HelpAge International seeks to identify rights abuses and the barriers that older people face in accessing rights and entitlements. Little information is systematically collected on the abuses of older people's rights due to negative social attitudes and because older people themselves often do not report them.

Current research projects

Older citizens' monitoring project

Grassroots action to monitor governments' responses to the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing is revealing some sharp discrepencies between policy and practice – as well as generating a sense of solidarity among older people. HelpAge International and partners, with funding from the Department for International Development (DFID), are supporting older citizens' groups in Bangladesh, Bolivia, Ethiopia, Jamiaca, Kenya and Tanzania to monitor the delivery of government health and social services.

Impact of the Indian Ocean tsunami on older people

HelpAge International and partners in India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia carried out a rapid assessment study during the initial relief phase of the tsunami to understand how older people had been affected and how relief agency efforts had included them. The study found that age discrimination caused older people to miss out on some distribution and services.

Future research

HelpAge International is interested in carrying out further research into older people's rights, guided by the following questions:

• What services do older people access?
• What quality are the services?
• What are the barriers to access?
• How are resources allocated to service provision and how are services delivered?
• Who participates in decision making about service delivery and which groups are excluded?
• What legislation, rules, delivery mechanisms and accountability structures exist?
• How do these facilitate or inhibit the realisation of older people’s social, cultural, economic, political and civil rights?