Blogs

From Cherkassy to the United Nations

At that point on a Friday afternoon, I had never heard of Ternopol, nor was I familiar with Cherkassy and certainly not aware of Khmelnitsky. That was until late last Friday afternoon. You see, there comes a point in...

Supporting older people’s rights in Hebron

Last week, I met with our partner PCCDS, the Palestinian Centre for Communications and Development Strategies, based in Hebron in the West Bank. PCCDS work on various issues, but their work overlaps with ours when it comes to supporting...

Millennium Development Goals version 2.0

2015 is getting closer and the process to develop a new framework to succeed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is taking shape. The MDGs came out of the Millennium Declaration which was agreed to by world's leaders at the...

Climbing Kilimanjaro for older people in Ethiopia

I did it!! Thanks to those who have already donated so much and please keep on giving for older people in Ethiopia! It was an amazing experience. The first six days were incredibly beautiful, with changing landscapes and vegitation....

Means-tests are taxes

A typical reaction to universal pensions is "That's a great idea, but we can't afford it, so prefer to give pensions only to those who need them". This reaction appears to be common sense, but it is wrong. Means...

A genuine Kenyan experience

Karibuni Sana readers and greetings from Kenya! I am currently seconded from Age UK to the HelpAge International regional office in Kenya, completing a three month placement based in Nairobi. This placement is all about supporting the regional office...

CSD 2012: Ageing, MDGs and the pursuit of human rights

HelpAge International, with CEO Richard Blewitt and its affiliate HelpAge USA will be participating in the United Nations Commission on Social Development which kicks off on 1 February in New York. Older people are at the centre of the...

A social pension in Rwanda?

A recent article in the Rwandan daily 'The New Times' called for the government to reconsider the exclusion of social pensions from Rwanda's flagship social protection programme - The Vision 2020 Umurenge Programme (known as VUP). VUP aims to...

CSD 2012: Time for older people’s rights to be on the agenda

This week, the UN's Commission for Social Development (CSD) meets in New York to discuss poverty eradication strategies. The CSD meets every February and is a technical body of the UN that develops policy responses to social development. Its...

East Africa crisis: Six months on

In July and September 2011, I took part in documenting the impact of the drought in the Horn of Africa in Ethiopia and Kenya. It was an eye-opening experience, seeing how climatic conditions, coupled with poor planning by governments...