On the ground: Eurasia & the Middle East

To learn more about our response in Syria, check out our country in focus page.

Syria in focus

A combination of economic and political factors, such as the collapse of the Soviet Union, a devastating earthquake in the late ‘80s, and a war with neighbouring Azerbaijan in the ‘90s, has left many Armenians struggling. With nearly 12% of the population over 65-years-old (projected to increase to 19% by 2030) and a culture where care for older people is widely seen as a family responsibility, there are few care institutions and home care providers for those without families to care for them. Life can be challenging with very low pensions and high healthcare costs.

When the pandemic struck, we partnered with Mission Armenia, a non-governmental organisation supporting older people in Armenia’s capital and largest city, Yerevan, and six other regions. Mission Armenia continued to provide at-home care for thousands of older people during the pandemic, and their staff and volunteers were trained and provided with protective equipment (PPE), such as masks, gloves and disinfectants, to keep coronavirus bay. With our support, they also provided 500 older people, who were receiving homecare, with PPE and hygiene kits of soap and disinfectant to help them stay safe.

Given the high-risk of COVID-19 to older people, it was essential to raise awareness of how to prevent catching the virus. With Mission Armenia, we distributed 4000 age-friendly flyers advising on COVID-19 prevention measures and emergency contact numbers, with the staff members involved in the distribution clearly explaining the content to recipients. We also printed posters to display in the Mission Armenia social houses and the 24-hour care centre for the elderly, in addition to creating age-friendly COVID-19 radio broadcasts which were played five times a day for two months across two radio stations.

Since the onset of the Syrian Crisis in March 2011, Jordan has shouldered the impact of a great influx of refugees, hosting the second highest share of refugees per capita in the world with over 755,000 refugees. Of the total number of registered refugees, 3.8% are refugees aged 60+.

These refugees, alongside vulnerable host communities, face the continued threat of food insecurity, deterioration of living conditions, low incomes, exposure to protection risks (where people are at risk of or suffering from violence, coercion and deprivation of basic goods and services during a humanitarian crisis) and erosion of social cohesion.

Inadequate access to public infrastructure and services, including shelter, safe water, sanitation, education and healthcare, remains a major concern.

Coronavirus has added an immense level of pressure to this already critical situation.

Our response

We ran a three-month project in Amman, Mafraq, Zarqa and Tafileh to strengthen the COVID-19 emergency response for older men and women with and without disabilities in Jordan.

-       2,604 hygiene kits were distributed directly to older men and women

-       421 of the most vulnerable older men and women received a one-time emergency cash assistance

-       2,000 older people received vital information on protection and prevention of COVID-19. 

Additionally, a “buddy system” was set up where volunteers phoned older men and women and had conversations with them, identifying any immediate needs, referring them to other services when required, and creating a supportive environment where older men and women did not feel isolated and their immediate needs were met.

Advocacy work also took place throughout the duration of the project and will be shared with relevant organisations to help address older people’s needs in the future.

In December we extended the project until May 2021.

We will provide additional cash assistance to support 800 of the most vulnerable older people and their families to help mitigate the negative impact of the pandemic, meeting their basic needs including food, medication and heating costs for the winter months.

In addition, the project will put a special focus on protection against sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA) and age and gender-based violence, by training staff and volunteers with information around PSEA, safeguarding and reporting concerns. 1000 community members, including 800 older men and women, will also receive direct information related to PSEA, age and gender-based violence, and safeguarding.

The first cases of coronavirus were reported in Kyrgyzstan in mid-March. Since then we have delayed elements of our projects in the country to limit the spread of the disease to older people and their families.

Older people in Kyrgyzstan are extremely vulnerable; pensions are insufficient and health services for older people are underfunded, leaving many older people enduring chronic diseases without adequate treatment. COVID-19 is a huge added weight on an already stretched healthcare system.

Staff from our project to prevent complications and treat those with diabetes have been regularly calling group leaders of 100 Older People’s Groups - volunteer led self-help groups, made up of mainly older women who work to resolve issues affecting vulnerable older people, and to increase their participation and integration into social life – who in turn regularly call members of their group to raise awareness on how to prevent catching coronavirus.

Patients with diabetes are also being contacted about possible complications that COVID-19 could present alongside their existing healthcare needs. Additionally, WhatsApp groups have been created for Older People’s Groups, these groups share information about diabetes and its complications.

Our project combatting gender-based violence in Kyrgyzstan is continuing to run by adapting to the new challenges that social distancing creates.

Clubs have been taken online to enable community discussion of gender-based violence and it’s prevention. There are different clubs focusing on specific audiences including males and in-laws.Psychologist provide stress coping techniques and there are themed discussions around subjects such as early/ forced marriages.

These online clubs also include sessions on COVID-19 risk awareness alongside health tips and how to harness new technology in these changing times.

We’ve been working in Moldova as part of our promoting healthy and active ageing project.

In order to protect the older people we work with, we are buying hygiene materials, including hand sanitizer, to help stop the spread of COVID-19. While we focus on this much of our other activity is temporarily postponed.

Older people are at a high risk of COVID-19 transmission in Gaza, an overcrowded and poor area with a weak medical health system. It is predicted that the number of infected people will increase in the Gaza Strip due to movements between Israel, Gaza and Egypt.

There is an urgent need for preventive measures to eliminate risk of older people getting infected.

Eighty percent of deaths from coronavirus are being recorded in the over-50 age group and according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, 60,000 older citizens are estimated in the Gaza Strip.

