohingya refugees were able to protect themselves from Covid-19 through our work. They were helped to understand the risks they faced and the need for quarantine. Hand sanitizer, masks, and surface disinfectant materials were also distributed.
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Ethiopia
In collaboration with the Ethiopian Elderly and pensioners National Association (EEPNA), we ran awareness raising workshops on Covid-19 prevention and implementing the guidelines. We also worked with representatives of Older People’s Associations (OPAs) to share information about the impacts of the disease. More than 6,000 older people were provided with Covid-19 personal protection materials, including face masks, hand sanitisers and soap.
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Kenya
Following our Covid-19 needs assessment of older people, the government, with support from development partners, rolled out a countrywide cash transfer programme targeting at-risk and older households to mitigate the economic impacts of Covid-19 and to build financial resilience. HelpAge also supported the training and capacitating of healthcare workers and promoted campaigns to encourage an increased number of older people to get vaccinated. Almost 5,000 older people were vaccinated in the areas of operation.
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Lebanon
Our partner IDRAAC distributed 1,497 hygiene kits and 702 older people’s kits procured by HelpAge to the most at-risk households to promote healthy hygiene practices that could help prevent Covid-19.
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Moldova
With funding from UN Women and the UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR), essential care packs with food, personal protective equipment (PPE), hygiene and personal care products were distributed to 795 at-risk older people in 10 communities. Long-lasting food items were chosen in case people were quarantined for long periods, and hygiene packs were distributed to people who were bed-ridden or with permanent care needs. Volunteers were also able to make home visits to older people who were particularly isolated.
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Mozambique
We developed radio campaigns to advocate for and ensure Covid-19 vaccines were available for people of all ages. The number of older people accessing vaccines in some areas rose by almost 50 per cent.
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Myanmar
When older people couldn’t afford to travel to get tested and vaccinated, we funded transport to get them to health centres. We also provided disability grants to around 4,880 people, and liquid soap and hand sanitiser to 216 community groups, so members could generate income – money used to support at-risk community members.
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Pakistan
We ran mass awareness on infection prevention and control in local languages through banners, pamphlets, and community sessions. Through collaboration with district health officials, we worked with our partner FAID to provide cash assistance to members of Older People’s Associations (OPAs) members and to train eight health surge volunteer teams from 26 OPAs on the use of essential home-based Covid management equipment including oxygen cylinders, oxygen concentrators and oximeters, and the care of Covid patients isolated at home.
We also worked with the Sindh Rural Support Organisation (SSRO) to provide three-months of food rations to members of OPAs in Karachi during the lockdown and distributed hygiene kits and PPE.
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Palestine
We provided support to El Wedad, our partner in Gaza, to enable them to reach older people with advice and psychological support – particularly around isolation. They set up a phone support service to reach more than 500 older members of their community who were isolated at home due to the pandemic. The service included tips on protecting yourself from Covid-19, self-care and the latest news on health issues via text messages.
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Syria
In partnership with Syrian Expats Medical Association (SEMA), we implemented a Covid-19 response targeting refugee camps to offer mental and psychosocial support through mobile clinics. Dedicated community health workers conducted house-to-house visits for more than 17,000 at-risk people in 10 refugee camps, including those with chronic illnesses or underlying health conditions, delivering Covid-19 prevention and awareness messages, information on coping skills and how to manage stress, and psychological first aid. They also distributed hygiene kits and referred people needing additional support to health care services.
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Uganda
As a result of advocacy efforts by HelpAge and network members, including Uganda Reach the Aged Association (URAA), the Grandmothers’ Consortium (GMC) and the Social Protection Platform Uganda (SPPU) older people were able to collect their pensions safely, after the government adapted pay points to allow for social distancing.
Case study: India
India’s second wave of Covid-19 in May 2021 was particularly devastating, destroying livelihoods and leaving millions of daily wage earners penniless
and families starving. Across the country, livelihoods were being destroyed, daily wage earners rendered penniless, families were starving, while migrant workers trudged hundreds of miles on foot back home to their villages, mostly without food or support.
Our partners, HelpAge India and GRAVIS, knew that urgent help was needed to support older people’s immediate needs – but also that rebuilding lives after the pandemic was key.
