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. 

(more…)

The new issue of Ageways is out this week and its all about how age helps. It explains our new organisational position.

  (more…)

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.

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…)

All of us… together.

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.

(more…)