Rachel Albone, HelpAge’s HIV and AIDS Policy Adviser spent last week at the XVIII International AIDS Conference in Vienna. Here are some of her highlights:
Sunday morning: We started with the World Health Organisation (WHO) consultation on Global AIDS strategy 2010-15. I haven’t been to an international meeting on HIV before that has focused so heavily on care and support and the contributions and needs of caregivers!
Caregivers like Awassa, above, who are supporting grandchildren who have lost their parents to HIV and AIDS. She told us that her biggest worry is not having enough money to support and feed her grandchildren. (more…)
Share this post using:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
Bethan Emmett, HelpAge’s Social Protection Adviser, caught up with the UN’s Independent expert on extreme poverty and human rights, Magdalena Sepulveda, to talk about social pensions.
Ms Sepulveda has just launched her second report which focuses on older people, human rights and social protection. In the report she states that social pensions are critical to reducing extreme poverty for older people.
She also said: “Universal pension schemes are more in line with human rights obligations as they comply with principles of universality and non-discrimination.”
Older people’s associations in Mozambique and HelpAge have worked together to engage the government at the highest level and make a difference to their lives.
A true picture of older people’s lives
Eight politicians from all over Mozambique, visited the distrits of Chókwe and Boane this April. The visit was in direct response to older people’s requests.
They got a true picture of older people’s day to day lives and were made aware of the contributions to society that older people make through their work in the community.
The report details some of the ways in which older people face extremely hard working conditions. “Forgotten Workforce” highlights the scale of work carried out by older people in low and middle income countries and the difficulties they face.
On 16 February, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the Philippines signed the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010. The Act includes the introduction of a new non-contributory pension which will be targeted at the “poorest of the poor” over the age of 60.
It will also bring into place a range of tax breaks for senior citizens that are expected to affect 4.2 million older people, as well as health insurance provision and a death benefit.
Margaret Kabango of Uganda Reach the Aged Association is in the Czech Republic, to get older people’s voices heard at a conference on development effectiveness for civil society organisations.
Margaret will be talking to the Czech Development Agency and Sue Ryder International, about the need to include older people in international development programmes. She’s also promoting HelpAge’s call for decent work for older people.
Follow Margaret’s progress on her video blog.
Share this post using:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
Beni and I attended the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) security briefing at 8.00am which reported unrest and operations around Masisi and Walekali, coalition forces operating in Kashebere, FARDC displacing people towards South Kivu, FDLR reprisals somewhere else (it was hard to catch the name as the reports are given very rapidly)….and an armed robbery in Goma. There was another report that some rented vehicles circulate with NGO stickers on them long after the NGO has finished using the vehicles. This leads to confusion and could put NGO vehicles at risk from attacks by bandits. (more…)
Share this post using:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
The beginnings of a pension campaign in Sri Lanka.
It’s been an eventful week here in Sri Lanka. Myself and Tai from our Asia office, have been working with our partner HelpAge Sri Lanka on designing a strategy to campaign for a universal pension in the country.
Rachel Albone, HelpAge’s HIV and AIDS Policy Adviser spent last week at the XVIII International AIDS Conference in Vienna. Here are some of her highlights:
Older people’s associations in Mozambique and HelpAge have worked together to engage the government at the highest level and make a difference to their lives.
Richard Blewitt, CEO of HelpAge International, shares his personal views on older people’s right to decent work:
On 16 February, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the Philippines signed the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010. The Act includes the introduction of a new non-contributory pension which will be targeted at the “poorest of the poor” over the age of 60.