The abuse of women's rights in Africa is an issue which is very close to my heart. Abuse against older women is common across Africa and in African communities abroad, yet it receives very little attention. People give many...
To celebrate World Humanitarian Day last week, the Crisis Communications Group opened a photo exhibition in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek. World Humanitarian Day is an oppotunity for humanitarian aid workers to renew their commitment to helping vulnerable a
This week, HelpAge affiliate, Fiji Council of Social Services (FCOSS) met with their minister for Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Jiko Luveni as well as the permanent secretary, Mr. Govind Sami to present the Madrid International Plan...
As societies change and the complexity of our world increases, more pressure and strain is put on traditional family structures. However, as these structures crumble, one thing that has not changed is the unbreakable bond between child and grandparent....
I have just got back from Ethiopia, a country close to me, having worked there in my formative years for Save the Children. I travelled there with Tom Wright, CEO of our sister organisation, Age UK. On our short...
On 10 August, I accompanied the CEOs of Age UK and HelpAge International to our project site in Dillo district, Borana zone. The purpose of their visit was to observe the effects of the drought which has had a...
It is 8:00 am and as I rush up to the third floor of my office building the first thing that comes to my mind is the countdown to 1 October, the International Day of Older People. With less...
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day was in June. To mark the occasion, KARIKA, an organisation concerned with the effects of HIV and AIDS on older Kenyans, sponsored a one day procession and rally. KARIKA is an acronym for Kenyan...
I am the first elected President of the Confederation of Older Persons Associations of the Philippines (COPAP). Last week I attended the second meeting of the UN Open Ended Working Group in New York plus a side event on...
I work with older persons organisation Zivot 90 in the Czech Republic. This week I attended the second Open Ended Working Group (OEWG) at the UN in New York which met to discuss the protection of older people's rights....
Dadaab, the biggest refugee camp in the world... More than 400,000 people have fled their country to settle in this hot, sandy and windy place. The month is August, it has not rained for months, and the only green...
Borena zone. All the information I had heard about this area was drought! When leaving Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, I was prepared to experience people's distress, poverty and extreme heat as a result of failed rains and...
