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New Voices in Development Older People on the Global Agenda

October 1st 2010

UN International Day of Older Persons

Conference Report

New Voices in Development: Older People on the Global Agenda

Age Action Ireland. UN International Day of Older Persons. October 1st 2010 1

Acknowledgements: Particular acknowledgements go to Brenda Quigley who was Age Action’s Conference Intern, Sarah Quigley who voluntarily designed the conference flyer and DVD; the volunteer roundtable facilitators: Sally Corcoran (UCD Development Library – retired), James O’Brien (Dochas), Moira McCarthy (Comhlámh), Mbemba Jabbi (Africa Centre), Elaine McMahon (National Youth Council of Ireland), Emer Begley, Maia Ryan and Gerard Scully (Age Action); Maureen O’Connor who gave a lot of her time to undertake the conference registration. Our special thanks also go to the Maynooth University of the Third Age (Drama) Group, Kate Connaughton (Drama Facilitator. Crooked Sixpence) Helena Kirkpatrick, Maeve Moloney, Ann Harvey, Bernadette Sweeney, Joan Lennon, Mary McAssey, Helen Doyle and Helen Pearse who met on a weekly basis throughout the summer to present the conference with a memorable sketch. The Conference Team were: Brenda Quigley, Conference Intern, Adrienne Boyle, Development Officer and Keelin McCarthy, Administrator, Global Education Programme. Photographer: Derek Spiers. Graphic Recorder: Eimear McNulty. Irish Development Education Association (IDEA). Report written by: Adrienne Boyle. Development Officer, Age Action Ireland. Funding: Age Action Ireland gratefully acknowledges funding from Irish Aid and Age Demands Action.



Contents

Welcome

Mr Robin Webster, Chief Executive Officer, Age Action Ireland. 1. Opening Remarks – Her Excellency Catherine Muigai

Mwangi. Ambassador for The Republic of Kenya. 2. Conference Programme 3. Keynote Address: Minister Peter Power, Minister of State for

Overseas Development. 4. Ageing & Socioeconomic Development.

Dr. John Beard. Director of Ageing & Life Course. World Health Organisation.

5. Ageing & Development: Lessons from the global south

Mr Richard Blewitt. Chief Executive Officer. HelpAge International.

6. HelpAge International: Caribbean Programme.

Mr Jeffrey James. Caribbean Representative. HelpAge International.

7. Round Table Discussions 8. Age Demands Action

Maynooth, County Kildare - University of the Third Age Group.

9. Conference Recommendations Appendices

1. Conference evaluation 2. Testimonies: Gregoria Zevallos Quispe, 85, Peru; Zzizinga Barton, 76, Kampala, Uganda 3. Biographies of speakers 4. Attendance List 5. Content List: Conference DVD



Welcome

Mr Robin Webster, Chief Executive Officer, Age Action Ireland. We are delighted to welcome you all today to this celebration of the UN International Day of Older Persons. This conference is a culmination of Age Action Ireland’s activities for Positive Ageing Week 2010 where 900 events have taken place all over the country. We are delighted that this year’s main conference reflects Age Action’s global perspective alongside its main focus on issues for older people here in Ireland. This conference is also the culmination of the year’s work for Age Action’s Global Education Programme. This programme was launched just a year ago and in that year has begun the process of engaging the public in issues of concern for older people in the global south, engaging older people here in Ireland in global citizenship issues and begun to work with Irish aid agencies on ageing as a development issue. We are delighted to welcome all our esteemed guests from Ireland and different parts of the world. We welcome the time the Minister of State for Overseas Development has been able to give us to make the Conference keynote speech and we look forward to hearing from him by videolink from Limerick. We warmly welcome our international partner HelpAge International with representation from both Jamaica and the UK. And we are also very pleased that the World Health Organisation in Geneva has honoured us with their presence. We look forward to hearing all of your contributions to this groundbreaking conference. We are highly honoured that Her Excellency Catherine Muigai Mwangi. Ambassador for The Republic of Kenya has graciously agreed to Chair our conference and it is with great pleasure I therefore hand over the proceedings to Her Excellency.



1. Opening Remarks

Her Excellency Catherine Muigai Mwangi, Ambassador for The

Republic of Kenya. I would like to welcome you all to this ground breaking conference on ageing in the global south. I am very pleased to chair this October Forum as I would have a long experience of Irish people working in my own country, Kenya. I myself was educated by the Irish Loreto nuns so I am no stranger to the engagement between our two countries. This Conference has helped me begin to reflect on the position of older people in Kenya and I would like to share with you some interesting information about older people in our country. Kenya’s new Constitution, passed by way of a referendum in August 2010, clearly articulates the rights of the older members of the society in the Bill of Rights Chapter as follows: The State shall take measures to endure the rights of older persons:-

a) To fully participate in the affairs of society; b) To pursue their personal development; c) To live in dignity and respect and be free from abuse; and d) To receive reasonable care and assistance from their family and the State.

So it is with interest that I come to this Conference today to learn more about ageing as a development issue and to comment and reflect on Kenya’s particular position in the debates we have today on ageing. Her Excellency then introduced the programme and the speakers.



2. Conference Programme

Positive Ageing Week

Conference: October 1st 2010. UN International Day of Older Persons

New Voices in Development: Older People on the

Global Agenda

9.00am: Coffee 9.30am: Start Lunch: 1.30pm

Introductions Mr Robin Webster Welcome 9.30

Age Action HE Catherine Muigai Mwangi Chairperson 9.40

Ambassador of the Republic of Kenya Session One: Policy and Challenges Dr John Beard Demographic trends 9.50

World Health Organisation

Round table Discussion – Part 1 10.10 Minister of State Peter Power TD Keynote Address 10.45

Minister for State, Dept of Foreign Affairs Round table Feedback 11.15

Break 11.30 Session Two: Practice & Opportunities University of the Third Age Maynooth Age Demands Action 11.50

Drama Group

Mr. Richard Blewitt Global Good Practice 12.05 HelpAge International

Mr. Jeffrey James A Practitioners View 12.25

HelpAge International-Caribbean

Round table Discussions & Feedback Lunch 1.30 Informal Session: 2.15-3.00 Age Demands Action: Linking Lives. HelpAge International & Age Action Ireland will show a short video from Kenya about older people’s responses to Age Demands Action.



3. Keynote address: Minister of State for Development,

Peter Power TD Minister Power joined the Conference by video link from Limerick. Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to start by thanking Age Action for organising this conference and, in particular, for inviting me to give the keynote address this morning. The theme of today’s conference - ‘New Voices in Development: Older People on the Global Agenda’ – provides a welcome opportunity to examine an area which, perhaps, has not fully received the attention it deserves. The United Nations estimate that there are currently 760 million older people in the world.

This is defined as people over the age of 60. About 65% of them are living in developing countries. That is, almost half a billion older people living across the developing world. Moreover, although the older population is growing in all parts of the world, most of the increase is taking place in the developing world. On average, 29 million older persons will be added to the

world’s population each year between 2010 and 2025. Over 80 per cent of those will be added in the less developed regions. Against this background, it is clear that the issue of older people in development – their role in developing country societies and the impact of aid policy and practise on their lives – is becoming increasingly important. It is also clear that older people in the developed world have a crucial role to play in building public awareness of development issues and as advocates for older people across the globe. It is no coincidence that the theme of this year’s UN event in New York to celebrate the International Day of Older Persons is ‘Older Persons and the Achievement of the Millennium Development Goals’. Indeed, the invitation to speak to you this morning is particularly timely given that I have just recently returned from representing the Government at the Millennium Development Review Summit in New York. As many of you will know, the international community in the year 2000 signed up to what are known as the 8 Millennium Development Goals or MDGs. These goals set out specific targets for reducing poverty, hunger, disease and inequality across the globe by 2015. They commit the world community to eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, to achieve universal primary education, to empower women, to reduce child and maternal mortality, to combat HIV/Aids and malaria and to ensure environmental sustainability. Last week’s Summit in New York was an opportunity to review progress towards the achievement of all the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.



