HelpAge International operates to internationally agreed standards and is a signatory to the Code of Conduct for The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and NGOs in Disaster Relief

We strive to meet the standards of the Sphere Project which aims to improve the quality of assistance provided to people affected by disasters, and to enhance the accountability of the humanitarian system in disaster response.

Our relief programmes are generally developed with the participation of older people and their wider communities, using local knowledge and expertise.

Partners are given specific training in working with vulnerable older people in emergencies, including the use of vulnerable person checklists, the registration of beneficiaries, and criteria for assessing isolation, abandonment, immobility and ill health.

Main activities

Humanitarian relief We assist the most vulnerable older people and their immediate carers, dependants and families.

Reconstruction and rehabilitation We work through local organisations to rebuild social and economic structures, build capacity and strengthen civil society.

Disaster management and mitigation We help communities prepare themselves for disasters, for example, through emergency committees, education and training. We stress that older people's poverty and insecurity lie at the heart of their vulnerability in emergencies.

Capacity-building We work to increase knowledge of the situation of older people in emergencies and to improve responses across our own network of members and partners.

Networking We build partnerships with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that are involved in supporting older people in emergencies, to increase coordination and to disseminate expertise and knowledge.

Advocacy We press for the recognition and realisation of older people's rights in emergencies, at local, national and international levels, through, for example:

• working to establish a legal identity for older minority ethnic groups such as Serbs in Kosovo
  
• ensuring older people have equal access to services in emergencies by establishing fast-track food queues or setting up older people's committees to help target distributions
  
• lobbying the United Nations, European Union, major donors and international relief agencies to identify and provide for older people as a group with special needs in emergency and post-emergency situations
  
• promoting the role of older people in conflict resolution and conflict reduction
  
• disseminating best practice through practical guidelines and by demonstration.

Social and humanitarian protection We ensure older people's protection needs are understood and met in emergencies. We design and advocate for rehabilitation programmes that recognise and support both the social protection needs of older people and the role that older people play in the social protection of their dependants.

How we work with the Disasters Emergency Committee and Help the Aged

Help the Aged works through, and funds, its international partner HelpAge International when international emergencies threaten the lives and livelihoods of older people. Help the Aged is responsible for raising funds from its own supporters and is also part of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC). The DEC brings together 13 of the UK's leading aid agencies, and other supporters, to launch national appeals at times of major international humanitarian disasters.