March 18, 2012 | Read Time: 1 minute
The award: The Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, which annually recognizes an organization that works to alleviate human suffering
What the award is worth: $1.5-million
The winner: HelpAge International, an organization in London that advocates for needy older people worldwide
Its work: The group organizes older people around the world to get them involved in public-policy debates about issues such as climate change and health care.
Why the group won: Judy Miller, director of the Hilton Humanitarian Prize, says HelpAge won in part because of growing attention to the needs of older people. Judges for the prize viewed the applicant’s program “as often the only voice for older people in society,” she says. “Before HelpAge, older people were left out of most international policies.”
Plans for the future: Richard Blewitt, chief executive of HelpAge International, says he hopes the increased visibility from the prize will attract entrepreneurs and investors to his organization’s causes. “We want to use it to help continue to build a movement for older people around the world, so their voice can be heard, they have confidence, and are able to negotiate improvements in services,” he says.
A key goal: “The gap between what older people need in terms of basic health care in countries like Tanzania or Cambodia is absolutely shocking,” says Mr. Blewitt. “We want to try and help governments and civil-society organizations and entrepreneurs find solutions—cheap solutions—to make sure that people don’t get a medical problem. It not only impoverishes their lives, it impoverishes the lives of the families they live with.”
