Rebuilding lives in longer-term emergencies: older people’s experience in Darfur

Older people, as a vulnerable group, are often neglected or ignored in initial responses to emergencies. Prolonged violence and displacement present a further challenge to humanitarian agencies trying to help the elderly, creating longer-term social, economic and psychological needs.

In this report, HelpAge International draws on its experience of working in West Darfur and in comparable protracted emergencies to suggest ways to identify and respond to these longer-term needs among older people and their families.

The report puts forward a series of suggestions for best practice in prolonged emergencies, building on its previous research on supporting older people in emergencies, including:

• relief delivery must ensure that services reach the most vulnerable rather than the most visible and that they meet chronic needs. Health programmes should respond to chronic health care issues, not only typical emergency-related problems
• a cross-generational approach adopted by a larger number of agencies could help mitigate some of the longer-term impacts of conflict and societal upheaval. For agencies mandated to address the needs of specific groups - children, women and older people – this means adopting a more inclusive approach to programming
• Peace-building and reconciliation - early support for community coping mechanisms and conflict resolution processes could bolster the eventual peace-building role of community members. The potential contribution of older people to guide community discussions and actions in Darfur, has been largely ignored and their role undermined by the loss of status they have suffered in the social upheavals since the conflict began

The report also includes appendices containing forms and checklists that can be used or adapted by humanitarian agencies in order to better understand the most prevalent needs of older people in a given context and to later inform programme development.