Ladies and Gentlemen, while we have achieved a lot – especially on primary education, child health and the treatment of HIV and AIDS - there is still a lot of work to do. The Outcome Document, which was unanimously agreed by all the countries participating in the Summit, makes clear that we still have a long way to go. Despite the successes, the actual numbers of people living in extreme poverty and hunger in our world are increasing. • Today there are 1 billion people living in extreme poverty and hunger. • An estimated 200 million children suffer from chronic malnutrition. • There are still 72 million children who should be, but are not, in school. • Over 80% of childhood deaths are from a handful of preventable causes - neonatal

complications and infections, pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria. • Less than half of HIV-infected pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa receive

antiretroviral drugs to prevent transmission to their newborn babies. These bleak statistics give a sense of the huge task we have ahead of us if we are to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Let me give you an idea of what the Irish Government, through Irish Aid, is doing to help. I would like first, to outline in general terms the work that Irish Aid does throughout the developing world; second, to talk a little bit about specific programmes that we fund that positively impact on the lives of older people; and finally, to say something about the role that older people in Ireland can play to raise awareness of development issues First, some facts and figures. This year alone, Ireland will provide some €671 million in development assistance to combat poverty, hunger and disease across the globe. Based on current projections, this will amount to approximately 0.52% of GNP. This confirms that Ireland will remain one of the most generous donors internationally on a per capita basis. The United Nations has set a target of 0.7% of the GNP of developed countries to be committed to Official Development Assistance. Despite our current economic difficulties, we are committed to reaching that goal by 2015. We remain ahead of most other EU Member States in our progress towards that target. So how is this money used? The overarching objective of Irish Aid is to reduce poverty, inequality and exclusion in developing countries. We work with NGOs and civil society organizations, both Irish and international. We work with the United Nations and other multilateral institutions. We work directly with partner governments and local administrations in developing countries. We concentrate development funding on the



poorest developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, which is the primary geographic focus of the Government’s development assistance programme. Within these countries, our focus is on the poorest communities and regions. The livelihoods and food security of the poorest and most vulnerable people are firmly at the heart of the Irish Aid programme. Particular emphasis is being placed on the needs of smallholder farmers, particularly women. We are committing 20% of the Irish Aid programme to reducing hunger. Last week during the Millennium Development Goals Summit in New York, I had the honour of participating in a joint Irish-US international meeting focusing on combating Hunger. This event, which was addressed by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin, highlighted action to reduce maternal and infant under-nutrition. Irish Aid also funds basic healthcare in impoverished and isolated areas. We are working to increase access to antiretroviral drugs, which enables those living with HIV and AIDS to lead active and productive lives. We provide funding for school buildings, the provision of books and school and teaching supplies for the poorest communities in rural areas across our programme countries in Africa. In all our work, in everything that we do, we focus on the poorest and most vulnerable

communities. We focus our aid on those who need it most and continually monitor and assess the effectiveness of what we do and of how we spend our money. Let me now turn to how our work impacts on older people in the countries we support.

Take, for instance, the changing role of older people, particularly older women, as a result of the HIV and Aids crisis in Africa. Although Africa is inhabited by less than 15% of the world's population, it was estimated to have more than 88% of people living with HIV and 92% of all AIDS deaths in 2007. I myself have seen the catastrophic effect that this has had on families and communities throughout Africa. Typically, it is adults of working age who are most vulnerable to HIV and AIDS. Grandparents therefore often both shoulder the burden of care when their adult children fall ill and later become the main carers for their bereaved grandchildren. UNICEF has estimated that there are over 12 million children in Africa who have been orphaned as a result of AIDS. Some of these children are themselves HIV positive. To take just a few example of how Irish Aid’s work is helping families affected by HIV in Africa:

• In South Africa we are funding health visitors in over 100 communities who provide antiretroviral medication to children living with HIV and AIDS and provide support and counselling to their carers, many of whom are grandparents



• In Uganda, we are funding Hospice Africa, which not only provides treatment for people with HIV and AIDS but also assists their families and carers with transport to health services and food assistance.

Another area in which older people in Africa play a vital role is in farming and agricultural work, particularly in subsistence farming. In many instances, older people play a central role as food providers for their families. Increasing the productivity of small farmers and enabling rural households in the developing world become food sufficient is key to addressing hunger and under nutrition. As I mentioned earlier, Irish Aid places particular emphasis on the needs of smallholder women farmers, many of whom are older women. Again, let me give you just a few examples of our work in this area:

In Malawi, Irish Aid supported the Malawian Government to distribute seeds and fertilizer to over 1.5 million poor farmers. We also provided funding to NASFAM, a farmer’s cooperative with 100,000 members. It provides training and technical support to help farmers to increase crop quality and get higher yields.

In Ethiopia, Irish Aid provides funding to agricultural research programmes aimed at maximising the yield from the small holdings without damaging soil quality. The aim is to ensure that small subsistence farmers are less vulnerable to food shortages and drought.

In Inhambane province in Mozambique, Irish Aid is working with local authorities on an irrigation programme for farmers across the province

I would also like to mention some of the work we do in addressing the specific health and social protection needs of older people. In 2008, Irish Aid agreed to provide $1.5 million over three years to HelpAge International to support their work in the developing world. HelpAge international is a valued partner of Aid Action Ireland. These funds are being used to help ensure that social protection and health services are better delivered and more appropriate to the needs of over 50,000 vulnerable older people across Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. HelpAge International’s programme builds the capacity of older people to participate in, access, and influence the design, implementation and delivery of social protection and health programmes. In Uganda, for instance, HelpAge run awareness-raising programmes on rights and entitlements for older people. They are working with older peoples groups on how to access essential services and are supporting the Government to develop a national policy on ageing. Ladies and Gentlemen, in the time available to me this morning, I have only been able to give a very general overview of what Irish Aid does and how we are supporting the needs of older people in the developing world. However, I would urge all of you here to read our 2009 Annual Report, copies of which are, I understand, available at the Conference this morning.



There is also a wealth of information on our website – www.irishaid.ie - and I also extend an invitation to all of you to visit the Irish Aid Volunteering and Information Centre which is located at 27 – 31 Upper O’Connell Street, Dublin 1. This brings me to the final issue I would like to address today – the role of older people in the developed world in engaging with development issues and building public awareness of these issues in their own communities. Older people in Ireland have a very important role to play as active citizens of our country. Whether as individuals or as members of senior citizens groups, older people have a considerable influence on the political, cultural and social life of this country. For that reason, I believe it is vital to engage with older people in building public understanding of global development issues and awareness of the Irish Aid programme. Organisations such as Age Action have a particular role of course in advocating for the rights of older people in developing countries and in development programmes. However, I believe that older people should have a strong voice on how best to respond to the full range of development challenges facing the world today and also in shaping Ireland’s response. Over the past couple of years as you know Irish Aid has hosted a number of Age Action events in our Volunteering and Public Information Centre in O’Connell Street. For example, earlier this year Irish Aid collaborated with Age Action in running a well attended public seminar for senior citizens on the global dimensions of ageing. Officials in my Department have also given presentations on the Irish Aid programme to a number of senior citizens’ groups in Dublin and in Limerick, including U3A and Probus. Our experience was that these groups were extremely interested in finding out about Ireland’s role in overseas development assistance. We look forward to building on these collaborations in future. Ladies and Gentlemen, I would again like to thank you for giving me the opportunity this morning to speak to you about Irish Aid and the work we do in the developing world. I hope that my contribution has given you food for thought and I look forward to hearing the outcome of your deliberations today.



