Blogs

Haiti: A survivor’s story

HelpAge's Caribbean Regional Representative, Jeff James, spoke to 75 year old Kenold Moreau about his experience of the Haiti earthquake. The image shows Kenold in the rubble of his collapsed home: "12 January was like any other day for...

Haiti: Relief slowly reaches survivors

Relief is slowly reaching the victims of the quake, 4 days after the quake. Rescue teams are searching for survivors under the rubbles. The people at the camps still looked patient. Several women were already busy setting up their...

Tsunami: The value of human solidarity

HelpAge International's East Asia Pacific Regional Representative, Eduardo Klien, looks back at the events that followed the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami... The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami not only took us by surprise - it caught us completely unprepared. I...

Older people can shed light on climate change debate

At HelpAge, we are calling for the voices of older people to be heard in the climate change debate. Voices of people like Daisy, below, who is 55 with six children and two grandchildren. She grows crops and looks...

Copenhagen: Climate change debate must include older people

The climate change conference in Copenhagen is coming to the end of its first week. 56 newspapers around the world have shown unprecedented solidarity by featuring a shared editorial on the climate change negotiations COP15. "Fourteen days to seal...

Human Rights Day: Waking up to ageism

Bridget Sleap, HelpAge's Rights Policy Advisor, writes about older people's rights on Human Rights Day: Across the world, populations are ageing. There is no denying that this phenomenon presents huge challenges. How do you protect the rights of an...

Ethiopia: “The weather has changed completely”

Since stories of the current drought in Ethiopia and its impact have started filtering through in the media, comparisons have been made with the events that inspired Live Aid almost 25 years ago. This time, however, the focus and...

Tanzania Day 1: Is Morogoro a good place to grow old?

Wilbur has an energetic commanding character, a retired secondary school teacher and journalist, he says "I retired 15 years ago but although retired, I am not tired." Born on the slopes of Africa's highest mountain Mount Kilimanjaro, he is...

Orphans without elders struggle with their identity

‘Age helps' sums up HelpAge's core position. We believe that older people are a benefit to society and a positive force for change. Unfortunately, we find that most messages about older people in the media are extremely negative and...