Summary
HelpAge in Jordan established in 2017 two older people’s groups (OPGs), and a knowledge and resource hub in Amman, to provide opportunities for older people from Jordan and Syria to come together, to access services and to engage in project discussions and processes. The OPGs were not planned in the original project concept but emerged organically because of a demand from older people. The groups were established and supported with minimal funds but have proved successful and sustainable due to the enthusiasm of the older people who have joined. The number of interested older people was so great that the OPGs decided to form an Older People Advisory Committee whose members would represent OPGs’ members in meetings with HelpAge and advocacy interventions with Government. The participatory process of establishing the mechanisms of priorization of issues to address and advocate about, the availability of a complaints process led to a sense of empowerment of older people, in particular older women who were originally very few. Monitoring of services availability and policies’ implementation by the Advisory Committee led to stronger positive engagement with Government representatives. Older people gained skills in advocacy and confidence in their ability to influence decisions affecting their lives.
Planning and Implementation
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What was the challenge you were trying to address?
The challenge was mostly the lack of inclusion of older Syrian refugees in Jordan humanitarian responses as well as the precarious situation of older Jordanian in host communities. Age inclusive services are not always available to older people and policies supposedly supporting older people not implemented, for instance the policy that older people didn’t need to queue to access health facilities.
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Who were you trying to impact?
Older people with vulnerabilities
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What sectors were you targeting?
Health, Information and Communication, Social protection
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Who else was involved?
Government, Civil Society Organization, Older People's Association
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How did older people participate?
Older people were part of the process at multiple or all stages
Lessons learned
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Please describe how collaboration worked in your initiative.
HelpAge international worked with the Older People Groups to create the Older People Advisory Committee as representatives of the OPGs’ members.
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What was the impact of your initiative on older people, their families, and/or their communities?
The engagement of older people in both the OPGs and the advisory committee has been positively received by older people. They say they feel listened to. Where before they felt they were only able to discuss their concerns and challenges with each other, they can now actively reach out to leaders, share their opinions with service providers and government and be heard. Through their engagement there has been an increased desire to speak up and voice their concerns and suggest solutions. Older people feel a sense of responsibility – they are engaging for themselves, but also for their families and other generations. As a result of this success, membership of the groups increases each week. The committee visits older people who are ill, homebound, or have not attended meetings for a while to check up on one another and to offer encouragement and support. This has led to declines in social isolation and improvements in participation and engagement. The committee has also started to gather financial support from the members of OPGs to support older people who cannot afford health services. The result is an improvement in access to services.
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What issues did you face, and how did you address them?
Working with the principle of engaging older people at all stages of the project cycle has proven invaluable, but for HelpAge, communicating with all members of the groups, and users of the knowledge and resource hub directly has been challenging due to the numbers engaged. In response, in July 2019 a decision was taken to establish the older people’s advisory committee that could represent its peers in discussions with HelpAge and other stakeholders in Jordan. The other challenge was the lack of applications from older women at the initial stage of the Advisory Committee. Given the importance of ensuring both male and female participation in the committee, HelpAge reached out to the older women’s group and discussed the idea with them again in more detail, encouraging older women to apply and raising the importance of older women having a voice and being represented. This discussion came after an advocacy training session with the OPGs. Following this discussion, two women submitted applications. Both were reviewed by members and these women were selected to join the committee.
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What lessons did you learn from implementing this initiative?
The importance of advocacy and influencing by older people: The advisory committee also leads in influencing work in Jordan, with older people demanding their rights, and raising awareness with key stakeholders. Representatives of the advisory committee attend every meeting HelpAge has with the Jordanian government. They have also invited government representatives to visit the knowledge and resource hub. To facilitate the committee’s advisory role, HelpAge is building the capacity of the committee in advocacy. The committee and OPGs have discussed their advocacy priorities and have decided to focus on inclusive universal health coverage that works for older people.
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Do you have any other reflections you would like to share?
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