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4. Ageing & Socioeconomic Development

Dr John Beard. Director of Ageing & Life Course. World Health

Organisation. Geneva, Switzerland. Dr Beard began his presentation by outlining the exponential growth of older people across the globe. When I was born, there were only 14 million people over 80 years. Now, this is 100 million and in the not too distant future this will be 400 million. This is incredible change and I want this presentation to give you a sense of how dramatic that change will be, what it means for all of us and for the society we live in. For example by 2050 there will be more older people in Brazil that in Germany, France and the UK combined. 1 A common misconception is that ageing is only an issue for the ‘developed’ world, but it is in fact an important global issue. The developed world has had time to adjust to population ageing but the rate of change has been much more rapid for the developing world. Another common phenomenon has been the almost universal view of population ageing as negative. Old age is discussed primarily in terms of older people as a burden on society; it talked about in terms of old age dependency ratios. This implies that older people will inevitably become dependent. There are strong views that pensions are not affordable. Why do we have an arbitrary age at which we decide people inevitably become dependent? Why do we disenfranchise older people? What we need is a mind and attitude shift in our thinking in relation to ageing. Pensions in the developed world are affordable. Even in the developing world the demand for pensions is manageable. If people are going to live into healthy old age they need financial security through pensions. I repeat, these things are affordable. It is shortsighted to only look at old age dependency rations; children also place very great demands on society for such things as education, health care and general family support while not generally contributing to economic production. Increasing old age dependency therefore needs to be seen in the broader context of socioeconomic development. Using

1 Source: World Population Prospects: 2008 Revision



the same approach as for older people this next diagram outlines the comparisons between dependency for older people and children in just one country, Japan. As a country develops, fertility drops and child and overall dependency falls rapidly. This low overall dependency bolsters economic growth as, for the first time, the vast majority of the population can participate in the workforce. Eventually, though, ageing of the population occurs and overall dependency can increase significantly beyond where it started. This has the potential to severely brake economic growth. But these scenarios are based on core assumptions that beyond 65 years of age a person inevitably becomes a burden and that nothing can be done to change this. There is increasing evidence that these assumptions are wrong. If older people can remain healthy and if they live in a social and physical environment that allows them to remain engaged in society, there is no reason that they cannot continue to make a positive contribution to society until they are quite old. This is the principle behind the World Health Organisation’s Active Ageing approach. Using this approach, older people are viewed as a neglected resource, and strategies put in place to allow them to remain actively engaged as they age. There are three core components to enabling active ageing: • Prevention of chronic disease (generally starting at earlier stages in life) • Creating age-friendly environments (where policies, physical/social environments and

social security allow the older person to participate) • Age-friendly primary health care Frailty and disability therefore need to be the key to responses to ageing, not chronological years. We see our approach as moving from ‘burden’ to ‘boon’. At its core is health across the life course, not just in older age. In order to sustain healthy living we need to create environments which foster engagement with society and each other, we need to make sure everyone has access to age friendly primary health care and long term care when it is required. Basically we need to ‘rethink’ ageing. There is no reason to think that all older people will be dependent. If older people can remain healthy and if their environment permits them to maintain an



engagement with society; they can continue to make a positive contribution to society at even an advanced age. Financial flows do not have to go inward. Older people can be viewed instead as a neglected resource. We need to put in strategies to create a society that supports older people and strengthens society as a whole. Which is where I come to the World Health Organisations strategy on developing Age-Friendly Cities. Domains of Age-Friendly Cities Through work on developing age friendly cities there is a window of opportunity for countries to develop strategies which promote a positive view of ageing and to adjust our thinking from ‘burden’ to ‘resource’. Age-Friendly cities look as some basic and some complex areas. Are the buildings accessible? Are there seats? Are there adequate toilet facilities? How, through redesigning our cities, do we ensure that older people remain connected with society? How do we ensure they hear about services that are available? How do we provide appropriate community and health services? In the future if we develop an age friendly environment it will not be unusual to be working at age 100. Here is one example of a woman celebrating her 100th birthday. 2

2 Associated Press. September 24th 2009

Community support

& health services

Civic participation &

employment

Social participation

Respect & social

inclusion

Housing

Communication &

information

Transportation

Outdoor space &

buildings

New Jersey Woman Celebrates 100th Birthday — at Work Astrid Thoening celebrates her 100th birthday while working as the receptionist for the Thornton Agency …



Older People want flexibility and the ability to continue to work if they wish. There are a whole range of flexible working arrangements which can suit both employer and employees wishing to work into older age. For example: in the USA there is a programme where a 1000 hour work year can be worked all in one clump or spread out over the full year. And this should not just be the preserve of older people; careers should simply not be seen as ‘fixed’. Challenging intergenerational marginalisation should also be part of our strategic thinking as we look towards the future. And what about that neglected resource of older people in the developing world. Here is a

picture of Zzinzinga Barton, 76, who lives in Kampala, and Gregoria Zevallos Quispe, 85, who lives in Peru. Mr Barton runs a brickmaking business with the help of his wife and they both take care of their son who has Aids and is very ill as well as

taking full responsibility for two small grandchildren. They worry about what will happen to their grandchildren if they become ill themselves; there

will be no one to support them. Senora Quispe never married as she cared for her father until he died. She has no one to support her so she supports herself from her only income which she earns from growing and selling flowers.34She walks 10km every day to sell her flowers and returns to work in her vegetable garden which is her only source of food. Both of these people will have to work until they die. To provide an adequate pension for both of these people would cost less than 1% of GDP. And these are the able bodied older people. What about the people with disabilities, even very minor disabilities? What about the 300 million people around the world who have severe visual impairment, 150 million of them who can’t see simply because they have no glasses, or the 20 million who simply need an inexpensive cataract operation to restore their sight or those with hearing loss? Social change therefore for all of us should not only encompass employment and careers but our passions as well. We should move more towards life long learning. Life should give us time to ‘smell the flowers’. Despite the economic downturn, we have never before been so wealthy; let us not forget this. Thank you.

3 Appendix 1: Detailed testimonies 4 Photo Acknowledgements: Antonio Olmos/HelpAge International 2008



5. Ageing & Development: Lessons from the Global South

Mr Richard Blewitt. Chief Executive Officer. HelpAge

International Mr Blewitt also began his presentation by outlining the major challenges of the demographic changes to the world and to global development policy. He pointed to a number of key statistics:

497 million older people live in poor countries- this is nearly two third’s of the world’s older population

By 2045, people aged over 60 worldwide will outnumber children under 14

In low and middle income countries more than 50% of men and women continue to work past

the age of 60

Three-quarters of the world’s older population live in areas affected by natural disasters and conflict

Two thirds of the of the world’s older people who have chronic illnesses live in low and middle

income countries

In many African countries, older people are the main carers of more than 40% of people living with HIV and AIDS

When I came to HelpAge International from considerable experience in the development sector, I realised how ‘age blind’ I was, and how I had focused very little time on ageing and older people in any of my previous positions. This realisation made me understand the need for systemic rather than piecemeal responses if we were to shift the paradigm in relation to the visibility of ageing as a development issue. When I looked at the amount of resources which were allocated to programmes related to older people vs. the resources that were allocated to other areas I was shocked. In terms of resource allocation, there are maybe 30 people in the UN across the globe who are working specifically on ageing and development. This compares with UNICEF whose focus is children, and who have a staff level of

20,000 across the globe and this is just one agency. And there is the thorny issue of how statistics are kept by UN and other global agencies; so for example no data on HIV/Aids is kept on people beyond the age of 49. They are either assumed to be dead or have survived the disease. There is therefore no real knowledge of what is happening to people after they reach 50 years, either the older people themselves or the roles they play in supporting both



their own children with Aids and those orphaned by the disease. 40/50% of children whose parents have died of HIV/Aids live with their grandparents yet how much of the funding available for HIV goes to grandparents? Our work is about getting older people to monitor the situation so that changes can be made. If we look at disaster situations, what happens to older people is a shambles. In terms of the funding to the humanitarian community 1% of its funding goes towards older people and yet at least 7% of people are over 60 years of age. Agencies talk about intergenerational issues but in reality it is very difficult to access funding for older people’s programmes or for major initiatives, like pensions, which in our view in HelpAge would transform the lives of older people and the communities around them. It is a huge challenge to get aid agencies to engage; the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) for example has one staff member in Geneva whose focus is on older people. In Sudan with the situation of Darfur in that region there is only one UNHCR person involved there professionally who has a focus on older people. (Yet UNHCR is one of the most progressive UN agencies). The data outlined above does not tell the real stories of the impact on older people’s lives of these situations and the poverty that results from being one of these statistics. And there are also good stories for example how the Government of Tanzania is actively working on getting older people involved in their new free health care system for people over the age of 60. Let us look therefore a bit more about why ageing is a development issues. First and foremost there is the issue of poverty. The next graph gives us some statistics from 4 countries: Those concerned with poverty are currently heavily focused on the impact of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). However there are no specific targets within these goals for older people.

