Three articles on older people and development have been published on the Guardian website as semi-finalists in the newspaper’s International Development Journalist Competition.

The articles explore the implications of global population ageing and the experiences of older people caring for children orphaned by HIV and AIDS. They can be viewed at
www.guardian.co.uk/developmentcompetition.

The competition is a collaboration between the Guardian and eight NGO partners, including HelpAge International, to find aspiring UK-based journalists interested in issues facing the developing world.

Launched in March, it invited both amateur and freelance professional journalists to submit articles on key development issues relating to the work of each NGO partner. HelpAge International encouraged entries on population ageing, older carers and social pensions.

Of the 40 semi-finalists, 16 will soon be chosen to embark on writing assignments based on a range of international development issues and will visit NGO project work in Africa and Asia to investigate these issues first hand. Two of these finalists will visit projects run by HelpAge International.

The competition winners – one from each category – will be announced in November 2008, when all the final assignments will be published by the Guardian newspaper in a special supplement.