Ageways Practical issues in ageing and development Issue 75 / July 2010

Focus on older women Seeing the difference Tackling violent threats Changing lives through literacy How to include older women Beating the stigma of HIV Easing ethnic tensions How to collect data 2 Noticeboard

Contents 4 Seeing the difference 6 Tackling violent threats Comment 7 Changing lives through literacy 8 How to include older women Steps to ending discrimination 10 Beating the stigma of HIV 11 Easing ethnic tensions Welcome to Ageways 75. Just before this issue went to press, the 12 How to collect data UN adopted a new resolution on eliminating violence against 14 Meet our ambassadors women. It expresses deep concern about violence against older 16 Improving lives with better stoves women and urges governments and UN agencies to collect data broken down by sex and age. Future issues Issue 76 (Dec 2010) Food and nutrition This recognition of older women’s situation is important. For while Issue 77 (April 2011) HIV and AIDS older women are often the backbone of their families, they are We welcome articles for consideration. also some of the most vulnerable and invisible in society because Please send them three months before of the combined effects of age and gender-based discrimination. the month of publication. This issue of Ageways discusses the impact of discrimination on older women and highlights their abilities and contributions. Front cover Gregoria Zevallos Quispe, 85, makes Like the UN, it calls for better data as a starting point for developing a living by growing and selling flowers more effective programmes. We hope you find it inspiring and in a village near Ayacucho, Peru. welcome your response. Photo: Antonio Olmos/HelpAge International Celia Till and Bridget Sleap Editors, Ageways Letters Action in the Philippines We have also recommended the She was living a happy life while her establishment of a geriatric ward in husband was alive and did not need May I share the information that if every government hospital to cater for to work. About seven years ago her associations of older persons are indigent older patients. This has not husband died. Last year, her daughter undertaking community development been approved yet so we will follow up. died, leaving three children. She now activities and providing social welfare has responsibility for two families – services, they could subscribe to the During quarterly assemblies, we invite her son’s and her daughter’s children. newsletter of FundsforNGOs.org medical practitioners to talk on health (www.fundsforngos.org) issues. We also invite officials from She told me: “I thank the people who the government insurance offices and give me work because the majority of I am president of the Central Visayas Phil Health (the Philippine Health people don’t want an old person to do Association for Volunteer Effort Insurance Corporation) to discuss their housework. (CVAVE) in the Philippines. We have new policies and benefits. an active membership of 129 retirees. “SSI works for older people and advises We started our “Age Demands Action” I am 72 years old and a retiree from me at difficult times. I was so depressed campaign when the retirees passed the Department of Social Welfare and when I lost my daughter last year. an appeal to congress requesting an Development where I was the SSI supported me like a family member. old-age pension for life for 70-year-olds. regional director in Central Visayas. I have no other source of income except The bill reached its third reading but working and I am thankful that God Martiniana Mercado (by email) was not approved, as the government has given me strength to support my does not have enough funds. grandchildren.” Cleaning to care for We will lobby with legislators and local grandchildren Fariha Abdullah, Manager, executives for an increase in the budget Sustainable Systems Initiatives (SSI), Maqbool is a widow in her seventies. allocated to older persons. The law Elderly Care Project, 143, G-3, Street 13, She had ten children but has lost four says that government agencies must Phase 2, Hayatabad, Peshawar, Pakistan. of them. She works for others doing appropriate 1 per cent of their budget Email: [email protected] for differently-abled persons and older household chores such as dishwashing, persons. washing clothes and cleaning. From Fajar (morning prayer) at 6.00am until 5.00-6.00pm she works hard for her orphaned grandchildren.

Ageways July 2010 3 What the media can do “I wasn’t sent to In the last ten years, the older We welcome letters population in India has increased at school because they Please write to: The Editor, more than double the rate of the general Ageways, HelpAge International, population. It is the media that can used to say: ‘She is PO Box 32832, N1 9ZN, UK. highlight the situation that will be Fax: +44 (0)20 7713 7993 created by increasing numbers of elders a girl. There is no Email: [email protected] and help change the present indifferent attitude of society and government reason to send her Please include your name, towards elders. organisation (if any) and postal to school. She must address. Older people have done a lot for society during their prime time. However, help do the house- Letters may be edited. even after government orders, younger generations sometimes occupy the work.’ I learnt to seats reserved for elders on buses or Keep in touch! the separate queues for elders in post read and write by offices, hospitals, dispensaries and so Please keep in touch to make sure you on. The media has to create an my own will.” receive regular copies of Ageways. atmosphere of respect for older people. Catalina Choque Condori, 73, member of If your contact details change, please Again, after having a regular routine for the Nuevo Amanecer (New Dawn) older post the form on page 15 or use the 30-40 years, there is a vacuum in elders’ people’s organisation in La Paz, Bolivia. online form at: lives. Some are able to do useful work She has now started her own business. www.helpage.org/aboutus/contactus of their choice but others are just killing See also the article on page 7 about time. The media can create avenues for literacy training in Cambodia. elders to express themselves and feel useful. Each newspaper and TV channel can give space exclusively for elders, for example, on healthcare, safety, mobility or second careers. The media may also appoint some elders as correspondents to provide New publications material about their associations and pay them an honorarium. This will Cash transfers in emergencies: Forgotten workforce: give them not only financial support a practical field guide older people and their right but also a feeling of usefulness. This publication provides a to decent work M V Ruparelia, India (by email) step-by-step guide to planning and This report shows that most people in managing cash grants to people low- and middle-income countries work How to sponsor a radio affected by natural disasters, based in old age, often in appalling conditions. programme? on the experience of HelpAge It calls for their right to decent work International and other humanitarian to be protected. We are looking for sponsorship to organisations. allow us to spread information on the HelpAge International London, 2009 radio about the situation of older HelpAge International East Asia and Can be downloaded from: Pacific, 2010 people in the Copperbelt Province www.helpage.org/resources Can be downloaded from: here in Zambia. www.helpage.org/resources Francis Mulubwa, Chairman, Ndeke Community Caregivers Group, Forgotten PO Box 240264, Ndola, Zambia. workforce: older people and their right to decent work Editor’s reply: Have any Ageways readers got any suggestions for finding sponsorship or persuading radio stations to broadcast their material without payment? One idea might be to ask the radio station to find a commercial sponsor to fund a programme specifically for older people. If any readers have ideas, please write to the editor and we will publish them in the next issue.

