Colombia
After working in Colombia for nearly 30 years, we opened our own HelpAge office in Bogotá in 2009 to increase our impact.
In Cali, with our partner Fundación Paz y Bien, we support older people displaced due to the internal armed conflict, mainly from the Pacific Coast. Many displaced people in these urban areas live in shanty towns with high levels of poverty, unemployment, over-crowding and violence.
In the region of Montes de María, in the departments of Bolívar and Sucre, we work with our partner Fundación Red Desarrollo y Paz de los Montes de Maria to support older people in communities affected by the internal armed conflict. The communities have high unemployment rates and little access to basic services.
Life story: Emma Maria, 67
Emma Maria runs two businesses and helps to look after her grandchildren.
(c) Antonio Olmos/HelpAge International
Emma Maria, lives with her husband, daughter and two grandchildren. She is the person responsible for supporting the household financially. She takes care, along with her daughter, of the two grandchildren.
She runs a business which offers photocopy services, as well as another venture where she makes garbage bags. People come to buy the garbage bags and then they sell them to businesses or people in the community.
She has been part of a cooperative for three years:
"We first met Comostaza (cooperative) after a leader in our community organised a meeting with them. So we started to work with them and the good thing about Comostaza is that we are able to save money at the same time as paying our credit.
"And those savings are helpful when we are in a bad situation. So the help that they give us is very good.
"When I started I had the machines but no money for the materials. So first they gave me 50,000 pesos (US$25) to get the materials to make the garbage bags.
"Then they gave me 100,000 pesos (US$50) so I made my business bigger. And then they gave me enough to buy a photocopy machine so I could start this business."
The difference we made in 2010-2011
- In Cali we provided legal advice to 2,900 displaced people including 380 older people, to help them access state services - for example registering as displaced so they can receive government aid and health services.
- We provided psycho-social support for 380 older displaced people and 70 displaced children cared for by their grandparents.
- In Montes de María, we trained older people in their rights and the services they are entitled to.
- We helped establish older citizens' monitoring groups who lobby local authorities to ensure older people's rights are recognised and that they can access social support programmes, particularly health services and cash transfers.
What next?
- We will work with other international humanitarian agencies to ensure they include older people in their emergency programmes and emergency medical services in conflict areas that state services can't reach.
- We will continue to strengthen older citizens' monitoring groups to ensure older people can advocate for changes in their lives.
Audio slideshow: 50 years of conflict
Our affiliates
Provida Colombia, Fundación Centro de Estudios e Investigaciones del Trabajo (CESTRA)
Our partners
Red Tiempos de Envejecimiento Activo y Digno, Fundación Red de Desarrollo y Paz de los Montes de Maria, Fundación Paz y Bien, Asociación Cultural Casa del Niño
