NAIROBI, Kenya (Help The Aged),
January 16, 2008:
Help the Aged and HelpAge International are working in partnership with HelpAge Kenya and the Kenya Red Cross Society to alleviate the plight of older people caught up in post-election violence in Kenya.
The organisations have already distributed appropriate food to many hundreds of older people, and are working to ensure that other relief agencies and the authorities recognise and address the particular needs of older people in this emergency.
Currently, in and around the capital Nairobi, hundreds of older people are receiving emergency food because they have been displaced by the violence, or it has prevented them from earning money through their small businesses.
Older residents of camps set up to accommodate people fleeing the violence report that their age/needs are not registered by the authorities and that as a result their needs are sidelined.
In Kenya, as in many emergency situations, older people are among the most vulnerable, but they also have a positive role to play. For instance in Nakuru, a town in the Rift Valley where deaths due to post-election violence have also been recorded, dozens of older people are hosting displaced families and relatives.
© Help the Aged 2008.