Ageways July 2010 4 Focus on older women Seeing the difference Bridget Sleap explains how age discrimination and gender-based discrimination affect older women and suggests how programmes can respond to their different experiences.

Shiduki is a 71-year-old widow who lives in northern Tanzania. After her husband died, his family turned her out of her house. For seven years she lived alone in a house that let in the rain. “People despised me,” she says, “because I had nothing. I even received death threats.” Shiduki’s situation is not exceptional. She is just one of millions of women around the world who experience the combined impact of ageism and sexism as they get older. Ageism (the stereotyping of older people and prejudice against them) and age discrimination (when someone is treated differently because of their age) Respecting older continue to be tolerated across the world, although they may manifest themselves women’s rights differently in different societies and cultures contexts. When ageism is combined with sexism, older women face a double layer of discrimination. After a lifetime of being discriminated protects others too against because they are female, they then have to cope with also being discriminated against because they are old. This is, of course, not to ignore the fact that older men also have to cope with age discrimination and the Yet older women remain invisible in In many societies, being widowed or sometimes negative consequences of major development processes such as single, either because of divorce or never masculine roles dictated by society the Millennium Development Goals and having married, profoundly changes and culture. However, older women are rarely included in interventions to older women’s status in society. This can are affected disproportionately. address gender inequality, such as those result in discrimination in both law and to implement the Beijing Platform for practice, particularly in terms of property Enormous contribution Action. In fact, as women become older, and inheritance rights. Inheritance laws they are often considered no longer often deny women the right to own or There are a number of ways in which economically or reproductively useful inherit property. Family members and older women experience age and and seen as a burden on their families. others often force widows off their land gender-based discrimination. First, older or seize their property. women make an enormous contribution Women live longer than men: for every to their families and communities as 100 women over 80 years old there are The impact of gender-based carers, income-earners, educators and only 59 men. As a result, older women discrimination against girls and younger mediators, but their vital role in society are likely to live more years in ill-health women is carried into old age. In many is widely overlooked. than older men. They are also more countries, older women have lower likely to live on their own, less likely literacy rates than older men because, In this issue there are examples of to be married and more likely to be as girls, they were not allowed to go to older women using conflict resolution widowed than older men. While some school. Being unable to read, write or skills to ease ethnic tensions, learning older women may choose to live alone, do calculations can seriously limit older to read and write so that they can run others do not, and become more women’s ability to obtain information, businesses and working to prevent vulnerable and isolated as a result. access services or take part in social, drug abuse among younger people. economic or political activities.

Ageways July 2010 5

If NGOs and governments are to respond effectively to the varied lives of older women and men, this diversity needs to be understood and taken into account. Development programmes, policies and laws across all sectors need to be specifically designed to counter this mix of age and gender-based discrimination so that older women can enjoy their rights alongside everyone else.

What can we do? One of the main barriers to improving programmes and designing laws and policies that effectively respond to the Caring for children lives of older women and men is the lack is a responsibility of data and information. It is not enough often taken on by to know, for example, that 70 per cent older women, as with of older people do not have access to this grandmother clean water. If we can break this down in Uganda. into how many older women and how many older men have no access, we can start to think about what the underlying problems are, and how to design our programme in a way that does not reinforce any existing gender inequalities. A good example is in Northern Uganda where assessments in 2010 of extremely vulnerable individuals displaced by conflict show the high proportion of

Kate Holt/HelpAge International Holt/HelpAge Kate extremely vulnerable older women: 56 per cent of extremely vulnerable The combination of ageism and sexism individuals were women over 60 can result in violence and abuse. compared with 19 per cent who were Many older women experience violence older men. in their homes or in institutional settings This is an extremely high proportion such as care homes. A study in Kenya relative to the total population both in showed that 60 per cent of older women terms of gender and age. Given these were being abused by their daughters- Similarly, because many older women statistics, any resettlement programme in-law who were preventing them from have spent their lives doing unpaid to enable people to return to their getting regular food, warm clothes, caring or domestic work or working in villages of origin must specifically medical attention and adequate shelter. the informal sector, they have had less address the barriers that are preventing older women from returning. opportunity than men to contribute to Diverse experiences pension schemes and are less likely Another good strategy is to team up While gender-based and age to have any social security in old age. with local women’s organisations in the discrimination are universal it is In , for example, only areas where we work. They may not important to remember that all older half as many women as men receive have programmes dedicated to older women are different and they experience pensions. women but they will understand the these issues in different ways. Older dynamics and issues facing women. Gender-based discrimination in women in rural communities may have Working together will help women’s employment means that women who very different day-to-day concerns to organisations understand more about have been employed are likely to have those living in cities. Life for a woman ageing and help ageing organisations earned less than men. Statutory in her 60s can be dramatically different understand more about women. retirement ages that are lower for to life for a woman in her 80s or 90s. women can discriminate against those who wish to continue working but The health status of older women References are available on request. varies enormously. Older indigenous are forced to retire at an earlier age Bridget Sleap is Rights Policy Adviser, than men. women, older widows, older women HelpAge International, London caring for children, women facing (address on back page). retirement – the differences between Email: [email protected] these women can be as great as the differences between women and men.