Tackling poverty of older people essential to MDG progress



So how do we develop systems which will really make a major difference to large numbers of people? Our experience working with older people across the world tells us that it is primarily through access to regular income, through some form of pension, that can transform the lives of older people, and as Dr Beard pointed out, these are affordable. It is really hard to believe that 80% of people in the developing world have no access whatsoever to a pension, absolute zero in terms of security of income, and as Dr Beard’s case studies indicate, these people have to work or get supported by others in some way until they die. I repeat, until you drop dead. You may think that pensions are not affordable, but I would like to take you back a bit into our own societies in Western Europe. It really is not so long since we have had access to social pensions and consider how transformative that has been for the world our grandparents or great grandparents lived in. We now take pensions for granted, and as a right, and so it should be. However, older people in the developing world, and especially women, struggle to exist because of a lack of any regularised income in their old age. We really do believe that social pensions can transform the lives of older people and the communities where they live, particularly in terms of how this money supports the local economy. Older people develop entrepreneur ventures which will support them and their families in the long term if given the regularised income to do so. That is why one of our strategic focuses in HelpAge has been the promotion of basic social protection. Giving people income security is about:

social justice and rights economic development social stability

poverty alleviation peace and prosperity citizen state accountability

We have found for example that one of the biggest stumbling blocks to the implementation of social protection has been the limitation of any formal ‘paperwork’ with regard to identification of people and their ages for example. So a lot of our work has been the development of registration systems which are practical and sustainable. In terms of our own work with governments and partners across the globe on social pensions we focus on a rage of interlinking actions which include:

Promotion of social pension schemes Expansion of existing benefit and pension schemes to build universal coverage National institution building including building capacities of officials and citizens to

design and deliver social pension schemes Generating evidence of impact and implementation Supporting older people to monitor the delivery of entitlements Delivering and advocating for essential social assistance and services

Our work also includes a range of interlinking and cross cutting work which focuses on older people. These include:

Working with older people and HIV/Aids, securing their universal access to prevention, care and treatment, supporting intergenerational interdependence, understanding caring roles; access to support, action on risk of infection and filling in data gaps, promoting replicable services to older people and those in their care, supporting national and regional responses and advocacy in Africa and Asia, continuing



advocacy with, and support to, increasing the visibility of older people in the work, reports and statistics; partnerships i.e. UNICEF and UNAIDS and supporting older people to support each other

Working with older people in emergency and disaster situations.

Promoting age awareness in such situations – a recent example of this in the disaster in Haiti; documenting what is happening, collecting numbers, trends, gender, location, age inclusive relief and resettlement, age friendly guidelines and training, age specific services, consultation with older people in experiencing the emergency, responding directly in crises and strengthening preparedness, influencing and changing humanitarian policy and practice, supporting Older Persons Associations (OPAs) to contribute , developing older people practices and encouraging older persons solidarity.

Older peoples health: Promoting affordable and appropriate health services and

support for social and informal care, health system reforms, promoting access to services for older people, developing older peoples medical practices, encouraging older persons solidarity, improving older people’s access to government health care, delivering programmes in health and self-care through Older Person’s Associations, documentation and guidelines for replication, monitoring and improving the age friendliness of government health services, increasing and improving the delivery of homecare services, improving older people’s access to eye care, advocating for a focus on Non Communicable Diseases including mental health issues, developing strategic global partnerships including Alzheimer's International and the World Health Organisation.

Livelihoods and decent work in old age. Many people will not be aware that many microcredit schemes for example discriminate against older people. So in this area we work towards promoting secure, decent, properly paid and productive work with safe conditions. We are promoting universal social security for those who do work, and special support in challenging environments. We promote the documenting and profiling working conditions of older people and practically we fund the delivery of programmes through Older Persons Associations Within the Livelihoods programme we promote inclusion within work, land rights and credit programmes and age inclusive community development. The work focuses on the roles and contributions of older people as well as their vulnerabilities, we support the profiling of the voice and integration of older people into national platforms dealing with climate change and we work in partnership with worker associations and supporting older people to claim entitlements.

Discrimination and abuse. Discrimination and abuse takes many forms against

older people. In Tanzania and Kenya there are worrying trends in targeting older people as witches in order to land grab. So we work both practically and strategically on issues relating to discrimination against older people and their abuse. At a strategic level our programmes recognise and take action on rights in older age, stop abuse and discrimination and currently are exploring new international mechanisms to promote a rights agenda for older people – such as an International Convention on the Rights of



older people and we work within the current UN rights system to promote the rights agenda for older people. On the practical side we work towards educating older people on their rights, work with them and government to develop national ageing policy, the programme delivering programmes which directly work with older people through Socio-legal Centres and Older Citizen Monitoring Groups. We document occurrences of abuses to seek redress.

Building networks and partnerships. We feel that one of the most important

contributions to making older people and their issues visible in the world is to develop global movements for change. We have 85 Affiliates in 60 countries engaging in rights awareness and global campaigns for change, particularly on October 1st , and these are the are roots of the network. Through these we promote sharing, learning and best practice. The campaign slogan is Age Demands Action.

We’re demanding things like the roads, houses, piped water and things are changing

Edna, South Africa

The government is giving us money which they did not do before. It’s amazing. This is the beginning Paul, Kenya

As well as this grass roots campaign we promote partnerships

on ageing and rights with the World Health Organisation, International Labour Organisation, UNICEF, UN Population Fund,

UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

In Ireland our partner is Age Action Ireland and we would also like to develop closer ties and partnership with Irish aid

agencies. Irish Aid has been a great supporter of HelpAge and is currently supporting our programmes in Ghana, Uganda, Colombia and Jamaica.

Millennium Development Goals, older people and 2015. What do we in HelpAge International looking ahead to 2015, the target year for the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals? What we hope our own programmes will contribute toward those goals are:

Older men and women enabled to have secure incomes Older men and women, and those they support, enabled to receive quality health, HIV

and care services Older men and women enabled to actively participate in, and be better supported

during emergency and recovery situations Global and local movements built that enable older men and women to challenge age

discrimination and claim their rights A growing global network of organisations supported to work effectively with and for

older men and women While the Secretary General of the UN, Ban Ki-moon, has been a good supporter of ageing we will have to work very hard to secure equality and ageing goals beyond the current Millennium Development Goals. We have to secure social protection as a matter of concern in the last 5 years of the current MDGs and will work hard to get more older people accessin In the last five years of the current MDGs and will work hard to get more older people accessing social pensions as a result of this commitment. Thank you very much.



6. HelpAge International: Caribbean Programme.

Mr Jeffrey James, Caribbean Representative, HelpAge

International. Mr James began by outlining the background to the Caribbean programme, the situation of older people, the work of HelpAge International in the Caribbean, its impact and the challenges and opportunities for the work.

Caribbean: In terms of the demographics and socio economic profile of the region, the population of the Caribbean now stands at 36 million people and the region has the fastest growing older population in the developing world – in fact 10.6% of the population in the Caribbean are older people. Older people will constitute 18% of the region’s population by 2050 (UN Population Division). In terms of the socio economic situation the region as a whole is grappling with a number of critical issues: Crime: one of the highest murder rates in the world (Jamaica, Haiti, Belize); HIV/AIDS: highest prevalence rate after Sub-Saharan Africa; high unemployment rates and an endemic drug culture; high debt payments, a narrow economic base with small domestic markets, low economic growth and constant threats of natural disasters.

