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Older Persons Caught in Armed Conflict and Other Emergency
Situations
GAA United Nations Advocacy | Background Documents | Current Issues
Events | Links
Older people who are victims of violent conflicts in many parts of the world face serious problems. They cannot escape due to lack of mobility or physical strength and become
targets of violence and reprisals. As families and communities disintegrate, older persons may be left isolated, destitute and without support systems. They are often less able to adapt to a difficult new environment and face obstacles to secure relief, social services and employment. When the conflict ends, their experience and potential for peace-building and social reconstruction may be ignored.
Similarly, when natural disasters such as floods, droughts, famines or other emergencies strike a community, older people face many difficulties. Often others pushe elderly out of food or transport lines. Older persons do not receive adequate rations or stipends, do not secure needed medications, and become invisible within families. In spite of these obstacles, older persons often take care of children and others who are sick or dependent as well as take on maintenance work to restore the community.
The Madrid International Plan of Action on Aging (MIPAA), adopted by UN Member States in 2002, refers to the situation of older persons in emergency situations under its
Priority Direction 1: Older persons and development. MIPAA focuses on equal access to food, shelter and medical care. In addition, it urges recognition of and support for contributions of older persons to their communities after an emergency situation.
Global Action on Aging advocates for the adoption of more comprehensive and internationally binding policies addressing the problems and potential contributions of older persons at all stages of an emergency situation.
This section, launched in spring 2003, provides information on the legal and humanitarian aspect of older persons in emergency situations along with materials that Global Action on Aging has submitted to international bodies. The section also follows developments in line with MIPAA’s recommendations.
GAA United
Nations Advocacy
Checklist for Older Persons in Internally Displaced Persons Camps (August
2005)
Global Action on Aging and Help Age International cooperated to prepare a Check List for the UN Secretary General's Special Representative to Internally Displaced Persons. Dr. Walter Kaelin from Switizerland had noticed the preponderance of older persons in some of the first IDP camps he visited. His staff asked for a short checklist tailored to indicators of older persons' well-being in the camps. In response to his query, GAA and HAI produced this short check list for his use.
Global Action on Aging Addresses UN Economic and Social Council on Protecting Older Persons in Situations of Armed
Conflict (June 30, 2004)
Global Action on Aging presented this statement on protecting older persons in situations of armed conflict, especially the Least Developed Countries, to the UN Economic and Social Council
(ECOSOC) in its High Level Segment session. One of only ten non-governmental organizations that spoke, GAA outlined what
ECOSOC could do as well as responses that NGOs must take. This occasion marked the first time that GAA has addressed the Council since achieving special consultative status in 2003. It recognized GAA's policy work in humanitarian protection of civilians.
Statement available in Arabic, Chinese,
French, Russian
and Spanish
Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict: Older Persons (September
16, 2003)
Global Action on Aging and Help Age
International submitted this statement to the UN Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) for consideration in
preparing its periodic report to the UN Security Council. The report
summarizes the issues facing older persons in armed conflict, outlines
international standards and commitments for their safety and submits
recommendations for their protection.
Background Documents
International
Legal Standards, Principles and Commitments
A compilation of documents on protection of civilians in conflict
situations, such as the Geneva Convention, the Guiding Principles on
Internal Displacement, the Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees and lists the agencies and organizations enforcing these
rights.
The Elderly in Situations of Armed Conflict
(May 22,
2001)
During the armed conflicts that have occurred since the adoption of the four Geneva Conventions, the proportion of civilian casualties has moved higher, reaching 90% in some cases. Among them, the elderly pay a heavy toll. The elderly do have a protection under the International Humanitarian Law which is not based upon categories of people. It means the elderly are considered as a "vulnerable" group as women or children. The law contains some provisions relating to the elderly but nothing about them in particular. There is for instance nothing about the age at which an individual is considered to be "elderly." That's why Françoise Krill from the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
(ICRC) proposes different initiatives in this paper to give more specific protection to the elderly. The ICRC continues with its mission to spread knowledge of international humanitarian law, protect the civilian population, visit persons deprived of their freedom and provide medical and food aid.