Ageways July 2010 6 Focus on older women Tackling violent threats Older women in Tanzania who have been at risk of violence are now being treated with more respect, writes Nyasigo Emmanuel.

Belief in witchcraft is strong in including traditional healers and militias Pasikazia Makelema, 57, from Shinyanga Sukumaland, north-eastern Tanzania. who have fuelled the killings, and with district, says: “The programme has at Disturbingly, this belief often leads local government officials, religious last moved people away from this belief. to the persecution of people believed leaders, civil society organisations and Now people are talking about the issue to be witches. Most of those accused the media. openly. I can go to village meetings of witchcraft are older women. without feeling afraid.” In each village, about 15-20 older people Witchcraft allegations are often linked have been trained as paralegal advisers While continuing to work with local to disputes over property. Tanzania’s to provide advice and support on legal communities, HelpAge is strengthening complicated inheritance laws mean that matters. Between 2004 and 2008, coalitions with national organisations women can lose ownership of their paralegal advisers dealt with 19,800 such as the National Organization for houses and land when they become cases, nearly half of them disputes over Legal Assistance, Tanzania Media widowed, making them extremely inheritance and land rights, mostly Women’s Association and the Women’s vulnerable. Unexplained events such brought by older women. Legal Aid Centre to encourage more as crop failures or HIV-related illnesses government interventions to protect On a practical level, HelpAge’s partners are often attributed to witchcraft. older women. have mobilised local communities to Certain physical characteristics such as build houses for women who have been red eyes, a common legacy for women Nyasigo Emmanuel is Communications threatened, attacked or evicted. They have who have spent a lifetime cooking over Officer, HelpAge International, Tanzania made fuel-efficient stoves to demonstrate smoky stoves, are also associated with (address on page 15). that red eyes, health problems and early witchcraft. Email: [email protected] deaths often associated with witchcraft With thanks to Leonard Ndamgoba and But attitudes have been changing, thanks have more human explanations and Flavian Bifandimu for information for this to a long-running project coordinated by practical solutions. They have also article. HelpAge International, with funding from supported income-generating activities Comic Relief. Between November 2004 to make older women less dependent. More information: and December 2007, in nine districts of Leonard Ndamgoba, Programme Manager, This combination of approaches has Sukumaland, the number of witchcraft- HelpAge International Tanzania, Mwanza. gone a long way towards improving older Email: [email protected] related killings fell from 372 to two, women’s security. As Dotto Masabuli, the number of threatening letters from Flavian Bifandimu, Rights Manager, 67, from Kituli village says: “I can speak 564 to none, and the number of rights HelpAge International Tanzania, up in front of other people now because abuses related to inheritance, marriage Dar es Salaam. I have my own house. My grandchildren and civil rights from 464 to 41. Email: [email protected] respect me because I have something to Working with communities leave them.” How has this come about? The key has Building houses for been to work with local communities women who have to raise awareness of women’s rights, been dispossessed of as well as providing practical support to property has helped to vulnerable older women. improve their security. HelpAge’s local partners have helped to set up older people’s committees in 90 villages. The partners have trained committee members in women’s rights and raised awareness of the harmful consequences of witchcraft allegations, misconceptions about HIV and witchcraft, and traditional practices such as widows being inherited like any other family property, having no right to inheritance and being physically humiliated.

With the older people’s committees they International Emma Judge/HelpAge have educated local communities about these issues, using drama, dance and songs. They have held awareness-raising meetings with influential groups,

Ageways July 2010 7 Changing lives through literacy Jamie Pugh describes how adult literacy classes are opening up new opportunities for older women in Cambodia.