Situation of older people. Older people in the Caribbean experience particular

difficulties in terms of: income security, health, HIV/AIDS & social care, housing & living arrangements and safety & security.

• Income security: The most critical issue for older people across the Caribbean is

their lack of income, with the majority of older people depending on family for support. Most Caribbean countries do have some form of social pension but the amount and coverage vary from country to country and the region is not yet prepared to embrace universal social pensions. Very few older people qualify for contributory pension (Jamaica: 28%) and many of them continue to work in the informal sector as small farmers, labourers, vendors, tradesmen. They have no access to credit.

• Health. Across the region chronic illnesses is common for older people e.g.

hypertension, diabetes, arthritis. The actual cost of health care is the second most critical issue for older people – the cost of drugs, diagnostic and laboratory tests. 11% of HIV/AIDS cases diagnosed are persons aged 50+. In Jamaica this is 15%, and Haiti 30%. So there is a growing need for long term and social care. Government provision of home care services varies from high to non-existent.

Housing: Most older people own their own homes but large numbers live in poor housing conditions. Homes are in a state of disrepair and they lack basic amenities such as water, light, toilet facilities. Many older people have problems maintaining their homes and meeting utility costs.



• Safety and security. Crime and violence is of growing concern to older people

across the region. They experience physical and sexual violence, neglect and exploitation and this violence impacts on their social lives in some Caribbean countries.

Caribbean HelpAge Programme The areas therefore of the HelpAge Programme in the Caribbean are focused on some of the main challenges which face older people. These are:

o Social Protection o Livelihoods o Disaster Preparedness o Health and HIV/AIDS o Capacity Building of Affiliates and Partners

Social protection. The programme here focuses on (a) practical programmes, (b) research particulry in Jamaica , Belize and Dominica and (c) advocacy around social pensions

particularly in Jamaica, Belize and the Windward Islands. Livelihoods. The programme here focuses around the inadequate pension provision and

the diminishing support for older people from family. This has led to a huge demand for livelihood support by older people. This is most pronounced in Jamaica, Haiti and Grenada. There have been a number of very successful chicken farming and vending livelihood projects particularly in Jamaica. Older people in Jamaica have no access to credit, yet we find they are the most likely to repay loans. .

Disaster Preparedness. The region is badly affected by hurricanes, floods landslides and earthquake. Jamaica, Haiti, Belize and Grenada are the most affected in recent times. These natural disasters result in a terrible loss of livelihoods, homes and loss of household assets. Older people are some of the worst affected, but the last to receive help. Our programme gives training in disaster relief, in the development of Organizational Disaster Plans (Jamaica and Belize), in the development of Community Response Mechanisms and in the development of Community Disaster Plans.

Counting the cost of disasters: Haiti - MMaannyy ppeerrssoonnss lloosstt:: tthheeiirr hhoommeess,, ffaammiillyy mmeemmbbeerrss ((ssppoouussee,, cchhiillddrreenn,, ppaarreennttss)),, jjoobbss ((ssoouurrcceess ooff iinnccoommee//lliivveelliihhoooodd)),, tthheeiirr ddrreeaammss……

194,000-250,000 people were injured



Many will suffer long-term disabilities. There are at least 2,000 new amputees.

So to give you some example of HelpAge’s work in Haiti following the recent earthquake there:

Established Older People’s Groups to provide a support network themselves Medicines distributed to older people living in camps and spontaneous shelters Renovation of the first floor of a public hospital and established an emergency

medical facility for older people. Provision of training in geriatric care and assistance to staff Provision of 3 daily meals, New Farming Initiatives, mobility aids and psycho-social

support to older people Health and HIV/Aids. The programme relating to HIV/Aids focuses mainly on promoting access to health and social care, medication and the management of chronic illnesses. HIV/Aids is a new and developing area of work for the programme and part of the work will entail sensitisation programmes, research with a particular geographical focus in St. Vincent, Haiti and Jamaica Capacity Building of Affiliates and Partners. The main focus of this component of the programme is on advocacy around specific issues, project management and promoting ageing issues. Interestingly all three of our partners are those working with children and together we promote multi generational work. We find the emphasis from aid agencies and the funding available is focused on children, with little emphasis on older people. This is why we work with affiliates and partners to promote intergenerational activity and understanding.

Impact. So what has the impact of all this work been in the Caribbean? We feel we have had a number of both major and less major impacts, all of which have been important: These include:

Enabling older peoples access to government services by taking the services to where people live

Facilitating dialogue between older people and government representatives

Empowering older people

Getting government to respond to older people’s needs through increased coverage of

size of social pensions, greater access to medication and increased provision of care services

Improved livelihoods, particularly in Jamaica and Grenada

Increased capacity to deal with natural disasters



Challenges & Opportunities. But what, of course, of the challenges and opportunities relating to the work in our region? There are many challenges but also some opportunities and we need not to forget these. Challenges. We have many challenges in the region, some relate to older people and others relate to the region as a whole. For example much of the money which comes in to the region from tourism does not stay in the region and many of the industries that drive the economy are foreign owned. In relation to older people our particular challenges include:

English-speaking Caribbean countries and Haiti have relatively small populations, but they are widely dispersed over a large geographical space. Logistically therefore it is difficult for programming purposes.

It is a high cost region so it is very easy to fall into poverty requiring more resources

than in some other regions to move above the poverty line; programming costs are also relatively high compared to other regions.

There is inadequate attention to ageing issues despite the demographic structure of the

population. This relates to aid agencies, the NGO sector and governments.

Funding – working in the region is not attractive to donors because of its so- called middle income status; this characterisation tends to mask the serious poverty experienced by certain sections of the population.

Unfortunately the NGO sector is on the decline as funds are not coming in to support

them. Opportunities: And the opportunities – what are they? They include:

Opportunities to mainstream older people’s issues into areas of work that attract governments and donors, even though it is difficult to break into these areas. However we should strategically develop partnerships in Disaster Risk Reduction initiatives, HIV/Aids programmes and through the promotion of universal social protection

Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing and using the Millennium Development Goals

Networking with key UN Agencies (UN Development Programme, UN Population Fund, Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean) to influence the progress of governments

Thank you!



7. Round Table Discussions and Feedback from Participants

Participants were asked to consider a number of questions:

What are the implications for Irish aid agencies for development policy and practice?

What actions should aid agencies be taking to make older people more visible in development policy and practice?

What are the challenges you face in making older people more visible in development policy and practice?

What tools would assist bringing an older persons perspective into development policy and practice?

Participants comprised aid agencies, Age Action members and members of the public. Approximately a third of the participating group were representative of aid agencies. Challenges and Implications for Aid Agencies Participants discussed a range of challenges and implications emanating from the data of the main presenters. These are a summary of all 9 round table discussions.

The competition for resources between the prioritization of very young populations and older populations is a major challenge e.g. conference participants noted the recent initiative announced by the Minister of State for Overseas Development to promote the health of young children in their first 1000 days. While participants fully supported this, the question remained of how aid agencies and the Irish Government could also engage in similar initiatives targeted at older people.

The data suggested that there continues to be a negative attitude to ageing. Older

people and ageing continues to be thought of in aid agencies, and elsewhere in Irish society, as a ‘problem’. As a society, participants felt we did not have a positive attitude to ageing and this is just reflected in limited interest by aid agencies in global ageing. There needed to be a serious shift in attitude within aid agencies, particularly in the context of the massive population shifts and the implication of this for development. Making older people visible will be a key challenge.

The implications of the data are that older people are a ‘blind spot’ in aid agency policy

and practice. Older people have to be specifically prioritized and made visible if their poverty and livelihoods are to be addressed. The implication for aid agencies is that unless the data on their development assistance with older people is visible, they will be unable to see how policy and programmes are assisting or impacting on older people.