As a result of the funds raised during the UK’s Disaster Emergencies Committee (DEC) appeal, we were able to provide funds to GRAVIS and HelpAge India which enabled them to distribute nutritional supplements and sanitation and hygiene products to 11,161 poor families in rural areas.
Over the next six months, they went on to distribute fruit-bearing plants and vegetable seed kits to 6,050 families with older people across five states. This enabled them to grow produce their own food to eat and sell.
Tetri Devi, 65, and her husband own a small piece of land, but lost their source of income during the pandemic. Tetri received a native vegetable seed kit, with which she developed a kitchen garden on her land. Over one season, she earned approximately 4,000 rupees (£40) from her produce, and the brinjal (aubergine) she grew in the next season made more than 10,000 rupees (£100). The income helped the couple repay a debt of 4000 rupees they had been forced to take to survive during Covid-19.
Income security
A secure income is key to living with dignity. That applies for everyone – no matter what their age or position in society. HelpAge works to increase older people’s incomes through advocacy and practical action. We push governments for positive change to social welfare policies, and advocate for decent work and financial inclusion for all.
Snapshot of income security
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17kolder people received a government pension or cash transfer in 12 target countries
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5of our target countries increased social pension payments to older people
Find out more
Across the world
Together with the African Union, we convened more than 25 organisations and 10 governments to discuss the impact of Covid-19 and how effective social protection measures would improve the way countries would be able to respond to the pandemic. We also trained government officials on how to effectively introduce social protection laws to protect their citizens.
As part of the Irish Aid-funded AFFORD programme – which supports older people to lead secure and healthy lives in Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania – we encouraged the governments in the four countries to sign up to the African Union Protocol on the Rights of Older People as this will help secure increased access to social protection for millions of older citizens. By the end of the year, all four countries had ratified the Protocol.
We developed our relationship with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the World Bank during the year, so we could work together to push for increased income security across numerous countries. In Bangladesh, this resulted in the government piloting our Older People’s Association model for community development, and in Vietnam, our collective advocacy with the UN and ILO resulted in the government reducing the pension eligibility age from 80 to 75 for those living in disadvantaged areas and increasing the monthly payment from £9 to £12. More than 200,000 people benefitted from this work.
Countries in focus
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Bangladesh
People over 60 were able to start a small business or buy livestock without fear of building up large debts after network member, Resource Integration Center, introduced age-friendly micro-credit that reduces the amount of interest someone owes the older they get. Our staff in Bangladesh supported the initiative with monitoring and evaluation.
“I took the initiative to rear cows commercially and got profit and economic success with the support of my family members.”
Amina Begum (70), Pubail Union, Gazipur District -
Kenya
More than 830,000 older people were able to claim a social pension, while 42,000 gained access to health services, after we helped in the development of a national healthy ageing policy and complementary national hospital insurance fund. We also worked with community-based organisations and network members to offer training and information to older people on how to claim their new rights.
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Lebanon
In August 2021, at the peak of the Lebanese economic crisis, we conducted focus groups with older people from different communities to find out more about their economic circumstances. We learned about the struggles they face because of their insecure incomes and lack of social pension. This work was supported by our partner Dorcas and part of our partnership with the ILO. It contributed to the development of a policy brief for launch in 2022.
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Mozambique
Working with local government, we campaigned to encourage and financially supported a number of older people to register for identity cards. This would give them official access to government support, including health care and cash assistance.
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Sri Lanka
We provide financial support to our partner, HelpAge Sri Lanka, who run a revolving fund – established in 2015 – to help communities to thrive. In 2021, this enabled 1,662 older people to support themselves with initiatives ranging from carpentry, doormat making, and dressmaking, to selling dried fish, and cultivating fruit and vegetables.
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Uganda
Together with our partners Uganda Reach the Aged Association (URAA) and the Grandmothers’ Consortium (GMC), we launched the Social Protection Platform of Uganda (SPPU) to lobby for older people’s rights. Together we persuaded the government to address challenges in delayed pension payments and accessibility, which enabled almost 360,000 older people to received increased payments.
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Vietnam
Small businesses flourished after more than 2,600 Intergenerational Self-Help Clubs (ISHCs) supported members with income generation activities, training and micro-credit schemes. Members also benefited from livelihood peer support groups where people could share their experience and knowledge, while over 300 economic development volunteers provided livelihood support for the most at-risk community members.