Meur Sang, a 58-year-old woman from Cambodia, is looking forward to the future. “I’m going to set up a small grocery shop in front of the house and help my daughter with the accounts,” she says. “And I’ll help my grandchildren with their schoolwork.” These are things that Meur Sang has not been able to do, because she could not read or write. But that is changing. Each week she attends a two-hour adult literacy class at a salachortien (social International Roth/HelpAge Rumnea and religious centre) in her village of Tuol Prom in Battambang province. Literacy classes are popular with Her new skills will enable her to expand older women because they encourage her source of livelihood beyond the learning by doing and are timed to one-hectare rice farm that leaves her fit in with their daily routines. and her family short of food for three or four months each year. Women in the older people’s associations An important aspect of the classes is The class is one of thirty being held in gave many reasons for wanting to learn their timing to fit in with the women’s villages in Battambang and Banteay to read and write. They wanted to daily routines. They take place either in Meanchey provinces, supported by understand signs at bus stations and the middle of the day or at the end of the HelpAge International, with funding health centres, read posters, books afternoon, allowing the women time to from the European Commission and and government information, follow cook, feed their animals, work in the Age UK. The idea for the classes came instructions, for example, on growing rice fields or sell cooked food. from discussions with members of vegetables, and do calculations for Sometimes the classes are rescheduled older people’s associations. shopping and running businesses. if the women need to attend religious Literacy skills would also mean they events or put in extra time in the fields. More older women could write to adult children who were Thanks to her own determination, and Because so many men were killed during living away and help their grandchildren the enthusiasm and commitment of her the Khmer Rouge regime of the 1970s, with homework. teacher, Meur Sang has not missed a older women in Cambodia outnumber HelpAge worked with provincial single class. “I have reached the 21st older men. There are twice as many coordinators of the Department of session,” she says, “and my reading women over 60 as men, and two-thirds Education to develop a six-month and writing skills have really come on.” of these women are widows. As a result, course and recruit and train village most members of older people’s volunteer teachers. The teachers are Jamie Pugh is Programme Officer, associations are women. retired schoolteachers and monks living HelpAge International, London Many of these women cannot read or in the village, who work on a voluntary (address on back page). write because they never went to school. basis. Email: [email protected] In Cambodia, almost four-fifths of older With thanks to Touch Sok, Project The classes are small, with just ten women had no schooling, with the result Coordinator and Rumnea Roth, Area students in each, and the teaching that seven in ten women aged over 65 Coordinator, HelpAge International, methods encourage learning by cannot read or write. Many older women Cambodia for providing information for doing. The classes are offered free of have to support themselves, but their this article. charge to members of older people’s opportunities to earn an income or play associations. Nearly all the students More information: Touch Sok, Project an active part in society are limited. Coordinator, HelpAge International, are women over 40. Cambodia (address on page 15). Email: [email protected]

Ageways July 2010 8 Focus on older women Abu Riyadh Khan/Resource Integration Centre Integration Khan/Resource Abu Riyadh

Older women can be encouraged to lead discussions, as in this older people’s meeting in Bangladesh. How to include older women Here are ideas for making sure that you include older women at all stages of your programme, from carrying out consultations to monitoring and evaluation. By including older women in Planning a programme When you are reporting, indicate development projects you are helping whether the source is a man or a woman. Take steps to include older women at to redress gender inequalities that all stages of working with a community, have existed throughout their lives, from assessing people’s needs to Collecting data and that are exacerbated in old age. organising activities. Invite older When collecting data, always record Projects that empower older women, women to events and give them the people’s age group and sex (see page for example, through education, opportunity to express their opinions. 12). This will highlight the different healthcare, micro-credit or legal Design a programme that takes their experiences of different groups of people. advice, not only improve the quality needs into account. For example, in wellbeing ranking of life of individual older women and exercises, older women, especially Consider supporting older women help them fulfil their right to an those who are widowed or single, have to set up their own self-help groups adequate standard of living, but also been found to be among the least well to organise social and development benefit their families and communities off, according to local definitions. activities. Include older women in because they can contribute so monitoring and evaluation. Also think about how you will collect much more. the data. Individual interviews, followed by focus group discussions, “ We must make the case for human generally work best with older women. When interviewing older women, rights-centred development. We can’t let consider the age and sex of the interviewer and interpreter. Older aggregate numbers obscure inequality.” women may be reluctant to discuss Mary Robinson, President, Realizing Rights some issues with men. and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

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Meetings and workshops Emergency relief women may find it difficult to abandon Older women who have had little Men and women face different traditional forms of dress. education and who have a low social experiences in emergencies. Older Recognise older women’s role in society status are often hesitant to speak in women are less likely than older men and the skills they can offer. Older front of others. In mixed groups, men to have a source of income. Widows women, in particular, often provide often dominate discussions. Here are may be left isolated and reliant on the comfort to others affected by disasters. some ways you can encourage older goodwill of relatives or neighbours. women to take part in meetings and In times of food shortages, it is generally Older women are far more likely than workshops: older women who know how to collect, older men to be caring for children. process and prepare wild foods. • Arrange meetings at times that fit Without an income or access to services Older women have an important role in with women’s daily routines. they may be unable to provide for in food preparation and hygiene and children in their care. • Specify that you want equal numbers should be included in any training. of men and women, or reserve a Social or religious customs may restrict With thanks to Annie Nut, Programme minimum number of places for older women’s movement, or they may be Manager, HelpAge International, Cambodia, women. hampered by traditional forms of dress, Peter Morrison, Regional Programme making it harder for them to escape from • Consider having separate meetings Manager, HelpAge International, for men and women. sudden emergencies such as floods or East Asia/Pacific and Chattip Soralump, hurricanes. This is more likely happen Regional Communications Officer, • Direct questions to different people, with older women than younger women HelpAge International, East Asia/Pacific not just the dominant speakers. because they are more likely to observe for information for this article. traditional codes of dress and behaviour. • Sit at the same level as the women. Other sources include the following Without appropriate protection, older HelpAge publications, which can be • Avoid using written materials if downloaded from: www.helpage.org members of the group lack literacy women are at risk of sexual abuse and Older people’s associations in community skills. violence. Consider having separate areas for men and women in emergency disaster risk reduction: a resource book • Provide opportunities for women to shelters and collection centres to protect on good practice (2007) lead discussions, facilitate meetings their privacy and reduce the risk of Establishing and working with older and summarise results. abuse. Do not mix older women and people’s associations in Cambodia: men without the informed permission a practical guideline (2006) • Spend time at the beginning of the of the older women. Provide separate meeting helping women relax before Participatory research with older people: moving on to discussing problems. sleeping areas and toilets for men a sourcebook (2002) and women. • Allow women to speak without Addressing the nutritional needs of older interrupting them, and thank them Try to provide clothing for older women people in emergency situations in : for sharing their ideas with others. that is acceptable to them. Some older ideas for action (2001) Older people in disasters and humanitarian • Encourage women to prioritise crises: guidelines for best practice (1999) their problems and needs in a group and let them know what they can expect to happen next. • Provide opportunities for women to stand for election in older people’s associations. • Train women in skills such as leadership, communication, advocacy, facilitation and book-keeping. Cindy Powell/HelpAge International Powell/HelpAge Cindy