Older People in
Disasters and Humanitarian Crises: Guidelines for Best Practice (2000)
Sponsored by the UN's
High Commissioner for Refugees and the Aid Department of the European Commission, Help Age International compiled
these guidelines for aid workers in the field. The guidelines aim to
integrate older people into mainstream relief services and to ensure their
equal access to these services. While the document is very comprehensive
and gives good guidance it remains unclear if field agencies really make
use of it.
Current Issues
Africa | Americas
| Asia / Pacific | Europe
/ Central Asia
Middle East &
North Africa | Global
China: After Quake, China's Elderly Long for Family (June 2, 2008)
Many elderly people lost their families in the earthquake. What is life like now, without money, without homes, without clothing and food? This article describes the harsh reality. It gives examples of families who abandoned their old family members so that many older people are left to care for themselves. They live in tents in a camp, fearful of the future. Three weeks after the quake, an 82-year-old blind woman named Liu said, "my only complaint is I don't have clothes to change into. When I escaped from the earthquake, I was wearing this. I'm still wearing it."
Report: Kosovo: A Forgotten World: the Serb Enclaves in Kosovo (May 26, 2008)
The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia launched the project ‘Serb-Serb Dialogue in Serb Enclaves in Kosovo’ at the beginning of 2008. This project focuses on the Serb minority in Kosovo. Most of the young people no longer live in villages, having left behind lonely older
persons to go to the cities. Life is not very pleasant in the villages and bad memories linger between the Serbs and Bosnians. However, an old man explains in this article that both groups manage to socialize with each other, particularly at religious holidays, such as Ramadan or Christmas.
China: Elderly Try Hard to Deal with Trauma (May 23, 2008)
The earthquake in China spared the stadium located in Jiuzhou, near the city of Sichuan. The refugees from the earthquake have settled into one of the largest camps set up for persons whose houses collapsed during the earthquake. The reporter tells the story of three older persons that came to this camp and how Chinese relief staff are helping them face their current situation and encouraging them to build a new life.
China: In Sichuan, Older Persons Want to Stay Next to the Sky (May 19, 2008)
Thousands of Chinese people who left the cities to save fathers and mothers stayed in the middle of the ruins that followed the earthquake that devastated the area on May 12, 2008. Older persons who lived all their lives in higher altitudes often don’t want to walk down the mountains even if they are told to do so by the authorities. However, sanitary conditions are dangerous because the air is very hot and a new earthquake shock can happen anytime.
Burma: CARE Assessment Teams Report As Many As 90 Per Cent of Deaths are Women, Children and the Elderly (May 16, 2008)
It is estimated that 90% of the flood victims were women, children and elderly who were not able to run and swim to safety. In addition, many elderly residents died in the floodwaters while trapped in their houses. Because they were more able to flee the cyclone, young men were more able to reach medical services and receive care.
Report: Somalia: Routinely Targeted Attacks on Civilians in Somalia (May 6, 2008)
Amnesty International interviewed more than 75 displaced persons (some older persons) and met with scores of local and international non-governmental organizations (NGO) representatives about ongoing human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law by all parties to the conflict in Somalia, specifically torture and other ill-treatment, rape, extrajudicial executions, arbitrary detention, and attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure. Amnesty International offers recommendations to the parties involved, calling on the international community to make this an urgent priority.
Gaza: Israeli Airstrike Kills Elderly Palestinian in Gaza (April 24, 2008)
Israeli aircraft gunners killed an elderly Palestinian in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hangun. The Palestinians, via the elected Hamas Party, are protesting against Israel’s continuing economic blockade of the Gaza Strip by shelling bordering Israeli towns. In reprisal, the Israeli’s killed over 120 Palestinians, mostly civilians, in March 2008 alone. This nameless old man is just one more civilian casualty.
Serbia: Prosecutor: General Murdered Elderly Serbs (March 11, 2008)
General Ante Gotovina, a former Croation military commander, is on trial for leading a three-month “Operation Storm” against the Serbs in 1995. During the operation, elderly Serbs were violently harassed, arrested and murdered. “The entire Serb population had been driven out and the Serb community was a scarred wasteland of destroyed villages and homes,” says the prosecutor Alan Tiger.