Case study: Sponsor a Grandparent
The Sponsor a Grandparent scheme, funded by Age International and implemented by HelpAge across five countries, offers a programme where donors support work in a community and receive regular updates about a specific grandparent whose story they follow over time.
Working with our national partners in five countries – Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka – the programme delivers support that meet the specific needs of older people in each country by developing plans in direct discussion with them and their communities
This programme gave us the means to live happy, even during Covid-19. It helped us improve our minds.
In 2021 in Sri Lanka, 197 people attended training on business and financial skills including bookkeeping, good governance, management, and fundraising. Around 60 older people, community volunteers and staff were trained on leadership development.
In Ethiopia, the project provided 550 older people (including those who are terminally ill or with no family members) with services including monthly cash grants, hot meals, residential care, and psychosocial support.
And in India, network member HelpAge India rolled out cash transfers to more than 6,600 older people who were unable to earn an income during the Covid pandemic. People used the support for activities such as poultry farming, kitchen gardens, fish farming and banana cultivation. Digital initiatives also encouraged 300 older people to enrol for government entitlements including ration cards and pensions and track the progress of their applications.
Society for all ages
By 2050, over two billion people will be aged over 60. But many societies still shun and discriminate against older people, leaving them unable to support themselves or act as valued members of the community. We want to achieve a world where we are all recognised and respected as individuals, embraced equally, and treated fairly and without discrimination in older age.
Snapshot of society for all ages
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7.5kOPAs in 14 countries received support
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20countries with functioning national platforms, movements, or campaigns to support older peoples’ rights
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12kolder people were able to participate in community programmes and activities that strengthen social connections
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3new age-inclusive national laws and policies were passed in Latin America and the Caribbean
Find out more
Across the world
Older people often struggle to be heard by those in power. So, in line with our vision of a world in which every older person everywhere can say ‘my voice is heard’, we developed a Voice toolkit to help partners, network members and staff ensure older people’s voices are raised – and heard – by decision-makers across the world. This was followed by a roll-out across Eurasia and the Middle East, through training workshops in English, Arabic and Russian.
Across Latin America, in partnership with American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), we piloted new projects including community gardens and open-air group exercise classes to help build age-friendly cities. Specifically chosen to be innovative, low cost and easy-to-implement, the projects can have a high impact on quality of life and make our environments a better place to grow older.
Systemic ageism occurs in the media and at all levels of society, resulting in a narrative that the older someone is, the less important they are. To mark International Day of Older Persons on 1 October we launched an Ageism in the system campaign to increase understanding of systemic ageism
and encourage people to tackle it more effectively. We produced an animation as well as a guide to support our partners’ anti-ageism campaigning.
As we approach the mid-point of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we partnered with Statistics Without Borders to analyse the household surveys that are used to decide SDG programme work in five countries. The analysis revealed that older people and other marginalised groups are almost invisible in the data work. We used the findings to engage UN agencies and encourage them to make SDG surveys more age-inclusive and gender-responsive.
International law demands governments eliminate all forms of iscrimination, including based on age. But the reality is older people are routinely denied equality. With support from AARP, we commissioned the Equal Rights Trust to develop a comprehensive legal study on states’ obligations under international human rights law to tackle ageism and age discrimination, and a comparative legal study of the prohibition of age discrimination and ageism in national legal frameworks in 12 countries, for publication in June 2022 ahead of the UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) Ministerial Conference on Ageing, in Rome.
We partnered with the United Nations Population Fund Arab States Regional Office (UNFPA ASRO), and other organisations, to assess the state of the rights of older people across the Middle East. Our review of human rights standards in six National Ageing Strategies in Arab States and follow-up ‘Guide to Policy Formulation from a Human Rights Perspective’ generated requests to provide technical support in improving work to promote older people’s rights.
Countries in focus
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Colombia
Unloved areas in Ciudad Bolívar, a neighbourhood in Bogota, were brought to life through our urban garden initiative. Expert advice, workshops and talks on cultivation and land management inspired older people to get digging and growing, creating colourful green spaces for everyone to enjoy. Older people reported how much of a positive impact these newly revitalised community spaces had on their lives.
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Ethiopia
In collaboration with the Ethiopian Elderly and Pensioners’ National Association (EEPNA), we hosted training on leadership, communication and older people’s rights for community leaders, government decision-makers and journalists.