Older women line up for aid after this year’s earthquake in Haiti.

Ageways July 2010 10 Focus on older women Beating the stigma of HIV The HIV epidemic places a heavy demand for care on older women. Le Thi Dan, age 70, from Thai Nguyen province, Vietnam, describes how groups of older women are supporting each other and educating their communities. Before my daughter-in-law died, my Sharing experiences With the knowledge and skills I have life was pleasant. My husband and acquired from the club, I have become In 2005, I joined a club for people I had small pensions. Sometimes our a community communicator. I advise affected by HIV and AIDS. Since then, children gave us money or gifts. young people to stop using drugs. I’ve felt much better. My family has In 2004, my daughter-in-law died. received regular visits from other club Whenever someone in a club member’s People said that she had died of AIDS. members and volunteers. We share family dies, I and other members visit After that, my health became worse the difficulties and joys in life with them and help them organise the funeral. because of my depression. I found out each other. I also often tell other members in the that I had a severe lung infection. local Buddhism Association about the At club meetings, we have learnt how It was very painful. club so that people can understand to look after ourselves and how to care more about our club. When our neighbours learnt that my for people living with HIV. The club daughter-in-law had died of AIDS, they also organises tours. Many of us never My only wish now is to take my grandson stopped coming to see us. They didn’t thought that, during our lifetime, we to have an HIV test, so that I can be allow their children or grandchildren to would have a chance to go on a tour. sure of his status. The club will help me play with my grandchildren. They said Every quarter, the club organises health with this. that as my daughter-in-law had died check-ups for members. of AIDS, other family members might With thanks to Tran Bich Thuy, The best thing is that the club also be infected. Because of the stigma National Project Coordinator, Programme management board has persuaded the in our community, I didn’t even dare to Management Team, Vietnam Women’s local kindergarten to allow my grandson tell our relatives about my daughter-in- Union, 39 Hang Chuoi, Hanoi, Vietnam. to go there. We are all much happier, Email: [email protected] law’s illness. especially my son, who has gone back The empathy clubs are supported by When my grandson was old enough to to his job. the Vietnam Women’s Union and go to kindergarten, no kindergarten HelpAge International with funding would accept him because his mother from the Big Lottery Fund (BIG). had died of AIDS. My son became bored and started wandering about doing nothing and Empathy clubs coming home very late at night. He provide an went to the hospital for an HIV test and opportunity for told me there was no problem. Even so, families affected the whole family lived with depression by HIV to support and stigma. each other. Vietnam Women’s Union Women’s Vietnam With new knowledge

I can help others

Ageways July 2010 11 Easing ethnic tensions The collapse of the Soviet Union and tension between different ethnic groups has left older people in Kyrgyzstan feeling insecure and disillusioned. Dina Muhataeva, age 62, describes how older women are helping to ease these problems.

I have been interested in human rights ever since I had to give up my job as an accountant after I was injured in a car accident at the age of 38. I started helping people in my community apply for identity documents, settle disputes over land or property and take up complaints against the authorities. In 2006, both my husband and my son died. I live alone but my children visit me often. In 2008, I was invited to a meeting by HelpAge International and Babushka Adoption, two organisations working International HelpAge with older people in Kyrgyzstan, in my Dina Muhataeva (left) village of Jany Pahta, Sokuluk. with refugee Jeengul Zabirova I took part in training sessions where (right). I learnt how to organise seminars, work with the media, conduct surveys and network with other groups. I became recognised in the community and even at international level after appearing The women are from different Perhaps it was because the woman had on TV. backgrounds, including internal left her husband, which is not accepted migrants from the south of the country in her culture, or because her son had Setting up a group and ethnic Kyrgyz refugees who have a mental disability. They had difficulty recently moved here from Tajikistan. applying for housing and medical Back in my village I set up an older The group helps unite these women care because they did not have proper people’s group of 12 men and eight by encouraging them to spend time identification documents. They were women, called Yrys (which means together celebrating public holidays, living in an old abandoned building up “Prosperity” in Kyrgyz). Six of the cooking national dishes and organising two flights of steep stairs which became women members formed a self-help weddings and funerals. icy in winter. group to promote better relations between different ethnic groups. We sew quilts and blankets and grow We organised a marathon to raise funds Women in their roles as mothers and vegetables which we sell to raise money to help them. Thanks to our efforts, housekeepers turn out to be more for the group. We use the money to the son has received treatment which successful at resolving conflicts. celebrate occasions such as Older has improved his health. We also asked People’s Day, New Year and Nooruz the village council for a plot of land (spring equinox) and distribute food for a house. We have been given the “Women in their and clothes to vulnerable older people. land and we are now applying to Together with the village government different organisations for assistance roles as mothers we have created the Council of with construction materials. and housekeepers Inter-Ethnic Cohesion to try to prevent inter-ethnic conflict and support Dina Muhataeva was interviewed by vulnerable village residents. Aisuluu Kamchybekova, Communications turn out to be more Officer, HelpAge International, Eastern For example, we have helped an Europe and (address on successful at 82-year-old woman and her son, who page 15). Email: resolving conflicts.” are ethnic Kyrgyz refugees from [email protected] Tajikistan. They were finding it difficult The older people’s groups are being to adjust to their new environment, supported as part of a project funded by even within their refugee community. TACIS-IBPP European Commission.

