The long drawn-out conflict in Darfur, Sudan has fragmented communities and created divisions between older and younger generations. HelpAge International is working with youth-focused agencies to help close the gap.

Traditionally, older people in Darfur were highly esteemed by other members of their communities, including young people. They had a role as peacemakers, they were sought out for advice, and they were responsible for teaching young children about the Quran, history and traditions.

Weaker role

Many older people still have significant contact with children. About 30 per cent of older people in displaced people’s camps are responsible for grandchildren or other young dependants. But older people’s traditional role has become less dominant in camps for displaced people, leaving a growing gap between older and younger generations.

A field officer from UNICEF commented: "The grandmother was once a very powerful cultural institution in Darfur. Children would sit with her each evening after the family meal to hear stories about family history and local fables. Now the children go to ‘child-friendly spaces’ in the camps, so they don’t sit with the grandmother any more."

Agencies with protection mandates for children have put a great deal of emphasis on creating ‘child-friendly spaces’, or children’s centres, as a child protection initiative. But only nominal progress has been made towards involving older generations in these initiatives.

Sense of shame

The relationship between older people and adolescents can become particularly problematic. In interviews carried out by HelpAge International staff in six camps in 2005-2006, older people expressed sadness and, at times, shame when they were confronted by young people who would once have looked to them for help and guidance.

Adolescents, like older people, are a neglected group in west Darfur. They have limited access to secondary education and livelihood opportunities. Many are bored and frustrated and feel they have nothing to lose by seeking material gain through violence.

As the security situation in west Darfur has worsened, United Nations security officers have noted more young people becoming involved in incidents of banditry and carjacking by armed groups.

New approaches

HelpAge International is working with youth-focused agencies to promote intergenerational approaches in Darfur, such as:

• Include older people as storytellers in child-friendly spaces.
• Pilot solar cookers to reduce the need for adolescent girls to collect firewood outside camps, at risk of being raped.
• Involve adolescents in older people’s centres set up by HelpAge International for small-scale handicraft activities, literacy and numeracy clubs, and social opportunities requested by adolescent girls.
• Include older women in women’s centre activities. 
• Support livelihood activities by older people and adolescents, including cooperative gardens and livestock rearing.
• Encourage groups of young people to repair shelters belonging to the most vulnerable older people, on a food-for-work basis.
• Train older and younger people to facilitate dialogue between the generations, particularly about traditional problem-solving techniques and how these could be used in the camps.

This article is taken from Ageways 69: Intergenerational approaches

The project is funded by UNICEF.