Albania
Albanian Association of Geriatric and Geriatrics
The Albanian Association of Geriatric and Geriatrics (AAGG) was established in 1991 immediately after the end of the communistic era in Albania. It was established to link Albanian health professionals with an interest in geriatrics and gerontology to wider international developments and thinking in these fields. This remains a core part of its mission and activities to date.
The work of AAGG also includes improving health, life quality and welfare of older people. They urge improvement of health; social services; participation; and carry out research on the wellbeing of older people. AAGG’s other key areas of work include campaign and advocacy, service provision, training and education and network development.
Since 2007, AAGG has developed a network of organisations and institutions named Movement of Organisations Supporting Healthy Ageing (MOSHA). The network is a loose coalition composed of ten organisations of older people organisations or other organisations interested in ageing.
AAGG has led the Albanian Age Demands Action campaign since 2008 and became a member of the HelpAge global network in 2014.
Armenia
Mission Armenia
Mission Armenia was founded in 1993 by a group of volunteers. It aims to provide community-based social and healthcare services to vulnerable groups, including older people.
Mission Armenia collaborates closely with the Government of Armenia, local groups, USAID, UNHCR, HelpAge International and a number of other international organisations. It has branches in Australia and the United States. Mission Armenia is the founder of International Union of Black Sea NGOs, a network of 50 NGOs from 12 states of the Black Sea region. The union’s headquarters are based in Armenia.
Mission Armenia works in seven provinces in Armenia where they provide a number of services including social, legal and healthcare; nutrition services; and vocational trainings to make older people competitive on the labour market and to empower them to claim their rights.
Recently, Mission Armenia has supported more than 5,500 extremely vulnerable local refugees who were affected by consequences of the global crisis and lack of appropriate social protection mechanisms. The refugees included extremely vulnerable older people.
Mission Armenia has been working with HelpAge International since 1999 and became a HelpAge global network member in 2004.
Download the Mission Armenia fact sheet to find out more.
Azerbaijan
Armenia-Azerbaijan Civil Peace Platform
Established in December 2017 by an initiative of representatives of civil society. It was registered as a non-entrepreneurial legal entity with the aim of building public support for bringing parties closer to peace and ensuring a strong reconciliation between the two nations.
Solving humanitarian problems is one of the main directions of their activities. Older people are a very important beneficiary of their work, since they are the most vulnerable in conflict zones and among refugees. Armenia-Azerbaijan Civil Peace Platform also contribute to the involvement of older people in social processes and has great potential to solve the problems of older people, especially among IDPs and refugees, guarantee their rights, combat discrimination and ensure a decent and active life.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Association for Psychosocial Help and Development of Voluntary Work – OSMIJEH
OSMIJEH was set up in 1996 in the immediate aftermath of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s civil war. All its programmes and projects have long-term objectives and are based on the needs in the society that have not been met by state and public institutions.
OSMIJEH was the first organisation in Bosnia and Herzegovina to implement advocacy and policy influencing projects and to introduce bottom-up approaches working with older people. OSMIJEH has led the Bosnia and Herzegovinian Age Demands Aaction campaign since 2008.
OSMIJEH has worked with HelpAge since 1997 and became a HelpAge global network member in 2014.
Moldova
HelpAge Moldova
HelpAge Moldova provides support to women who have been victims of domestic violence and gives older people access to home-based care.
Russia
Dobroe Delo
Dobroe Delo (“kind deed”) was established in Moscow in 2000. It is a non-profit organisation that aims to improve older people’s quality of life and supports the development of other gerontological non-profit organisations.
Dobroe Delo’s home-based medical and social care programme provides medicine, clothing, hygiene kits, food products, legal assistance and social rehabilitation to older people. They founded a network of gerontological organisations in Russia to advocate for better social protection for older people. They also carry out research on gerontology in order to create a resource centre for the network.
Dobroe Delo offers postgraduate education to doctors in collaboration with the Department of Gerontology and Geriatrics of the Russian Academy. They also offer internships to students from the Moscow Higher School of Social and Economic Sciences.
Dobroe Delo became a HelpAge global network member in 2009.
Serbia
Red Cross of Serbia
The Red Cross of Serbia is one of Europe’s oldest voluntary organisations, founded in 1876. Ageing and older people in Serbia have been organisational priorities since 2001. The Red Cross of Serbia have ensured that their branch network include older vulnerable people in all local and community-level work.
Their mission is to inspire, encourage, facilitate, and promote all forms of humanitarian activities to prevent and alleviate human suffering and thereby promoting human dignity and peace in the world.
They work with and for Serbian older people with low income; those who are socially isolated in rural and urban areas; and those who live alone with an elderly spouse or someone who requires assistance.
Their key work areas include campaign and advocacy, service provision, research, training and education and network development. Thematic areas include health and care, emergencies and disaster risk reduction, rights and social protection.
Red Cross of Serbia also works with and for other population groups such as children and youth, people living with disabilities and migrants.
Red Cross of Serbia has run the Serbian Age Demands Action campaign since 2008 and became a HelpAge global network member in 2014.
Ukraine
Charity Foundation Starenki
The Starenki Charitable Foundation was established in 2017 by a group of five dedicated young women who shared a common goal of helping lonely older people in Ukraine. They believed that their intention, along with the support of like-minded individuals, would be enough to make a difference. The foundation’s main purpose is to provide assistance to older people in need, who often lack close relatives or sufficient resources to cover their basic needs. By offering food aid, the foundation aims to free up their limited funds for necessary medication and other essential items. The foundation’s volunteers not only provide material support but also offer companionship and attention.
The foundation’s mission is to cultivate a responsible attitude among young Ukrainians towards older people, encouraging them to care for their own aging loved ones and prepare for their future. The foundation welcomes volunteers and donations to support their cause and aims to foster a sense of community where everyone helps those in need, even within their own neighbourhoods. Through their efforts, the foundation envisions a happier and more fulfilling older age for all in Ukraine.
Turbota pro Litnix v Ukraini
Turbota pro Litnih v Ukraini (TLU) or Age Concern Ukraine has an impressive track record of defending the rights of the most vulnerable older people in Ukraine.
TLU has branches in ten cities and six rural locations in Ukraine, from which they deliver services to 20,000 older people every year through a network of 2,000 volunteers. They are also a partner organisation of the Ministry of Social Policy and serve as the voice of older people at national and local levels.
In 2008, TLU became a partner of EVZ (“Remembrance, Responsibility, Future”) German Federal Fund.
They are highly valued by the Ukrainian government, with Aleksander Kurban, Senior Counsellor at the Ministry of Social Policy, stating: “40,000 NGOs are registered in Ukraine. If they were all like TLU, Ukraine would already be in the EU.”
TLU has worked with HelpAge International and Age UK since 1999 and in March 2012 became a HelpAge global network member.
Right to Protection
HelpAge Ukraine
As conflict threatens communities in eastern Ukraine, many people have fled west. Older people make up many of those left behind and we are making sure they get the help they need. Find out more about the work of HelpAge in Ukraine here.