Ageways July 2010 12 Focus on older women How to collect data This article gives guidelines on collecting data broken down by age and sex and presents some basic data on older women and men.

You will need to collect data at the beginning, during and end of a project to help you plan the project and see how it is going. Data is also essential for advocacy. Exactly what data you need will depend on what you are setting out to do. At the very minimum, however, you should collect data broken down by age and sex, since men and women of different ages may have very different experiences. For example, a survey of people’s access to credit facilities, carried out by the National Bureau of Statistics in Nigeria,

showed that far fewer older people than International HelpAge Men’s and women’s groups younger people had access to micro- compare their wealth credit. Only 10 per cent of people over 60 Where to find data ranking in Cambodia. were accessing micro-credit, compared Sources of baseline data may include: with 43 per cent of people aged 30-44. • UN agencies such as the These figures are significant, but they do UN Population Division, World not present the full picture. For the As a result, the committee Health Organization and UNESCO survey also showed that within the 10 recommended that the governments • National statistics bureaux per cent there was a big difference of these countries specifically include between access by older men and older older women in their programmes to • Local government censuses women. Only 4 per cent of older women implement the Convention. In the next Reports from NGOs and donor had access to micro-credit, compared • round of reporting, these governments agencies with 12 per cent of older men. will have to report on what they are Records held by institutions such Knowing this, you could start to ask doing to protect older women’s rights. • as schools and health centres. questions not only about why so few You can collect data from a number of older people were accessing micro- sources (see box). For more specific credit, but why so few older women, data you may need to carry out your in particular, had access. You could own research. Sources for graphs on opposite page: investigate what the issues were and how they could be resolved, and plan If you carry out your own survey, 1. UNDESA, World population prospects: the 2008 revision, http://esa.un.org/unpp (14 May 2010) an intervention accordingly. ideally, include the following age groups: 50-59, 60-69, 70-79 and 80-plus. 2. UNESCO UIS (Institute for Statistics), Ageing Having data broken down by age and At least include: 60-79 and 80-plus. population (65+) literacy rates and illiterate population sex is also important if you want to by country and territory, data received by email Collecting data by sex is simple. Ask (5 March 2010); UNESCO UIS, Build your own table: work with specialist agencies, such as adult literacy rates (total, male and female), women’s organisations. or note whether the person is male or http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/tableviewer/ female. document.aspx?FileId=50 (27 May 2010). Data is for For example, data collected by HelpAge different years for different countries (1999-2008). In Kyrgyzstan, for example, HelpAge International staff on abuse of older 3. UN data, http://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=Gender women in Bolivia, Mozambique and International has used the National Stat&f=inID%3A36 (25 May 2010) Tanzania was presented to the Statistical Committee and reports from World Health Organization, World health report 2004, donors and other development agencies. Annex table 4, www.who.int/healthinfo/statistics/ committee that monitors implementation gbdwhr2004hale.xls (14 May 2010). Data for life the UN Convention on Elimination of HelpAge International is currently expectancy is for 2000-2005. Data for healthy life all Forms of Discrimination against collaborating with UNFPA, UNICEF expectancy is for 2002. and the Association of Crisis Centers Women. With thanks to Fiona Morgan, Policy Intern, in Kyrgyzstan to carry out a survey on HelpAge International, London for data violence against older women, which research. will also include focus group discussions with older women.

Ageways July 2010 13 1. There are more older women than older men

World population in 2010 There are more women than men over 60 54% 46% 63% 37% worldwide, and significantly more women than men over 80. Nearly two-thirds of people over 80 are women.

Age 60 and over Age 80 and over Women Men

2. Older women have the lowest literacy rates

Literacy rates by age and sex In a cross-section of countries in which HelpAge 100% International works, the literacy rates of people 80 aged 65 and over are all lower than those of the general adult population (aged 15 and over). 60 In all countries except one (Jamaica), older 40 women have a lower literacy rate than older men. 20 In some countries, the literacy rate for older women is extremely low, for example, 5 per cent 0 in Mozambique and 4 per cent in Nepal.

