A non-governmental relief organization is providing special assistance to older people who have fled conflict in South Sudan to Ethiopia's western Gambella region, including construction of social centre and distribution of blankets and other goods.

HelpAge International says that its aims are to help older people overcome poverty, lead healthy lives and enjoy basic human rights.

In Ethiopia, HelpAge Communications Officer Erna Mentesnot Hintz says that they gave relief assistance to refugees in the Gambella camps, focusing on the elderly.

“We have distributed essential items such as blankets, set up monitoring groups in camps to keep an eye on older people and ensure they can access services, age-proofed latrines with handrails, and set up an age-appropriate social centre,” she said.

Erna added that the centre will also serve as a site for trainings for older people's groups and for their caretakers.

“Most importantly though... the centre was built to give older people a place to pass on their knowledge as well as teach younger refugees about their culture,” HelpAge said in a recent report on the occasion of World Humanitarian Day.

Dr Prafulla Mishra, a regional director for Help Age, said that their project team in Gambella relied on good relationships with the local refugee community. “It is our team's immense commitment in such a harsh environment that is making an invaluable difference to the lives of thousands of South Sudanese refugees.”

HelpAge cited the example of Nyadeng, 80, one of the older people who has received help from the organization. She lives in a camp in one of the refugee camps with her daughter and three granddaughters.

Working with the UN Refugee Agency, the NGO gave Nyadeng and her family 15kg of maize a month and bedding to sleep on, according to the press statement.

Photo 1 (above): HelpAge helps distribute food to refugees in the Gambella Region

Photo 2 (below): HelpAge has teamed up with youths in the area to provide hygiene to older persons