The implication of the data also is that aid agencies need to review their budget

allocations to identify what percentage of development aid is specifically allocated to older people. ‘Agencies have found ways of targeting and making visible women, children, those experiencing HIV/Aids; why not older people?’



In the context of the data on the impact of HIV/Aids on older people, aid agencies

need to be more specific in their responses to the grandparents left to support and educate grandchildren.

Participants indicated that the information suggested about how a community

development approach has to be taken with an emphasis on agriculture as this is where older people can most effectively make their own livelihoods.

There are challenges to the aid agencies

if the overall Irish aid budget will be further cut in December 2010. The Irish public themselves may also be tired of giving aid particularly in the current financial climate so to get older people on the agenda at this time will be very difficult.

Aid agencies need to consider their development programme responses in the context

of older people in the global south working into their elder years.

Overall it will be a challenge for aid agencies to think both practically and strategically how they can bring older peoples issues and age discrimination centre stage into policy and practice.

Actions for aid agencies

Develop an intergenerational approach to development policy and practice.

Develop policy and practice and lobby the Irish government and governments in countries where aid agencies work to provide a basic pension to all, using the statistics that it would cost less than 1% of GDP.

Incorporate development education about older people into current practices such as

working with schools and community groups.

Develop practical work which directly involves older people; work with older people on programmes which assist them organise themselves. Assess the needs of older people directly by asking what they want or need is important. Develop aid programmes which help maintain the independence of older people.

Put policy emphasis on trade, not aid, and make visible older peoples particular

position and contribution to trade.

Start to raise the agenda of older people more specifically with the Irish government.

Start using positive images of older people in publicity, particularly focusing on their role as a resource; use older people to ‘sell the product’, i.e. the work undertaken by aid agencies.

Increase the number of older people as staff, interns and volunteers within the

organisation. Develop schemes where older people in Ireland and older people in the



developing world can exchange skills and knowledge particularly in relation to agriculture.

Specifically raise age awareness in aid agencies themselves, both in terms of the

demographic changes now taking place globally but also the implications for any major policy priority being promoted by that aid agency and the implications and impact when looking through the eyes of older people. Begin the development of seeing older people as active citizens rather than passive recipients; develop an attitude of positive ageing.

In working with women as a target group, make older women more visible, assessing

their specific needs and concerns.

Develop a better knowledge around the delivery of universal pensions in the countries where agencies are working. Develop partnerships with others in those countries who are promoting universal pensions, supporting them in the alleviation of poverty. Aid agencies need to begin to lobby and advocate on behalf of older people and universal pensions can be a positive advocacy tool in terms of eliminating hunger.

Engage with older people visibly through awareness, direct engagement and political

activism.

For volunteer sending agencies, begin to think through a process of sending older volunteers to link knowledge between countries, both European countries and countries in the developing world

Promote the visibility of older people in work focused on the Millennium Development

Goals. Promote specific goals for older people beyond 2015. Action for Irish Aid

Identify the percentage of the aid budget which is allocated specifically to older people and compare this with other groupings and areas, as well as percentage populations.

Tools to assist aid agencies

Guidelines that assist in the visible targeting of older people.

Awareness and training sessions on lobbying and advocating on behalf of, and with, older people in the global south.

Action for Age Action

Meet with Irish Aid and key aid agencies to begin a process of making older people visible in policy and practice.

Identify specific ways in which Age Action can work within the aid sector to develop

policy and practice on ageing.

Identify specific global programmes through the HelpAge network of initiatives with older people which may have resonance for Irish aid agencies.

Develop age proofing guidelines in partnership with aid agencies for use by aid

agencies.



8. AGE DEMANDS ACTION

Maynooth, County Kildare: University of the Third Age Group: Drama

group Sketch: AGE DEMANDS ACTION: Global Poverty – Local Poverty

The Conference was delighted to welcome the Maynooth

University of the Third Age Group (U3A) to undertake a short sketch which explored both local and global poverty. Their sketch

combined messages from two campaigns, one focused on Irish poverty – The Poor Can’t Pay, and one focused on global poverty ‘Act Now on 2015: No more cuts to the Irish Aid

budget. Maynooth U3A group have been meeting since 2007 and have an active group of 33 people who meet fortnightly in Maynooth library. They have a dynamic schedule, travelling the length of the country to see country gardens and other areas of interest. They organise a book club and talks using their own wisdom and skills learned over many years in a variety of ways. The drama group developed from an interest in movement and drama following some intensive training in the Abbey Theatre by one of its members. It then linked up with Crooked Sixpence, the outreach unit of Crooked House, County Kildare and delivered a movement production to its own members celebrating autumn and Halloween, Autumnal Memories. This was their first external delivery of a movement sketch. Kate Connaughton from Crooked Sixpence, Crooked House worked with the group to facilitate this production. Drama facilitator: Kate Connaughton Drama Group: Helena Kirkpatrick Maeve Moloney

Ann Harvey Bernadette Sweeney Joan Lennon Mary McAssey Helen Doyle Helen Pearse



This is the final ‘rap’ the group did with the sketch: We are the voices of the older generation We have worked and saved to earn out station We’ve built this country and paid our way But we’ve had enough now THE POOR CAN’T PAY THE POOR CAN’T PAY THE POOR CAN’T PAY We share the platform with other nations PROTECT OUR GLOBAL AID DONATIONS PROTECT OUR GLOBAL AID DONATIONS PROTECT OUR GLOBAL AID DONATIONS There’s not a thought for me and you Our children are joining the emigration queue We’ve had enough of this gloom and doom Struggle and strife We are the ones left paying the price We are determined to have our say AGE DEMANDS ACTION AGE DEMANDS ACTION AGE DEMANDS ACTION The Poor Can’t Pay



9. Conference Recommendations

The Conference recommendations are taken directly from the round table discussions Actions for aid agencies

Develop an intergenerational approach to development policy and practice

Develop policy and practice and lobby the Irish government and governments in countries where aid agencies work to provide a basic pension to all, using the statistics that it would cost less than 1% of GDP

Incorporate development education about older people into current practices such as

working with schools and community groups

Develop practical work which directly involves older people; work with older people on programmes which assist them organise themselves. Assess the needs of older people directly by asking what they want or need is important. Develop aid programmes which help maintain the independence of older people.

Put policy emphasis on trade, not aid, and make visible older peoples particular

position and contribution to trade.

Start to raise the agenda of older people more specifically with the Irish government

Start using positive images of older people in publicity, particularly focusing on their role as a resource; use older people to ‘sell the product’, i.e. the work undertaken by the agency

Increase the number of older people as staff, interns and volunteers within the

organisation. Develop schemes where older people in Ireland and older people in the developing world can exchange skills and knowledge particularly in relation to agriculture, bearing in mind Ireland’s agricultural expertise. Engage with older people visibly through awareness, direct engagement and political activism.

Specifically raise age awareness in aid agencies themselves, both in terms of the

demographic changes now taking place globally but also the implications for any major policy priority being promoted by that aid agency and the implications and impact when looking through the eyes of older people. Begin the development of seeing older people as active citizens rather than passive recipients; develop an attitude of positive ageing.

In working with women as a target group, make more visible older women, addressing

their specific needs and concerns.

Develop a better knowledge around the delivery of universal pensions in the countries where agencies are working. Develop partnerships with others in those countries who are promoting universal pensions, supporting them in the alleviation of poverty. Aid agencies need to begin to lobby and advocate on behalf of older people and universal pensions can be a positive advocacy tool in terms of eliminating hunger.



For volunteer sending agencies, begin to think through a process of sending older

volunteers to link knowledge between countries, both European countries and countries in the developing world.

Promote the visibility of older people in work focused on the Millennium Development

Goals. Promote specific goals for older people beyond 2015. Action for Irish Aid

Identify the percentage of the aid budget which is allocated specifically to older people and compare this with other groupings and priority areas of policy and practice.

Make more visible the funding and programmes which have a specific focus on older people.