Laos Men (65+) Older people (65+) Nepal Kenya Bolivia Jamaica Myanmar Sri Lanka Colombia Women (65+) Adult population (15+) Tajikistan Tajikistan Mozambique

3. Women live longer but live more years in ill-health

Men 25 years 20 15 10 5 Men’s and women’s life expectancy and 0 healthy life expectancy at 60 In a cross-section of countries in which Women HelpAge International works, women aged 60 25 years have a longer life expectancy than men. 20 In all countries except one (Colombia) women 15 aged 60 will live more years in ill-health than men. 10 5 Life expectancy

0 Healthy life expectancy Laos Nepal Kenya Bolivia Jamaica Myanmar Sri Lanka Colombia Tajikistan Tajikistan Mozambique

Ageways July 2010 14 HelpAge network Meet our ambassadors Ageways introduces you to five men and women who are championing older people’s rights as HelpAge International’s global ambassadors.

Professor Nana Araba Apt is an academic from Ghana who has published widely on ageing in Africa. She is currently Dean of Academic Affairs at Ashesi University College, Accra. She was previously based at the University of Ghana, Legon, where she created and ran the Centre for Social Policy Studies. She is a founder member and current president of HelpAge Ghana. “Who would have thought that Africa, well acknowledged for its traditional caring systems, would now face a crisis of caring for its ageing family members? I have committed much of my academic life to exploring avenues to make older people’s life less burdensome in Africa and I welcome this role with HelpAge.”

Baroness Sally Greengross is a commissioner for the UK Equality and Human Rights Commission. She was director-general of the older people’s organisation, Age Concern England from 1987 to 2000. She received a life peerage in 2000 and is an independent member of the House of Lords. She holds offices on a number of all-party parliamentary groups. She is currently chief executive of the International Longevity Centre UK, the leading think tank on demographic change. “The contribution older people make to society is often forgotten. Older people’s voices need to be heard, their needs expressed strongly and their wishes relayed to those who can provide help, care and resources. This is what HelpAge does and I am delighted to represent them and work with them to achieve their goals.”

Dr Alexandre Kalache pioneered “active ageing” at the World Health Organization as head of the Ageing and Life Course Programme from 1995 to 2007. He now heads the International Centre for Policies on Ageing, Brazil, is a special adviser for global ageing to the New York Academy of Medicine and a member of the advisory board of the World Demographic and Ageing Forum. “I am firmly committed to HelpAge and strongly believe in its core values and principles. I will strive to serve as an ambassador – an honour – particularly in what concerns my own region, Latin America, and the consolidation of our struggle towards strengthening the rights of older people worldwide.”

Dr Alexandre (Sasha) Sidorenko has raised older people’s issues worldwide as head the Programme on Ageing from 1993 to 2009. He was responsible for the 1999 International Year of Older Persons, the Second World Assembly on Ageing in 2002 and the 2002 Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA). He currently holds a range of advisory roles, including as a member of the board of trustees of the World Demographic Association Forum Foundation of St Gallen. “HelpAge has proven to be the major if not the only developmental agency on ageing. Being part of this effort is an opportunity to continue what I have been doing at the United Nations and to fulfil the tasks which as a professional I set for myself.”

Dr Mary Ann Tsao has pioneered new approaches to elder care in south-east Asia as a founder member, former chief executive and current president of the Tsao Foundation. After training and working as a doctor in the USA, Dr Tsao set up the Tsao Foundation with her grandmother in 1993 to provide community health services for older people and promote successful ageing. She was awarded the Public Service Medal in 2000 and Public Service Star in 2004 for her work on ageing. “On establishing her foundation, my grandmother said: ‘There’s nothing as desperate and bleak as being old and poor. Poor young people can always work for a brighter future. For poor older people, however, especially for those who are weak and sick, there is absolutely no hope for a better tomorrow.’ HelpAge International works tirelessly to improve the wellbeing of disadvantaged older people around the world, and I am privileged to join its effort as an ambassador.”

Ageways July 2010 15

HelpAge International affiliates RECEWAPEC, Cameroon NACSOM, Malaysia Latin America Action Ageing Jamaica SAWAKA, Tanzania Office of Seniors Interests, AGECO, Costa Rica ECHO, Grenada Senior Citizens’ Association of Caritas Haitian Society for the Blind Zambia Pakistan Medico International CooperAcción, Peru HelpAge Belize Senior Citizens’ Council, Mauritius Resource Integration Centre CESTRA, Colombia (RIC), Bangladesh HelpAge St Lucia/National Council Sierra Leone Society for the ISALUD, Argentina Welfare of the Aged Singapore Action Group of Elders of and for Older Persons Lima Coordinating Group, Peru Sudanese Society in Care of Older (SAGE) Old People’s Welfare Association Pro Vida Colombia (OPWA), Montserrat People (SSCOP) Society for WINGS, Singapore Pro Vida Perú REACH Dominica Uganda Reach the Aged Tsao Foundation, Singapore Association (URAA) Society of St Vincent de Paul, USIAMAS, Malaysia North America Antigua Asia/Pacific Europe and Central Asia AARP Africa Bangladesh Women’s Health Age Action Ireland Help the Aged () Coalition (BWHC) HelpAge USA* Age-in-Action, South Africa Age UK China National Committee on West Virginia University Center APOSEMO, Mozambique Caritas Malta HelpAge Aging (CNCA) on Aging Centre for Policy on Ageing, UK CEM Outreach, Sierra Leone Coalition of Services of the Elderly Elim Hlanganani Society for the (COSE), Philippines Cordaid, *HelpAge “sister” affiliates Care of the Aged, South Africa Council on the Ageing (COTA), DaneAge Association, HelpAge Ghana Australia Dobroe Delo, Russia HelpAge Kenya* Foundation for Older Persons’ HelpAge Deutschland, * HelpAge Zimbabwe Development (FOPDEV), Thailand Mission Armenia Kenya Society for People with GRAVIS, India NGO Lastavica, Serbia AIDS (KESPA) HelpAge India Second Breath (Gerontological Maseru Senior Women Citizen HelpAge Korea* Association of Moldova) Association, Lesotho HelpAge Sri Lanka* Slovene Philanthropy Mauritius Family Planning Helping Hand Hong Kong UMUT (Resource Centre for Association Instituto de Acção Social, Macau Elderly People), Kyrgyzstan Muthande Society for the Aged WorldGranny, Netherlands (MUSA), South Africa Mongolian Association of Elderly People Zivot 90,

