In November I left Jersey Overseas Aid to start the next phase of this brilliant internship. Since then, I have been working with HelpAge international in the Gender and Inclusion team, based in London. My time at HelpAge has been an amazing learning experience.
Inclusion is such an important part of HelpAge’s approach to working with and advocating for older people, so I’ve been able to see all parts of the HelpAge network and get a greater understanding of how an NGO network operates. So, before I head off to Tanzania in June, I've been given the opportunity to reflect on my time with HelpAge in London and show off what I’ve learnt.
Who is HelpAge?
HelpAge is an international NGO that focuses on promoting the wellbeing and inclusion of older people, focusing on in lower and middle-income countries. Their aim is to create a world where all older people can lead dignified, healthy and secure lives. This means that HelpAge’s work is not only the delivery of projects through its network, but also large-scale advocacy works centred around universal healthcare, social security programmes, humanitarian responses and the rights of older people.
What is the HelpAge Network?
HelpAge is the secretariat to over 200 organisations across 99 countries who work to promote the rights of older people.
Over the last five years, HelpAge has made major steps on its path to localisation, transitioning its previously country offices into network members and supporting these national organisations to become independent, self‑sustaining actors working within their local contexts.
While HelpAge has been working towards localisation and network building for some time, this change is still relatively recent. To aid the transition, HelpAge is running projects such as the SCORE (Strengthening Civil Society for Older People’s Rights and Engagement) programme, funded by the Swedish government, which focuses on capacity building and delivering training to the network members to allow them to strengthen their capacity and work with greater independence. They have also created a dedicated unit to strengthening the network, and all programming will now be done via network members and programmes.
What does the Gender and Inclusion Team do?
Gender and inclusion is a really interesting area that I admittedly didn’t know much about before starting with HelpAge. Therefore, I’m excited to share some knowledge about my newfound passion.
Older people sit at an interesting point in terms of inclusion, often seen as a vulnerable group but not always prioritised. Because older people are often an identity group that faces negative stereotypes and they can be forgotten and excluded in NGO projects. However, it's important to note that older people aren’t all the same – there is a large variety of identities within older people, and this can impact their inclusion and exclusion from programmes and policies.
What is something you’ve learnt about in your time at HelpAge?
A key concept used by HelpAge is the idea of intersectionality and how it can be used to understand the diversity of older people and create programmes that are inclusive and responds to the needs of a wider range of older people. The idea is that every person has various identities such as their gender, race, disability etc and that these identities are not separate parts of an identity but all overlap with each other to create intersecting identities. For example, a woman with a disability will not face separate discrimination for being a woman and for having a disability but will face the intersection of both discriminations as a woman with a disability. It is important to understand this concept and how it often affects older people who face many barriers because of their intersecting identities.
By applying key concepts such as intersectionality, the gender and inclusion team can help create programmes and projects that are accessible and relevant to older people.
What do you do day to day?
The day-to-day work of the gender and inclusion team is quite varied; this is because it is a theme that reaches all parts of HelpAge’s work. This means I have gotten to do interesting research work and help the team prep for important training events and conferences such as the Commission for the Status of Women, hosted by the UN in March.
A project that I’ve contributed to throughout my time at HelpAge is the aforementioned SCORE programme where we have supported network members to strengthen as well as share their capacities on working with older people in an inclusive and gender equitable manner. The gender and inclusion team has been creating e-course for network members and other NGO staff to learn about the importance of inclusion of older people with practical guides on how to implement it.
This has been a great way of deepening my knowledge on inclusion and about the barriers that prevent older people from accessing services. I really enjoy the work at HelpAge because it gives me the chance to work on a variety of projects but also work consistently on long term projects like the training courses.
Reflections:
I’ve really enjoyed my time working at HelpAge. It’s been challenging but also extremely rewarding as my knowledge and understanding has grown thanks to the interesting projects that I’ve been so lucky to work on. It’s given me a chance to take the skills that I developed at JOA and build upon them in a new environment. But also, it’s allowed me to see just how much ageism affects everyone, not just older people and how often ageism goes unaddressed in our society.
Looking ahead to the final six months:
Whilst I am going to miss the HelpAge team in London I am excited to have the opportunity to go to Tanzania for the final phase of the internship. I’m really interested in seeing how the projects are implemented in the target countries and how the concepts and training delivered by the gender and inclusion team are used by the network members.
I’m expecting it will be a bit of a challenge adjusting to a completely new culture and language, but I think it will be an amazing experience and it’s one I am whole heartedly excited for.
A massive thank you to the HelpAge and Age International teams for all their support and I look forward to the next and final stage of the internship!
kituo kijacho Tanzania, Acha nyakati nzuri zikusambaa! (Next stop Tanzania, let the good times roll!)