Action for Age Action

Meet with Irish Aid and key aid agencies to begin a process of making older people more visible in policy and practice. Identify specific ways in which Age Action can work within the aid sector to develop policy and practice on ageing.

Identify specific global programmes through the HelpAge network of initiatives with

older people which may have resonance for Irish aid agencies, and in countries where Irish aid agencies have a major presence. Link the practice and the learning between both.

Develop age proofing Guidelines in partnership with aid agencies for use by aid

agencies.

Develop a range of tools which would assist age agencies age proof policy and practice such as Guidelines that assist in the visible and structured targeting of older people. Consult aid agencies as to the most appropriate tools.

Design and deliver awareness and training sessions on lobbying and advocating on

behalf of, and with, older people in the global south.



Appendix 1: Conference Evaluation

Participants were asked to identify (a) what they found useful for the day (b) what we could have improved and (c) the specific action they will take following the conference. The majority of people were extremely positive about the conference. Here are their responses. What participants found useful Where we could have improved Actions participants will take following the session

☺ The excellent speakers. Gave a great awareness of the global perspective on older people

☺ The quality and amount of data ☺ Reminding me that all of us older people in the northern hemisphere have a

responsibility to highlight our peers in developing countries ☺ The importance of raising awareness about the potential contribution older

people make to the world ☺ Very good management of the day ☺ Very useful literature and leaflets ☺ The dramatisation was very forceful ☺ Good interaction with like minded people ☺ There are different cultural perceptions of ageing ☺ Inspirational

The video linking was disappointing Photography could have been less intrusive Encourage plain PowerPoint - bells and whistles are very

distracting!

Raise awareness of the need for social protection through tax funded pensions Raise awareness of older peoples issues with people involved in global

development and disability Spread the word locally. Tell others. Research older people volunteering Believe in myself and not believe I am finished because I am 70. While I am

health and alive, I will live to be a contribution to the world! We need to tax funded pensions to protect older people Start University of the Third Age groups nationwide



Appendix 2: Testimony of two older people

1. Barton Zzizinga; 76; Kampala, Uganda. Name: Barton Zzizinga Age: 76 years Location: Najjanakumbi, Kampala District Occupation: Bricklayer I work as a bricklayer. I used to run a chicken business, but people kept stealing them, so about a year ago I stopped and began making and selling bricks. I make the bricks at my home and people come to me to buy them. Rearing chickens was better than what I am doing now. I find the work tough, as I get older. My wife works with me and together we start at 9am and work until we get too tired. The chicken business also brought in money faster. People don’t always need bricks. I also grow tomatoes and a few other vegetables to eat to supplement our income. We look after two grandchildren who are the children of our first-born son. One is just a baby, the other is 5 years old and in Kindergarten. My son has AIDS and is very sick so he can’t look after them himself. My wife now looks after our son in the house. I don’t get much support from my other children because they don’t have a lot themselves. My daughter-in-law sometimes brings some money in through selling tomatoes but we survive through God’s will. My health is causing me worry. I have high blood pressure and problems with my eyesight and my hands. When the pain in my hands gets too bad, I have to stop work, which means that I sell nothing and no money comes in. The rising food prices has also affected us all. Before we used to be able to afford to eat plantains but now all we have is maize meal. The only assistance I ever received is a loan I once got from this one organisation to put into my chicken business. They gave me three days of training, but I gave them the money back because my business was not growing – all my chickens kept being stolen. If I could get another loan or a pension, I would start the chicken business again, and hire someone to help me and make sure they didn’t get stolen. It’s important to continue to work. 2. Gregoria Zevallos Quispe; 85; Peru Name: Gregoria Zevallos Quispe Age: 85 Occupation: Flower seller Location: Chiara, Peru I live on my own in a small house on the side of a hill. I have never married and I don’t have any children of my own, but my nephew comes in to help me out with household chores twice a week. When I was young I went to school for a few years but my father took me out of education so I could help him with his farming and flower business and I have been growing and selling flowers to support myself ever since. Now I am 85 it is difficult to manage my garden as well as I used to be able to. With nobody to help me, it takes me twice as long to break the soil and to do all the weeding but I have to do this work or else I’d have nothing to sell and no way of buying food.



I get up when it first gets light and gather all the flowers I can carry. I have to walk 10km to the local market. When I was young I could do this walk in a few hours but now it seems to take me all morning and I have to hurry to make sure I get there while all the customers are still buying. When I get there I am exhausted and my legs are swollen so it takes me even longer to get home. At the market I sell bunches of flowers for 20-50cents. On a good day I will come home with 10 soles, but usually I bring home about 5 soles for every trip. (4.57 Soles = £1 GBP). This amount of money used to be OK to get by on my own but now it buys nothing. I am lucky, as I own my house. I don’t want to get in debt, as I know what this can do to people. Usually I eat once or twice a day and for the past three months I have eaten nothing but boiled corn and whatever vegetables I can grow in my garden. The diet of boiled corn is giving me bad stomach pains but I can’t afford to buy any other food as I have to pay for water and electricity and that uses up all my money. I’m terrified that the government will come here and take my house away, or that with people getting poorer they won’t want to buy flowers anymore. I have heard about pensions and a monthly income would change my life because I could employ my nephew to work for me and we could run the business together. Also I could save money for when my health gets worse. I try and stay positive because we are only on this earth for a short time and I still have my garden and my health is still strong. What will happen to me if this changes? I don’t know, but I try not to think about it. I guess I am in God’s hands.



Appendix 3: Biographies Main Speakers

Minister Peter Power T.D. Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, with special responsibility for Overseas Development. Peter Power was appointed Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs with special responsibility for Overseas Development in May 2008. In addition to over-seeing support for long-term development, Minister Power is also responsible for Ireland’s official response to humanitarian disasters. Peter Power has designated the fight against global hunger a cornerstone of the Irish Aid programme. Since his appointment as Minister of State he has led the implementation of the recommendations of Ireland’s Hunger Task Force. Delivering Ireland’s address to the United Nation’s General Assembly in September 2009, Minister Power urged the international community to address the fundamental causes of hunger, with particular emphasis on agricultural research and support for women farmers. Her Excellency Catherine Muigai Mwangi, Ambassador of the Republic of Kenya to Ireland Catherine Muigai Mwangi was born in September 1958 in her home country, Kenya. She has one son, Mbugua who is 25 years old. Ms. Muigai Mwangi was educated in Loreto Convent, Msongari, Nairobi where she completed A levels before joining the University of Nairobi. She is a graduate in Bachelor of Arts (Hons), Political Science and Sociology and has a postgraduate Diploma in Mass Communication from the School of Journalism. In 2007, Ms. Muigai Mwangi was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kenya to Ireland. She is the first resident Ambassador to Ireland. Prior to this, she had 25 years experience working for various locally and internationally recognized organizations, providing high level professional services in the following areas: Strategic Management, Marketing, including Public Relations, Communications, Brand Formulation and Development, Product Development, Operations, Strategic Planning. She possesses a wide network of contacts among a range of international government officials, international media and the international corporate world, resulting from frequent work in Africa, Europe and America. Ms. Muigai Mwangi has a keen interest in reading, Humanitarian and Development Assistance, Child and Teenage Children interventions and Sportsmanship support. Dr John Beard, Director, Department of Ageing & Life Course, World Health Organisation John Beard, MBBS PhD, is Director of the Department of Ageing and Life Course at the World Health Organization in Geneva. He works with all levels of government in the 193 WHO member states to build a sound evidence base on ageing related issues and to develop policy, standards, interventions and tools that can help address the challenges, and realize the opportunities, of ageing populations. John previously held a range of senior academic and public health roles in Australia and the United States, and remains actively involved in several large research studies examining the influence of the physical, social and economic environments on the health of older people. Mr. Richard Blewitt, Chief Executive Officer, HelpAge International Richard Blewitt is the Chief Executive of HelpAge International, a UK-based global network with a vision of a world in which all older people fulfil their potential to lead dignified, active, healthy and secure lives. HelpAge International focuses on strengthening civil society structures in the developing world and on building linkages between civil society and government.



