One in ten of the people in these camps is an older person. They are isolated and without access to basic services. They are one of the most vulnerable groups, and can be overlooked by aid programmes.

The work of Help the Aged and HelpAge International has focused on three key areas:

Basic needs

• Providing shelter for vulnerable older people.
• Handing out blankets, clothes, household utensils, mosquito nets and mattresses.
• Establishing social centres where older people can get food that supplements protein and vitamins missing from their camp diet.
• Working with international partners to ensure that all older people living in camps get ration cards.

Health

• Establishing networks of community health workers who carry out door-to-door assessments of older people.
• Providing community-run 'donkey ambulances' so that older people with mobility problems can reach health centres.
• Running eye-camps which perform screening, treatments and cataract surgery.

Community work

• Setting up livelihood and activity centres where older people come to meet, share stories and make traditional handicrafts. This tackles social isolation and depression.
• Implementing income-generating activities in and around the camps.
• Bringing together older and younger people at storytelling events to encourage the development of traditional roles and build intergenerational relationships.