Between 2009 and 2016 we supported the El-Wedad Society for Community Rehabilitation (WSCR) to found the Bait Jdoudna Club (Grandparents House Club) which provided psychological, social, cultural, physical therapy and health care services to the older people.

Now, four years on we are once again working with WSCR to help older people in Gaza throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

We have identified over 11,000 people most vulnerable to COVID-19 and as a part of our response we are working to help older people who do not receive a pension and are suffering from chronic diseases in the EL-shate'e Refugee area of Gaza City; one of the most densely populated areas in the Gaza Strip.

EL-shate'e is the third largest refugee camp in Gaza, and also the most crowded.

This hugely exasperates the vulnerability of older people to coronavirus especially given that there is an ongoing protracted crisis in Gaza; years of war has meant that Gaza’s health system has been devastated, with fewer than 100 ventilators to serve a population of around 2 million people.

The city does not have enough hospitals, ICU beds, or mechanical ventilators to deal with a large scale outbreak of COVID-19. Additionally, the dangerously steep decline in the quality of life as a result of the Israeli blockade has undermined basic hygiene, most evident in the shortage of water and sewage treatment facilities, which further hampers efforts to prevent the virus’s spread.

Our work to help prevent the spread of the virus includes: 

- Printing and distributing 250 copies of guidance and advice on COVID-19 for older people to individuals while 50 copies are being sent to pharmacies, supermarkets and vegetable and fruit shops in highly populated areas. The guidance and advice will also be sent out by email, on social media and available on the WSCR website to reach as many older people and their families as possible.

- Three thousand people will be contacted by phone and sent awareness text messages and 2000 older people, including those with disabilities, have received calls as part of the “PSS system,” where volunteers call older men and women and have conversations with them, providing a supportive environment. Through this system, older people within Gaza's community will feel less isolated and have their immediate needs for information and COVID-19 protection met.  

- Seventy community health workers will visit households to raise COVID-19 awareness amongst 5000 people in the targeted areas. During these visits, key messages will be communicated to increase preventative action and reduce the risk of a coronavirus outbreak within the community as possible.

- Distributing 250 hygiene kits which include hand sanitiser, alcohol-based soap, antimicrobial wipes, masks and gloves to older people and members of the Grandparents House Club and other high-risk individuals.

- Holding awareness sessions with older people led by WSCR staff along with a representative from Ministry of Healthwith on how older people can protect themselves and safely use the items included in the hygiene kits.

- A further 10,000 people will benefit from an additional 2,000 hygiene kits that will be distributed in the Gaza strip to households with older and at risk individuals

- Thirty doctors, nurses, health workers and outreach workers from WSCR will be trained on safety measures and  supporting older people with COVID-19. This will be carried out through online training, on-the-job training and in targeted facilities. Additionally, PPE is being given to health workers, staff and volunteers for protection and to send a strong community message around COVID-19 prevention.

- Using radio slots providing guidance and advice specifically on how older people can protect themselves have been organised with two local radio stations (Gaza FM & El-Shaab radio) with two slots broadcasted a total of 100 times each, four times daily for 25 days. Older people in the Gaza Strip rely on radio as their main source of information, particularly as they have limited access to modern technologies.

- Through mass communication including radio and social media, we will reach 50,000 people on protection and prevention measures for coronavirus.

Read stories from the ground in Gaza 

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine began in 2014 and has rumbled on ever since. We support older people living on the front line in Eastern Ukraine, many of whom were unable or unwilling to leave their homes even as their local area was destroyed by the fighting and supply lines disrupted. The arrival of coronavirus has been a further threat to older people living in areas affected by war and an overstretched health system.

With our partner, HelpAge Ukraine, we acted quickly to adapt our work to keep older people safe during the pandemic, recruiting additional staff and volunteers to meet the demand. Over 2,700 older people and people with disabilities were provided with a month’s food supply once a month for the duration of the lockdown, along with hygiene kits and COVID-19 awareness materials which included advice for their specific needs.

Over 2,700 housebound and vulnerable older people also received home visits from a community volunteer to reduce isolation and improve their psychosocial wellbeing and sense of safety and security. Older people were also able to keep in touch with their community volunteer by phone.

We secured hand sanitiser and personal protective equipment (PPE) including 3,000 medical masks and plastic boot covers, so that those in contact with older people could minimise the risk of introducing coronavirus to older people. PPE kits were also distributed to any older people who had coronavirus symptoms.

Hear from older people in Ukraine

Yemen’s health service has been crippled by nearly six years of war. There are high rates of poverty and malnutrition, with more than 13 million people facing starvation each month. The high population density, limited water supply and lack of access to soap mean coronavirus is just the latest in a long line of contagious diseases the population is battling – including cholera, diphtheria, and dengue fever.

Less than half of the country’s health service is functioning, with unhygienic and poorly maintained equipment. There is a lack of access to information from trusted sources, particularly among older and disabled people, which means they haven’t always been able to receive clear guidance on preventative measures they can take.

Our COVID-19 response

We have been working with YFCA, a Yemen based organisation which has been active in the humanitarian response and supports two centres for older people with sight loss, to help the region prepare for the pandemic. More than 150 people with sight loss, many of whom also live with chronic diseases like hypertension and diabetes, received hygiene kits of soap, disinfectant, masks, gloves and tissues. Awareness-raising sessions were also held for older people twice a week, ensuring that the information was accessible for those with sight loss, and cleaning supplies and training were provided to staff at the two centres for older people.