Clusters of five Older People’s Associations (OPAs) can cluster together to form a federation. This gives older people a greater platform to share knowledge and expand the collective action of OPAs.

Over the past 20 years, the OPAs have been a support and safety-net mechanism to improve the well- being of older people through collective activities benefiting themselves and their community.

Establishing federations brings OPAs together to voice older people’s issues and contribute to community development. Leaders are elected by members and resources are shared within the federation to form a stronger and united community response to ageing issues. HelpAge encourages gender mainstreaming in OPA and federation membership to equally reflect the voices of men and women in the community. OPA federations receive income from hand tractor rental and fundraising activities. They join together to meet with local authorities to challenge age discrimination through the Age Demands Action global campaign.

To date, HelpAge had supported to establish eight OPA Federations with over 17,000 members, which more than 60% are women. Federations are registered as official associations under the Cambodian Ministry of Interior.