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“All the people we’ve met here show us respect but when it comes to jobs they don’t hire us,” said Salwa, 60, who fled Syria
“All the people we’ve met here show us respect but when it comes to jobs they don’t hire us,” said Salwa, 60, who fled Aleppo with her family and now lives in Lebanon with her husband and two daughters. They receive grants from the UN and work around the neighbourhood for extra cash.
Salwa is one of 300 older refugees fleeing from conflict in Syria, Ukraine and South Sudan who described evidence of neglect, poor health provision and feelings of isolation and fear.
“We fled our home in Aleppo when aeroplanes first started attacking. My husband manages to provide us with 6000-8000 Lebanese Lira ($4-$5) per day from selling the cans he collects and my oldest daughter cleans stairs in the neighbourhood to make some money.
“We’re only able to live because of the blue card the UNHCR gave us. It gives us what we need to survive. We used to receive $120 per month but now we get $40. It’s barely enough. Medical help is impossible."
Almost every one of the older refugees in HelpAge’s report Older voices in humanitarian crises (PDF) said they had not been consulted about their needs, more than two thirds said they did not have enough information about the humanitarian assistance available to them, almost half said health services did not provide care for their age-related conditions and close to half said they felt anxious, hopeless or depressed most or all of the time.
The survey conducted at the end of last year offered older people the space to share their hopes and concerns and talk about the challenges affecting their daily lives in humanitarian crises.
A shocking 95 per cent of older people spoken to in Lebanon, 93 per cent in South Sudan and 66 per cent in Ukraine said that no-one other than HelpAge had consulted them about their needs despite the fact that many older people are reliant on humanitarian assistance.
The survey findings contribute to a growing body of evidence illustrating the failure of the humanitarian system to protect older people’s rights or meet their needs, demonstrating the limited progress the humanitarian system has made to address the neglect of older people and other vulnerable groups.
The first-ever World Humanitarian Summit this May provides a chance to lay the foundations for a reformed humanitarian system – one that puts people at the centre of disaster response, builds resilience to crises and really does ensure that we ”leave no-one behind”.
Leading humanitarian agencies have drawn up an Inclusion Charter setting out the pressing commitments needed to ensure humanitarian assistance reaches the most vulnerable people.
“To address the neglect faced by older people in conflicts and disasters, their opinions must be heard and changes made in the humanitarian system,” said Frances Stevenson, head of the humanitarian team at HelpAge International.
The commitments outlined in the Charterprovide governments, donors and humanitarians agencies with a set of five key actions to ensure humanitarian assistance reaches the most vulnerable people in emergencies.
To sign up to the Charter go to: www.inclusioncharter.org
Sarah Gillam is the Media Manager at HelpAge International