HelpAge International offices Regional centres Latin America Calle Vincenti Country programmes Mozambique CP 4112, Maputo Africa PO Box 14888, No. 576, Entre Claudio Pinilla y Luis, Cambodia 152 Road No. 5, Group 5 Tel +258 (0)21 415816 Westlands, 00800 Nairobi, Kenya Uria de Oliva, Sopocachi, Ramchek IV Village, Rattanak Fax +258 (0)21 416435 La Paz, Bolivia Tel +254 (0)20 4444289 Commune, Battambang Province [email protected] Fax +254 (0)20 4441052 Tel +591 (0)2 241 6830 Tel +855 (0)53 953 797 Fax +591 (0)2 241 0957 Sudan No 9, Block 17, Street 33, [email protected] Fax +855 (0)53 952 797 Amarat, Khartoum [email protected] [email protected] East Asia and Pacific 6 Soi 17, Tel +249 (0)183 461 657 Nimmanhemin Road, Suthep, Caribbean 11½ Swallowfield Road, Moldova M Banulescu-Bodoni Fax +249 (0)183 461 594 Muang, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand Kingston 5, Jamaica Street 57/1, ASITO Building, Offices [email protected] Tel +1 (0)876 906 3658 Tel +66 (0)53 894805 431 & 433, Chisinau, MD-2005 Tanzania PO Box 9846, Fax +66 (0)53 894214 Fax +1 (0)876 906 4678 Tel +373 (0)22 225098 [email protected] Dar es Salaam [email protected] Fax +373 (0)22 224672 Tel +255 (0)22 277 4796 [email protected] South Asia Apt. 2B, Ivy Concord, and Central Asia Fax +255 (0)22 277 5894 House 22, Road 108, Gulshan 2, 204 Abdrakhmanova Street, 4th Ethiopia PO Box 3384, [email protected] Floor, 720040 Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh Addis Ababa Peru Avenida Arequipa 4130, Tel +880 (0)44 7640 1328 Tel +996 (0)312 664636 Tel +251 (0)11 662 4536 Oficina 603, Miraflores, Lima 18 Fax +996 (0)312 620830 Fax +880 (0)44 7600 1633 Fax +251 (0)11 662 0331 Tel +511 (0)42 11902 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

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Postcode/zip code Country To receive Ageways twice a year, either use the order form at: Tel www.helpage.org/ageways or complete and send this form to: Publications, HelpAge International, PO Box 32832, London N1 9ZN, UK Email (include if possible) or Fax +44 (0)20 7713 7993 16 Focus on older women Improving lives with better stoves

Jaime Castilla describes how a small intervention can make a big difference to older women’s lives.

Juana is an active member of Yachaq Runa, an older people’s group in Ayacucho, Peru. Until recently, she spent much of her day cooking lunch for the organisation’s fifty members. The work not only took up a lot of time, but was unhealthy too. Juana had to find firewood and carry it back to the kitchen. While she cooked, she breathed Juana is more active in smoke from the stove. The smoke in her older people’s also affected the taste of the food. Juana organisation, now had started to feel the weight of this that she spends less labour on her 68-year-old shoulders. International Castilla/HelpAge Jaime time cooking. The problems being caused by woodstoves were identified as part of a project coordinated by HelpAge International to improve the livelihoods They learnt how to use locally available Perhaps most significantly, the improved of older people in Peru. HelpAge ingredients for a balanced diet, stoves have allowed the women to International is working in partnership particularly for older people and infants, spend more time on other activities. with four local organisations – Huanta, and how to store and handle food. They are learning to read and write and Carmen Alto and San Juan Bautista in are now participating more actively in The new stoves have made a big Ayacucho and Huancavelica in Lircay. their organisations. difference. “I didn’t imagine it was going to be this easy,” says Juana. “I no longer A key moment for Juana, and for the Jaime Castilla is Monitoring and women cooking for other older people’s have to lift such a heavy pot and the Evaluation Officer, HelpAge International, clubs, was when an engineer from food doesn’t taste of ash any more.” Peru (address on page 15). the rural training centre of the National Email: [email protected] University of San Cristobal of With thanks also to Maria Isabel Rivera, Huamanga installed a new fuel-efficient “ I didn’t imagine it Regional Communications Officer, stove in the club’s kitchen. Juana and was going to be this HelpAge International, Latin America. the other women were shown how to use the new stoves and received easy.” The project is funded by the European training in nutrition and food hygiene. Commission.

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