This Human Rights Day, we are at a critical turning point regarding older people’s rights. Politics has not kept up with the realities of demographic ageing and it is time to rethink legislation, policies and the societal attitudes to ageing.
HelpAge is extremely concerned about the continuing violence and humanitarian crisis in eastern DRC. Reports of violence, looting and killings continue, including in Mugunga III internally displaced persons (IDP) camp, in North Kivu province, which hosts some 30,000 people.
HelpAge International is working with older people’s organisations in the Philippines to help older people affected by Typhoon Bopha, the most powerful typhoon to hit the Mindanao province in decades.
On 5-7 December in Osnabrück, Germany, HelpAge Deutschland and HelpAge International are hosting a conference: Strengthening the rights of older people worldwide.
On Saturday 1 December the World’s HIV community will come together to mark World AIDS Day. This year we are focussed on ‘Getting to Zero’ in an effort to achieve a generation where no one dies of AIDS, no one newly acquires HIV, and the rights of all people living with or affected by HIV are upheld. While we, as a care and support community, fully endorse these three goals, we remain concerned about the limited attention being given to the care and support needs of those living with and affected by HIV and the lack of recognition of the crucial role of caregivers in the HIV response.
Across Africa, HelpAge will be marking World AIDS Day with events that draw attention to older people and how they affected by HIV and AIDS.
UN Member States voted to take steps to strengthen the protection of older people’s rights in a landmark vote in the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday 27 November.
HelpAge International is extremely concerned about the safety and wellbeing of older people affected by the recent escalation of unrest in eastern Democratic of Congo (DRC). About 140,000 people have fled their homes in the latest eruption of violence in North Kivu province. We estimate that amongst them are 12,000 older people aged 50 or over.
HelpAge International is very concerned for the safety of the 60,000 older people in the Gaza strip aged 60 and over, including 4,000 who live alone. Many have difficulty walking or have chronic illnesses that limit their mobility.
As the impact of days of violent escalation worsens for civilians in Gaza and in Israel, a group of 38 aid and development agencies today urged world leaders to take swift action to enforce a ceasefire in order to protect civilian lives and infrastructure and prevent another widespread humanitarian disaster in Gaza brought on by a prolonged military confrontation.
Today, HelpAge board member and ageing expert, Isabella Aboderin is attending the UN High Level Panel meeting to discuss the post-2015 development framework.
As part of Age Demands Action in Europe, campaigners from across Europe and Kenya are marching to the European Parliament to urge the EU to make its development policy age-friendly on 4 October. The event will be chaired by Thijs Berman, MEP, and Coordinator for the Socialists and Democrats Group on the Development Committee.
