Months of careful preparation culminated in in a coordinated week of action beginning on 1 October 2008. Delegations of older people met with their leaders and policy makers, under the banner of Age Demands Action.

Affiliates and partners in 36 countries took part in the campaign this year. Activites ranged from rallies of thousands of older people in the Philippines, to an open air photo exhibiton in Kyrgyzstan.

All participating delegations presented a list of key policy asks to national officials. Their aim was to bring sustainable and tangible change to the lives of older people in their respective countries.

See below for the latest developments.

To read more about the delegations taking part visit the country profiles pages.

For more news, pictures and video clips from Age Demands Action delegations around the world, read our blog

7 October 2008

The Ethiopian delegation organised a series of meetings with ministers from a number of relevant ministries. Overall the meetings were succesful and some tangible outcomes can be taken forward over the next 12 months.

The delegates were particularly pleased to hear that the Minister for Water Resources Development (whom they met with in 2007) had commissioned a proposal to give poor older people living in urban areas better and more affordable access to clean water. He assured them that the proposal will be put to parliament as soon as it is finalised.

Click here to read more about the successes in Ethiopia on the country profile page.

3 October 2008

HelpAge India arranged for 850 older persons to travel on a specially comissioned train from Cuddalore to New Delhi. Once there, they lobbied the government to acknowledge their rights to healthcare, transport and pensions.

Last year, the government promised to make the pension available to the poorest older people but as yet no viable method of identifying who is "poor" has been decided upon.

Click here to read more on the India country profile page.

1 October

International Day of Older Persons

Today, older people across the world are celebrating the International Day for Older persons. As part of Age Demands Action 2008, HelpAge International's partners and affiliates have organised delegations of older people to lobby their governments for change.

In the Philippines older people have met with congressmen to press for implementation of the Social Pension Bill that will provide a univeral social pension to all older people.

In many countries including Ghana, Ethiopia, Dominica and Nepal delegations will meet with their heads of state – a rare opportunity for older people to voice their concerns and opinions at the highest level.

To read about their successes visit the country profiles section of the website and check back regularly for the latest developments. 

30 September

Delegates in Indonesia met with with the secretary general of the Ministry of Social Affairs where they took part in a round table discussion on the position of older people in Indonesia.

The minister made some firm commitments including to increase the number of recipients of the social pension from 5,000 people to 10,000 people by October 2009.

This is great news and a big step towards improving the lives of older people in Indonesia.

To read more about the campaign in Indonesia visit the country profile page. 

25 September

David and Ramon from the Global Voices network, trained the South African Age Demands Action delegates in blogging skills. Now they can get their voices heard on the worldwide web!

As part of the Rising Voices programme, experienced bloggers share their skills with novices, showing them how to set up and maintain a blog.

The aim of the scheme is to empower groups whose voices are rarely heard through conventional media, so they can speak up on the issues that affect them.

Click on the play button below to see how the new bloggers got on!

Read more about the session on the Rising Voices website.

22 September

Delegates in Bangladesh and India met for the final time before their meeting with policy makers next week. They discussed the issues that they felt were the most pressing and finalised the agenda for their meeting. HelpAge International and RIC interviewed the delegations and asked them why they got involved in Age Demands Action.

19 September

Delegates in Ethiopia got together for a training session and also discussed the policy asks they will present to their government this year.

16 September

77-year-old Mount Everest climber, Mr Bahadur Sherchan, has been confirmed as one of the Nepalese Age Demands Action delegates. He will meet with the President of Nepal to demand changes to policies affecting older people.

Mr Sherchan reached the peak of Mount Everest in May 2008, beating the record set by 71-year-old Japanese Katsusuke Yanagisawa a year earlier.

Read more about Mr Bahadur Sherchan's Everest climb.

12 September

18 days to go... so far 7 countries have secured meetings with their heads of state including:

Tanzania, Dominica, Ghana, Nepal, Philippines, Slovenia, Ethiopia.

10 September

Delegates in Kenya took part in a training session to improve their public speaking skills and prepare them for their meeting on the 1 October.

They also rehearsed a play, which they will perform as part of the celebrations of older people in the week running up to 1 October.

29 August

RECWAPEC gathered delegation members together for a training session this week. Things are well underway in Cameroon with further meetings planned in the coming weeks.

27 August

The Philippines Age Demands Action delegation is laying the groundwork for their meeting with ministers in October. Yesterday they met with Cong Zialcita, the sponsor of the social pensions bill in congress. He has agreed to take part in the meeting on 1 October.

26 August

Archbishop Desmond Tutu supports Age Demands Action.

We have received a letter of support for the campaign from Archbishop Desmond Tutu. In the letter he outlines the importance of recognising the demographic shift towards ageing populations, and of aligning development policy with this.

We are grateful to the Archbishop for recognising the importance of the activities our partners and affiliates are engaging in as part of the campaign.

Read Archbishop Tutu's letter.

17 August

The Coalition Services for the Elderly (COSE) in the Philippines held a training and discussion session with 60 leaders of older people's associations in Manila.

At the meeting they discussed a bill that is currently being debated in both houses of parliament. The bill could exempt older people from paying VAT.

If passed, the bill could also pave the way for the introduction of a universal social pension – one of COSE's primary objectives for Age Demands Action 2008.

Attendees also discussed their timetable and plans for their meeting with representatives of the senate on 1 October.

11 August

The Age Demands Action campaign in Ghana has got off to a great start.

HelpAge Ghana held meetings with older people's community associations throughout July and August. HelpAge Ghana has visited associations in the Ashanti, Volta and Western Regions, and in Greater Accra.

These visits are really important for older people to highlight the issues they are facing, and for HelpAge Ghana to identify older people who could become part of the Age Demands Action delegation. The delegation will meet with Ghana's President John Kuffour on 1 October.

More pictures, videos and delegate diaries are expected soon!