We influenced government organisations and ministries to adapt and implement ageing laws and policies. This included the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, Ministry of Women and Social Affairs, Ethiopian Institute of Ombudsman, Ministry of Health, and Ministry of Justice; with the first two establishing a directorate for older people and people with disabilities.
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Jordan
To encourage the inclusion of older people, people with disabilities and Syrian refugees in their local communities, more than 3,000 older people participated in awareness-raising sessions, recreational activities and group meetings. Services were provided by our partner the Institute for Family Health (IFH) on health and mental health, cash assistance, and other protection services. Another partner, the Noor Al Hussein Foundation, also put in place systems for responding to complaints, including suggestion boxes, and a telephone helpline.
HelpAge collaborated with the Ministry of Social Development by reviewing a new law to establish an older people’s fund in the country.
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Kenya
We organised financial literacy training and craft activities and developed welfare groups for 68 Older People’s Associations to help older people increase their income and form valuable relationships. As an example, one older man who couldn’t afford his wife’s hospital bill was introduced to a social worker, who helped arrange for him to pay the bill in instalments so his wife could be discharged.
HelpAge supported the formulation of the geriatric bill and the ratification of the African Union Protocol on Human Rights of Older People, which puts Kenya in a better position to prepare for population ageing. An ambassador for older people was appointed to the government, and we helped build his ability to promote and advocate for ageing rights.
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Moldova
Younger volunteers shared their digital skills with older people, teaching them how to use a smartphone, to access the internet and other apps so they could interact with family members, make new social connections, and access online help and support. One thousand older people benefited, especially older people at risk of domestic violence and violence survivors.
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Pakistan
We supported members of 115 Older People’s Associations (OPAs) to lobby policymakers and government officials to pass the Senior Citizen’s Welfare Act. This resulted in the signing of an MOU between the Social Welfare department, the government of Sindh and the National Database Registration Authority, to start the registration of senior citizens with the issuance of Azadi cards (special cards for older people).
The federal government also passed the Islamabad Capital Territory Senior Citizen Welfare Act to protect and promote the rights of older people living in Islamabad. We will be providing technical support to the Ministry of Human Rights for the implementation of the Act.
To help promote peace in Khyber District (an area severely affected by armed conflict between militants and the army), we supported network partner Sarhad Rural Support Program to organise training in leadership and management at 65 Senior Citizens’ Committees. This has generated a new cooperation between older people, the government and civil society to advocate for peace.
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Tanzania
Small businesses flourished after more than 2,600 Intergenerational Self-Help Clubs (ISHCs) supported members with income generation activities, training and micro-credit schemes. Members also benefited from livelihood peer support groups where people could share their experience and knowledge, while over 300 economic development volunteers provided livelihood support for the most at-risk community members.
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Uganda
We worked with our partner the Uganda Reach the Aged Association (URAA) to promote intergenerational approaches. We brought groups together for discussion, training and awareness-raising sessions with local government and district leaders. Government officials commended this as a significant initiative to champion capacity building for older people’s leaders, helping them articulate the primary issues they face and improving their advocacy efforts through the National Council of Older Persons (NCOP). The older people’s leaders regularly submit their recommendations to policy makers and the government has now increased the annual budget allocation for older persons councils by 50 per cent.
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Vietnam
In December 2021 the Prime Minister approved a new national plan of action for older people that highly commended the Intergenerational Self-Help Clubs (ISHCs), developed by HelpAge. The plan states that by 2030 at least 80 per cent of regions need ISHCs or similar models to take care of and promote the role of older people, and 100 per cent of regions must have a fund for the care and protection of older people.
Case study: Myanmar
Sometimes I feel embarrassed to be alive.
Many older people in Myanmar have lived the majority of their lives under military rule. After a brief period in which democracy took its first steps, another military coup unfolded in 2021, and older people instinctively understood the danger they faced.
Already struggling with Covid-19 travel restrictions, many older people were in desperate need of food, income and mental health support, and it was clear the situation was only going to get worse. Faced with travel restrictions and increasing security risks, the Myanmar team was unable to reach villages to establish additional groups.
The solution was the creation of Emergency Working Groups, a new type of group which could be formed remotely, to provide older people and their communities with cash, food, mental health services, and training in livelihood activities such as soap making.
