The population of Peru and Bolivia is ageing rapidly, but policies and social-protection measures that are needed to manage this change are inadequate. State or private pensions are limited, as are other benefits. Where benefits do exist, they are under-funded and only partially implemented.

Most older people live in poverty, excluded from development processes and unaware of their statutory rights and entitlements. Additionally, many cannot claim benefits because they do not have the necessary identity documents.

Aims

This three-year rights project targets the most vulnerable older people in urban and rural communities in Peru and Bolivia. It responds to concerns that older people expressed about poverty and exclusion in consultations carried out by HelpAge International.

Older people took part in planning at the start of the project and identified indicators to assess its impact.

Supported by the Big Lottery Fund, the project aims to:

• give older people in Bolivia and Peru greater protection against their rights being abused
• increase the capacity of national and regional older people's networks to fight for the rights of older people
• ensure that older people and ageing issues are included in government programmes and policies, so that they reflect commitments made in international and national agreements, such as the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing.

Activities

We are working with local partners to support older people in Bolivia – in urban El Alto, La Paz, Potosi, Santa Cruz and Sucre, and in rural townships in Cochabamba, Oruro, La Paz, Potosi and Santa Cruz, and in Peru – in urban Lima and Tarma, and in rural Ayacucho.

Activities include:

• expanding an existing socio-legal rights centre in La Paz and El Alto, and setting up three new centres in Bolivia and one in Peru. The centres provide free advice on older people’s rights, help them to access legal entitlements and benefits, such as pensions, and offer support to older people who have been abused
• coordinating information campaigns with key institutions, such as the human rights' ombudsman and local governments
• training older people’s groups and networks to lobby and negotiate with local governments. Consultations and workshops with older people will result in proposals to local governments for support and inclusion in their annual plans
• supporting older people through national networks and the newly established Latin American and Caribbean Regional Network of Older People (REDCON) to seek government commitments on ageing through civil-society monitoring processes.

Achievements

• Four new socio-legal rights centres have been set up. The existing centre in La Paz provides training for the new centres and oversees all socio-legal rights centre work.
• The local government provides services at the Sucre socio-legal rights centre.
• Local governments are engaging with older people’s groups – they are working together on project activities in 8 townships in Peru and 28 in Bolivia.
• Project partners have shared techniques and developed approaches to working with local authorities at regular meetings.

The future

It is vital that older people are included in government programmes and budgets to ensure that their rights are protected. Data collected during the project will help non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and governments to assess older people's situations and consider how their rights can be better incorporated into policy and programmes.

The project is working towards local government gradually taking over responsibility for the rights centres and improving existing programmes, either as specialised institutions for older people or integrating them into other government programmes.

REDCON will provide a strong voice to influence policy on ageing.