An eye examinantion in Gujarat, India, The shortage of eye care personnel is something Sightsavers is pushing governments to address. © Peter Caton / Sightsavers

Advocacy Successes

Ghana

As a result of the advocacy work of the Disability Network in Ghana (of which Sightsavers is a part) the National Council on Persons with Disabilities has been established. However, the network needs to keep up the pressure to ensure that the council has the resources to make it functional and productive.

Malawi

In Malawi Sightsavers successfully lobbied the Ministry of Education, specifically the Chikwawa District Education Management Team, to appoint a Special Needs Officer at the education office in this district. We are piloting an inclusive education project in Chikwawa District, so this new appointment will be our main point of contact. We are still pushing for the appointment of three more itinerant teachers.

Senegal

In Senegal discussions about the need to train and recognise mid-level personnel for the delivery of eye care services have yielded excellent results. The Ministry of Health committed to sending five more people to be trained in cataract surgery training in July this year. This is the highest number of trainees ever sent in a year, a very encouraging trend, and a step towards being able to provide sustainable eye services to the people of Senegal.

South India

In South India our partner XRCVC (Xavier Resource Centre for Visually Challenged) succeeded in getting the Reserve Bank of India and Indian Banking Association to commit to making banking more accessible to people with visual impairments, meaning things like using a cheque book and operating cash machines and lockers will no longer be such a challenge.

Find Out More

 

Our Work in Ghana

Our work in Malawi

Our work in Senegal

Our work in India