Government social-protection schemes provide a vital safety net for poor older people in Bangladesh, particularly older women. But many are missing out on their entitlements.

Our partner, the Resource Integration Centre (RIC), is one of a handful of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) – out of 2,000 working in Bangladesh – that target older people.

Aims

The aim of the older citizens' monitoring (OCM) pilot project in Bangladesh is to increase older people’s access to two government services that are intended to alleviate poverty: the old-age allowance and the vulnerable group development programme.

Project area

The project covers 3,325 older people in 54 villages in Pubail. With RIC’s facilitation, these participants have formed 60 older people's associations (OPAs). The project also covers 2,401 older people in 26 villages in Sriramkathi.

At an early stage of the project, the older people conducted their own census and found significantly higher percentages of older people than the last government census had recorded. In Sriramkathi, for example, 9% of the total population was over 60, compared to 6% recorded by the official census.

Activities

RIC, with support from the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and IrishAid, began by holding village meetings with older people to discuss their priorities. They identified food security as a major problem, together with low income, a lack of assets and the absence of government health services. These meetings initiated a process of forming older people's associations, and electing committees and monitoring groups. The older people involved all received training in leadership and data collection.

The participants reviewed each government policy and then identified relevant indicators to monitor how they were being implemented over time. They established a system to collect, analyse and discuss their findings with local, district and national stakeholders, including government officials, in order to improve implementation.

Achievements

• Older people's associations in each village have identified who is eligible and who is receiving the old-age allowance. In one village in Pubail district, only 85 older people were receiving the old-age allowance, out of 978 who were eligible. The group is petitioning for a further 243 of those who are eligible – the most vulnerable – to get the allowance.
• During 2005, the old-age allowance in Bangladesh has increased from US$2.5 to 2.6 per month, and has been extended from 1 million to 1.32 million people over the past year. This is at least partly due to national-level advocacy by the project.
• Local banks have streamlined the distribution of the old-age allowance and allocated specific times for its collection, which makes it easier for older people to collect.
• The confidence of older people has increased through their involvement in organisations that promote their interests. "We were sleeping… before this organisation we were lambs, now we are lions," says Bhimkanthi, committee chairman of the project.
• Older people's associations have developed other activities in addition to their monitoring work. A number of commitees make regular home visits and offer basic health care. In one case, the committee was involved in relief work following floods. Another committee has developed dispute-resolution techniques and tackled family issues, such as the neglect of frail older people.
  

The future

Older men and women see potential for the project. One committee member said that it should be developed accross the country, as working in only two areas meant that there was not enough negotiating power with the national government.

Other members have talked about using the voting power of older people as a potential incentive to encourage local officials to cooperate with the associations.