Since the coup, HelpAge has formed 35 groups, supporting 4,331 households with cash, food kits, assistive devices, livelihood training sessions, and mental health services. The groups have been able to provide people facing challenges with a more positive outlook, a chance to earn an income, and a sense of belonging.
The last year and a half have been very difficult. We experience roadblocks and travel restrictions. We hear heavy shelling every day and many people are injured and killed. Since the village is no longer safe, we have to seek refuge in different places. We face a lack of employment and income. This is a disaster for us.
Equality and inclusion
In countries across the world, we are still very far from equality for older women and older people with disabilities. Their rights too often remain ignored or overlooked. At HelpAge we believe that by upholding the value and dignity of every individual in every aspect of our work, we can respect differences and push for equality in all we do.
Find out more
Across the world
At the Global Disability Summit in February 2022, we signed a series of commitments to reduce disability discrimination and promote attitudinal change among communities, partners, network members and other organisations. This included a commitment to support, develop and implement programmes on assistive technology, and pushing for universal social protection for all people with disabilities. We also raised the voice of older people with a series of videos that were shared at the Summit.
We convened an international task force to fight for older women’s economic justice and rights – included network members from Kenya, Singapore, Sweden, Russia, UK, USA and Zambia. During the Generation Equality Campaign the task force raised awareness about older women’s issues being invisible – both in the global meetings and in the Global Acceleration Plan.
We developed our own global gender and ageing advocacy framework that includes specific gender and ageing advocacy objectives, an overview of how gender should be integrated into all advocacy strategies, and a process for national strategy development. We also strengthened our own global commitments towards people with disabilities.
Countries in focus
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Bangladesh
We worked with our partner, Gender in Humanitarian Assistance (GiHA), to support women of all ages to empower them to better understand how to protect themselves from gender-based violence. More than 1,000 older people with disabilities in the Cox’s Bazar refugee camps also received assistive products that would improve their mobility and quality of life.
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Lebanon
We collaborated with our partner IDRAAC, to support Syrian refugees and host communities with community-based health and protection services. Most activities were group-based to encourage social connection and women were actively encouraged to help develop project activities. As a result, 70 per cent of the women reported feeling less isolated and at risk. To make the projects more disability inclusive, home visits were made to people who were homebound or have mobility impairments. This tailored approach helped reduce isolation and depression and ensured everyone could access appropriate and comprehensive support.
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Pakistan
During the development of Pakistan’s National Framework on Healthy Ageing and Minimum Standards for Care Homes, we consulted expert women to make sure their recommendations regarding gender and disability inclusion were included in the draft documents. We also trained staff at our partner organisation Sarhad Rural Support Program on how to include older people, including those with disabilities in their projects.
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Tanzania
In our community-based rehabilitation work, we fought stigma around people with disabilities through awareness-raising and sensitisation sessions, working with communities, religious leaders, and schools. We also provided practical and emotional support through mental health services and provision of wheelchairs, walking sticks, hearing aids, prosthetics, and rehabilitation clinics.
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Vietnam
We increasingly prioritised disadvantaged groups in our work. In 2021, about 70 per cent of people taken care of by homecare volunteers were living with disabilities. Detailed guidelines were developed to address how to choose an age and disability friendly meeting venue for our Intergenerational Self-Help Clubs.
Climate change
Floods, droughts, heatwaves, wildfires, cyclones and changing weather patterns are all increasing in frequency and devastation. It is vital that humanity acts now to stop the worst of the damage. That’s why we are working in partnership with older people to learn from their lifetimes of knowledge and experience in the face of a changing climate.
Snapshot of climate change
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Extreme weather events can have a devastating impact on older people – but they are often powerful actors in taking steps to address the climate crisis. -
Negative perceptions of older people being indifferent or opposed to climate action do not hold true. -
We see older people every day demonstrating a strong commitment to climate action.
Find out more
Across the world
Ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference, COP26, in the UK, we developed a briefing paper on climate action, to show how older people around the world are using their voices, knowledge and energy to make a difference in the campaign to save our planet. It showed how engaging and empowering older people’s voices and actions in tackling the climate crisis can build even greater support for the climate movement.
