Kenya: Helping Older People In The Wake Of Violence

Main Category: Aid / Disasters
Also Included In: Seniors / Aging
Article Date: 17 Jan 2008 - 3:00 PDT

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Help the Aged and HelpAge International are working in partnership with HelpAge Kenya and the Kenya Red Cross Society to alleviate the plight of older people caught up in post-election violence in Kenya. The organisations have already distributed appropriate food to many hundreds of older people, and are working to ensure that other relief agencies and the authorities recognise and address the particular needs of older people in this emergency.

Currently, in and around the capital Nairobi, hundreds of older people are receiving emergency food because they have been displaced by the violence, or it has prevented them from earning money through their small businesses.

Older residents of camps set up to accommodate people fleeing the violence report that their age/needs are not registered by the authorities and that as a result their needs are sidelined.

In Kenya, as in many emergency situations, older people are among the most vulnerable, but they also have a positive role to play. For instance in Nakuru, a town in the Rift Valley where deaths due to post-election violence have also been recorded, dozens of older people are hosting displaced families and relatives.

As well as recording how and where older people have been affected by violence and assisting them HelpAge International and HelpAge Kenya staff will advise both governmental and non-governmental agencies caring for internally displaced people on:

- the need to register adults at camps for internally displaced people by age bracket;
- ensuring that health facilities set up in the camps can recognise the particular medical needs of older people where they differ from other people's;
- the need for particular psycho-social support for older people;
- recognising and supporting older people who are caring for other family or community members;
- the potential for older people to play a valuable role in the displaced community setting.

Further information on the needs and roles of older people in emergency situations and disasters can be found in the World Disasters Report 2007: tackling discrimination in disasters. HelpAge International was invited to contribute to the chapter on older people which says discrimination by governments, humanitarian organisations and communities prevents them from realising their rights to disaster response and resources for recovery.

Notes

1. Correct statistics on older people who have been displaced facilitate planning for the right interventions to address their needs. For example, older people can have trouble lining up for food rations and may be easily injured if jostled in the rush for provisions; general food rations may not be suitable for them if they have trouble chewing or swallowing.

2. Help the Aged and HelpAge International are working together to improve the lives of disadvantaged older people around the world.

3. HelpAge International has a vision of a world in which all older people fulfil their potential to lead dignified, healthy and secure lives. HelpAge International is a global network striving for the rights of disadvantaged older people to economic and physical security; healthcare and social services; and support in their caregiving role across the generations. http://www.helpage.org.

4. Help the Aged is the charity fighting to free disadvantaged older people in the UK and overseas from poverty, isolation, neglect and ageism. Help the Aged urgently needs donations and support to help it in the increasingly challenging fight to free disadvantaged older people from poverty, isolation and neglect.

Help the Aged

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