In disturbingly stark contrast to the impact of our call for papers on displaced children (theme of next issue), our call for papers on older refugees and IDPs– the theme of this issue – produced hardly any response at all. And yet, as Flora MacDonald, former President of HelpAge International, points out in her article, “To age is a universal and personal experience … the rights we talk about and espouse, or deny, are our rights now and in the future.” It is clear that older people are all too often bypassed by humanitarian assistance efforts. The articles included here focus on the positive contributions that older refugees and IDPs can and do make to community life and how agencies need to both consult them and build on their experience.