Kenya: Helping Older People in the Wake of Violence (January 16, 2008)
Elderly people need particular care and attention during emergency situations. Vulnerable older people were unable to flee the post-election violence that occurred in Kenya. However, according to this report from Nakuru, a town in the Rift Valley, they have an important role. In this town where many people were killed, dozens of older people are welcoming and hosting the displaced families and relatives.
Report: Asia: Mainstreaming Age Friendliness (January 2008)
This report examines the partnership Help Age International and the British Red Cross Society formed to address the special needs of the elderly in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami in South East Asia. It also looks at the crucial role of older persons in reconstruction, highlighting their role in rebuilding tsunami-damaged buildings.
US:
Still Left Behind (August 31, 2007)
While many rich people see the opportunity to rebuild
New Orleans
in a “better way,” many poor people still dream of moving back to
their homes. Says 79-year-old Carrie Lewis, who for the past two years has
lived in a small trailer 100 miles northwest of
New Orleans
, “I want to go home, [but] they don’t have places for old people in
New Orleans
yet. What am I supposed to do? I don’t want to die in a little trailer
in the middle of a field somewhere.”
Greece:
After the Flames, Elderly Greeks Wonder What's Left (August 29, 2007)
 Because
of the raging wild fires in Greece, older persons were evacuated from
villages that many of them have never left. The evacuation happened so
fast, that some, like Dimitra Agrida, an 85-year-old widow, didn’t even
have time to put on shoes. However, those evacuated consider themselves
lucky. More than 63 people have already died in the fire. Says Iannoula
Iannopoulos, 77, "there are just 30 people living there and we are
all old. What could we do against the flames?”
Peru:
Peru Quake Hit Rural Areas Hard (August 24, 2007)
The majority of governmental,
inter-governmental and non-governmental aid agencies have aimed relief
efforts at cities such as Pisco and Ica while mainly ignoring rural areas.
It now becomes evident that many rural dwellings, which tend to have the
most marginalized populations, have been hit. Victor Ramirez, a village
elder, explains the most immediate needs: “"The most important
thing is that the children and the old people get something to eat, and
that they have blankets at night."
Kenya: Heavy Rains Wreak
Havoc (August 19, 2007)
As heavy rains in Kenya continue thousands of people remain unable to
return to their houses, while others are cut of from the outside world.
Local councilor Aggrey Ojiambo reports that “the elderly and children
were sleeping in the cold and there was no food to about 40, 000 victims
in 10 villages.” He adds that the government has yet to release food
supplies.
Events
UN Roundtable on Older Persons in the 2004 Tsunami (February 13-14, 2006)
What happened to older persons in the aftermath of the 2004 Tsunami? Ignored or engaged? Voiceless or decision-makers?
Global Action on Aging and Help Age International are asking UN experts, affected government leaders, relief agencies and local NGOs to answer these tough questions.
Their analyses and ideas at the UN's Commission for Social Development will reveal ways to serve older persons better in emergencies. (The Roundtable, alas, is open only to persons carrying UN accreditation.)
Global
Action on Aging Statement submitted to the MDG Global Watch Side Event at
the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Fourth Session, 2005
During the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, a new organization, MDG
Global Watch, asked Global Action on Aging to submit a Statement to its
Side Event. This NGO wanted us to link older indigenous persons' issues
with the UN Millennium Development Goals. Here is the GAA Statement that
reviews the continuing practice of powerful corporations that sicken and
kill native peoples as they seize and exploit the indigenous people's
natural resources.
Global Action on Aging presents:
A Speak Out on "Older Indigenous Caught in Armed Conflict" at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
(May 17, 2004)
In the second week of the
2004 Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Global Action on Aging
organized a side event panel on
"Older Indigenous People caught in
Armed Conflict." Older Indigenous people, especially women, are very
vulnerable in armed conflict situations. It is very hard for them to
access humanitarian aid even when it is available. They don't have the
strength to fight for food. Some relief workers also believe that old
people are about to die, so there is no need to help them. Here is a
summary of the speeches from the different speakers present.
Links
![[ image: Children and the elderly are the most vulnerable]](../site_images/index17.jpg)
Work of Inter-governmental and
Non-governmental Organizations
This page summarizes the work of Intergovernmental and
other Non- governmental organizations and details their work and publications
on elderly caught in emergency situations.
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