An estimated 26 million older people are affected by natural disasters every year, but are often not mentioned in nutrition policy documents or in donor strategies for interventions and training.

The public fundraising appeal launched last week by leading British charities – which has featured prominently on radio and television in the UK – has raised more than £4.2 million.

Leading British charities – including HelpAge sister organisation, Age International – will launch a public fundraising appeal this Thursday to provide humanitarian assistance to people affected by the conflict in Syria.

The appeal by the 14 member organisations of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) follows a dramatic deterioration in the humanitarian situation since the beginning of the year and will help fund HelpAge International's work with Syrian refugees.

05 February 2013

By Sarah Marzouk

Heavy rains which hit southern and central Mozambique in January have affected over 150,000 people, flooding farmland and pastures, damaging houses, roads, drainage systems and electricity supplies. Five major rivers in the region, including the Zambeze and Limpopo remain above their alert levels and heavy rain continues to fall.

By Sarah Marzouk

HelpAge is working with our partner Coalition of Services to the Elderly (COSE) to support older people affected by Typhoon Bopha, which hit the Philippines at the beginning of December, affecting over 5.5 million people and killing more than 900.

The typhoon caused extensive damage to houses and destroyed people’s means of earning a living. Helping people return to their daily lives will take a huge amount of time and funds.

Older people constitute a significant and growing number of those affected by humanitarian crises. About 12.5 per cent of the world’s population is aged 60 or over. The United Nations defines older people as those who are above 60 years.

However, the definition should be adapted to local contexts. For example, in many developing countries, people aged 50 are considered old, owing to cultural and social factors that contribute to the perception of someone as being “old”.

The communities whose cisterns were destroyed live unconnected to the water network and are forced to rely on rain harvesting and/or water purchases from vendors.

10 December 2012

By Sarah Marzouk

International HelpAge is extremely concerned about the continuing violence and humanitarian crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Reports of violence, looting and killings continue, including in Mugunga III internally displaced persons (IDP) camp, in North Kivu province, which hosts some 30,000 people.

Elson Malamu, HelpAge's Programme Manager in DRC said: "The lack of humanitarian access continues to be a major constraint due to the insecurity caused by armed groups.

Simulación del Equipo Humanitario de País

El Viceministerio de Defensa Civil, Sistema de Naciones Unidas, Consorcio de Agencias Humanitarias y la Cruz Roja Boliviana organizaron una simulación de respuesta a emergencias, el evento, entre otras cosas, fue útil para evaluar la destreza del sector humanitario actuando como un equipo.