Eastern Europe and Central Asia
We work closely with partners and local authorities to improve older people's lives.
For instance, we advise governments on providing pensions and social protection, while directly helping older people overcome poverty and health risks.
We also help older people deal with the impact of so many younger adults leaving them behind to seek work.
We make sure older people's needs are met in emergencies - especially during the region's extremely cold winters.
Other priorities include helping older people contribute to political decision-making and fighting discrimination.
Where we work in Eastern Europe and Central Asia
We work in the following countries:
The difference we made in 2009-10
- In Moldova we've trained 20 volunteers, including members of older people's self-help groups, to assess the help needed by older people whose younger relatives have left home to work abroad.
- In Kyrgyzstan, we've provided six communities with solar heaters for the harsh winter, while training 50 older people to use them.
- We've trained six older people's groups in Tajikistan to record how far older people in their communities are getting the healthcare they need.
What next?
- We'll carry out research on the effects of working in informal jobs on retirement income in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
- We'll work to end the discrimination and abuse often faced by older people, especially women, by promoting victims' rights among civil society organisations.
- We will continue to work with older people caught up in the violent conflict that broke out in Kyrgyzstan in June. This work will focus on various areas such as distributing 3,000 hygiene kits and giving cash grants to 2,500 extremely vulnerable older people so they can afford essential items.