Richard has held senior positions with the British Red Cross Society, Save the Children Fund, the UN Office for Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs and, immediately prior to taking up his appointment with HelpAge International in November 2006, with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent in Geneva as Director of Policy and Communications. Richard’s work in disasters/development has taken him to Sudan, Palestine, Afghanistan, North Korea, and more recently Myanmar, as well as a number of African countries and Central America. Richard’s voluntary work includes being a Founding trustee of The Survivors’ Fund, which supports the rights, and needs of victims of the Rwandan genocide. Until 2001 he was also a trustee of The London Lighthouse, which provides community-based services to HIV/AIDS-affected groups/clients. Richard holds a BSc (Hons) in Business Management from the University of Surrey and an MA from London University’s School of Oriental & African Studies. Mr. Jeffrey James, Regional Representative (Caribbean), HelpAge International Jeffrey James joined HelpAge International as Regional Representative for the Caribbean in September 1997. He has travelled extensively throughout the Caribbean, sharing his knowledge and expertise with civil society organisations and governments on ageing and development issues, and supporting advocacy initiatives around social protection and livelihood development, health and social care, and inclusion of older people in disaster risk reduction and management programmes. Before joining HelpAge Jeff worked in different positions for Save the Children, Canada in his native St Vincent and the Grenadines, before moving to Jamaica where he spent seven years as Country Director for Save the Children, Canada focusing on child rights, micro-credit and community development programmes in poor urban and rural communities. While working with Save the Children in Jamaica, he was also actively involved in the Association of Development Agencies (ADA) and the Jamaica Coalition on the Rights of the Child. Jeff is a graduate of the University of the West Indies (UWI) in Jamaica where he received the BSc (Hons) degree in Social Work and the MSc degree in the Social Sciences.



Appendix 4: Attendance list

Name

Organisation

Adekunle Gomez African Cultural Project Adrienne Boyle Age Action Staff Member Angela Coleman Member of Age Action Ann McCormack Maynooth U3A Drama Group Anne McKiernan Karika: Kenyan Aged People Require Information & AdvancementBarbara Wilson Irish Aid Bernadette Sweeney Maynooth U3A Drama Group Brenda Quigley Age Action. Conference Intern. Brian Hanratty CEO Gorta Bridie Connolly Member of Age Action Briggy Collins Pavee Point Brigid Carroll Member of Age Action Carmen Doyle Member of Age Action Carol F Carey OWN (Older Women's Network) Carton Finnegan Member of Age Action Cathy Bailey Northumbria University Cllr John Carroll North Tipperary Co Council Cllr Michael Hillery Clare County Council Cllr Michael Hourigan Limerick City Council Deirdre O'Driscoll CareWorld Ireland Denise Pearse Maynooth U3A Drama Group Eamon Timmins Age Action Staff Member Elaine Mahon National Youth Council Elizabeth Griffin Member of Age Action Elizabeth Nunan Member of Age Action Elsie Flannery Member of Age Action Emer Begley Age Action Staff Member Emer McNally IDEA Ena O'Hare Evelyn Brady OWN (Older Women's Network) Fiona Foley Siel Bleu Geoffrey Byrne Chinabridge Gerry Scully Age Action Staff Member Hans Zomer Dochas HE Catherine Mwangi Kenyan Ambassador Helen Pearse Maynooth U3A Drama Group Helen Sweeney Maynooth U3A Drama Group Helen Walmsley VSI Helena McAbsey Maynooth U3A Drama Group James O'Brien Dochas



Joan Lennon Maynooth U3A Drama Group Jeffrey James HelpAge international. Caribbean Representative. Joan Dixon Member of Age Action Joe Jennings Global Citizenship Unit, Concern Johannah Watters CreativeCare John Beard World Health Organisation Josephine Heeran Member of Age Action Julia Murray Member of Age Action

Kate Connaughton Crooked Sixpence Theatre Katherine Phil Bates Member of Age Action Kathy Barmon Member of Age Action Keelin McCarthy Age Action Staff Member Linda Bacuzzi Member of Age Action Maeve McCarthy Maynooth U3A Drama Group Maia Ryan Age Action Staff Member Mairead King Member of Age Action Margaret Loftus Member of Age Action Margaret Walshe Member of Age Action Maria Carmen O'Connell Member of Age Action Marie-Ange Zakrzewska Member of Age Action Mary Markham Member of Age Action Mary Moloney Maynooth U3A Drama Group Maureen Gilbert Disability & Equality Consultant Maureen O'Connor Age Action Volunteer Mbemba Jabbi Africa Centre Moira McCarthy Comhlamh Molly Collins Pavee Point Niamh Murray Karika: Kenyan Aged People Require Information & Advancement Nicola Donnelly CARDI (Centre for Ageing Research & Development in Ireland) Nora O'Donnell Member of Age Action Paddy Hyland The Care Trust Padraig Heeran Member of Age Action Pat O'Flynn OWN (Older Women's Network) Pauline Smith Member of Age Action Philomena Stynes Member of Age Action

Rebecca O'Haloran Africa Centre Richard Blewitt HelpAge International Richard Damien Murray Member of Age Action Robin Webster Age Action Staff Member Rosemary Flynn Member of Age Action Sally Corcoran University College Dublin. Development Studies library (Retired) Sheila Reilly Pavee Point Sylvia Beales HelpAge International Therese Moore Member of Age Action



Appendix 5: Conference DVD: Table of Contents

Letter from the CEO of Age Action Age Action: What we do Speakers Biographies Resources and Contact Details:

a. Conference Spreadsheet i. Ageing and Development Organisations ii. Links

b. Directory of Ageing Resources on the Internet

Population Ageing & Global Demographic Change: http://www.un.org/ageing/research_papers.html

a. Population Ageing and Development 2009 b. Ageing 2009 Chart c. Population Pyramids: Jamaica, Columbia, Uganda, Ghana d. An Ageing World: 2008 e. Illustrating Ageing in Ireland – Key Facts and Figures f. Population Trends 2005-2050 UN Data

State of the World’s Older People a. State of the World’s Older People b. Ageing - Exploding the Myths c. Social Portrait of Older People in Ireland

Strengthening Rights: http://www.globalaging.org/index.htm a. Strengthening Older People’s Rights: Towards a UN Convention

Climate Change: http://www.helpage.org/Researchandpolicy/Climatechange a. Witness to Climate Change: Learning from Older People’s Experience

Pensions/Social Protection a. Universal Social/Non-contributory Pensions b. Social pensions are critical to human rights

HIV a. Older People, Children and the HIV/AIDS Nexus b. Impact of AIDS on Older People: Zimbabwe Case Study

Emergencies a. Humanitarian Action and Older Persons: An essential brief for humanitarian

actors b. Older People in Emergencies: Considerations for Action and Policy

Development c. Older People in Disasters and Humanitarian Crises: Guidelines for best

practice



Elder Abuse

a. Missing Voices: Views of Older Persons on Elder Abuse

Work a. Forgotten Workforce: older people and their right to decent work b. Unreported Lives: the truth about older people’s work

Health a. Primary healthcare for older people: a participatory study in five Asian

Countries b. Ageing and Development 25

Poverty a. Chronic Poverty and Older in the Developing World b. Hunger and Food Insecurity among the Elderly

Older People and Development a. Ageing & the Millennium Development Goals b. An Untapped Resource: How supporting older people with social protection

will help achieve the Millennium Development Goals c. Third Age in the Third World d. Europe Lead the Way: why the EU needs to include older people in its

development strategy e. Get to know older people in Kenya (PowerPoint)

Films a. Age Action Video b. Older People’s Rights Around the World c. Social Protection for Older People in Africa d. Age Demands Action: Meet Paul Muthee e. Age Demands Action: Meet Rhoda Juma Kariuki f. Age Demands Action: Meet Josephine Napkonde

Bibliography

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