Read the climate change briefing paper
Watch the climate action video
We committed to managing our own environmental impacts with a pledge to reduce our own emissions by 50 per cent by 2030 – through a new Environmental Management Policy, approved by the Board in early 2022. Steps include tracking and reducing CO2 emissions from air and land travel, meeting emissions targets, and identifying energy saving measures that can be implemented in our operations.
Countries in focus
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Moldova
In Moldova, older people sat down with the UNDP to tell them what policies they wanted their country to put in place to deal with climate change.
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Pakistan
Older people in Pakistan planted thousands of trees as part of a movement to create a ‘Clean and Green Pakistan’.
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Tanzania
In Tanzania, 264,475 refugees and asylum seekers learned the latest research on climate-friendly agricultural systems to ensure sustainable incomes.
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Thailand and Vietnam
In Thailand and Vietnam, we supported our partners in a project focused on growing trees and bamboo plants. In Vietnam, the Vietnam Association of the Elderly (VAE), developed tree planting and environmental campaigns that cover the entire country, working in partnership with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. In Thailand, network member Foundation for Older Person’s Development (FOPDEV), is working with local communities and authorities on community-forest planning and management.
Case study: Making biochar
Bamboo is a miracle plant. It’s fast growing, sustainable, nutritious, strong and an ecologically sound replacement for timber. In Thailand our partner the FOPDEV is working with older communities to test varieties of bamboo that can become a steady source of biochar production (a sustainable and more effective alternative to compost) and smokeless fuel, sequestering CO2 and improving soil quality.
The potential for scaling up this activity – which has already been tested with Older People’s Associations across Bangladesh, Cambodia and Vietnam – is significant. It will not only be of great benefit to the environment, but will provide a regular source of income to older people and their communities.
Making biochar is fast, easy and does not cost much, but it provides environmental benefits, and others such as for animal husbandry and farming. I hope to see this initiative scaled up nationally, so many people can benefit from it.
Our values
Strategy 2030
Critical debates around #shiftingpower and decolonisation of aid ask vital questions of organisations such as our own. Recognising the need to ensure all HelpAge interventions are truly locally-led – designed, led and delivered by national or local stakeholders – our 10-year Strategy 2030 places locally-led development at its heart.
To achieve this, we know we must work in a more agile way, growing our networks and partnerships and placing them front and centre. This means adapting our own role to one of three things:
These three roles form the foundations of our changing approach. They are underpinned by a process of reflection and transformation of our organisational systems and processes.
In 2021, this included:
- Capturing learning and good practice on partner-led programming from within HelpAge and the sector.
- Growing our leadership and innovation skills
through a leadership programme and other learning opportunities for staff and partners. - Investing in new tools and systems, skills, capabilities and learning platforms covering such topics as virtual collaboration, digital measurement and evaluation systems, and innovation and leadership in disruptive times.
- Forming an Indaba, a Zulu term for a forum to discuss matters of importance, with network members and partners. Through regular conversations, the Indaba provides feedback and guidance on the journey ahead.
- Starting the process at 13 HelpAge country offices towards operating as locally-led entities.
- Carrying out participatory assessments and consultations in four countries, with country transition models developed.
- Collaborating with localisation initiatives, including Stopping at Success, Bond and Re-Imagining INGOs.
- Improving our planning and reporting systems, developing a streamlined organisational results framework to evaluate our impact and outcomes.
The global network
The HelpAge Global network lies at the heart of all our work at HelpAge. The partnership and support of network members strengthens our work and enables us to deliver our programmes and activities, as well as helping us raise the voice of older people through advocacy and campaigns.
The network continued to grow last year, with 11 new members coming forward to support our work to make this a better world to grow old in.
We were pleased to welcome our first members from Iraq and Yemen into the global alliance, extending our reach to 90 countries around the world.
member
organisations
new members
in 2021/22
90
countries
Our funders
Our work to create a better world for older people would not be possible without the support of our funders. We wish to thank them all for their generosity, support and commitment to our vision of a world where everyone can lead dignified, healthy and secure lives, whatever their age.
With special thanks to our supporting members: Age International, HelpAge Canada, HelpAge Deutschland, HelpAge Italia, HelpAge Korea, HelpAge USA.
Our finances
Where our money came from
£29.4m
Where we spent this money
£22.0m
How we spent this money
£22.0m
