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Thanks to you, in 2022…

It’s been another amazing year where we’ve been able to protect sight, fight disease and empower people with disabilities. Here, we share our highlights, all made possible by you.

December 2022
A large group of school students in Malawi. They're wearing bright blue uniforms and are gathered outside, smiling and cheering.

What else has Sightsavers achieved in the past year?

Read our news and blogs
A group of men and women performing a traditional dance, accompanied by drummers.

January

A group of men and women performing a traditional dance, accompanied by drummers.
On 30 January, we celebrated World NTD Day to recognise progress in the fight against neglected tropical diseases. Alongside lively events, staff visited communities to identify people in need of treatment or attended training sessions. Thousands of people also showed their support online.
Read our highlights from around the world
A screengrab from the Put Us in the Picture website, featuring coloured sections labelled 'Travel to west Africa' and 'Write in braille'.

February

Sightsavers Ireland’s online workshop Put Us in the Picture won Not-for-Profit Website of the Year at Ireland’s National Digital Awards. The interactive workshop teaches schoolchildren about inclusive education and disability, helping them to learn what life is like in low income countries. Read about the award

Participants on stage at the 2018 Global Disability Summit

February

Participants on stage at the 2018 Global Disability Summit
Our petition calling on governments and organisations to attend the Global Disability Summit reached 30,143 signatures. The summit aimed to raise awareness about inclusive development and uphold the rights of people with disabilities. As the event was co-hosted by Norway, our colleague Øystein shared some useful disability-inclusive phrases in Norwegian on Twitter.
Tom, Emily, Rachel and Alyssa pose at the Charity Film Awards.

March

Two of Sightsavers’ short films won awards at the fifth Charity Film Awards, which commend the best films in the sector. Our campaign film ‘A message from students in Sierra Leone’ won gold in its category and our film celebrating trachoma elimination in The Gambia won a bronze award. Read the story and watch our award-winning films

A group of women wearing colourful headscarves smile and laugh during a puppet show in their community.

March

A group of women wearing colourful headscarves smile and laugh during a puppet show in their community.
On International Women’s Day, Sightsavers celebrated women’s rights and called for a world free from disability and discrimination. We shared stories about four inspiring women involved in our work and asked supporters on social media what this year’s theme #BreakTheBias meant to them.
How we celebrated the day
Dr Caroline Harper hands a cheque to Yannis Vardakastanis, president of IDA.

April

As part of a new partnership, Sightsavers gave International Disability Alliance (IDA) an unrestricted grant of US$1 million to help advance disability rights worldwide. The grant will enable IDA to increase its advocacy work, provide technical assistance and support people with disabilities.
Read about our work with IDA

A health care worker checks someone's eyes using examination equipment.

April

A health care worker checks someone's eyes using examination equipment.
A collection of papers written by researchers at Sightsavers was published by the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. The supplement, which featured in the journal International Health, explores eye health interventions, programmes and policies.
Read about the collection 

May

On Global Accessibility Awareness Day, we shared tips on how to make social media posts accessible. Accessibility and inclusion are at the heart of our work, and we aim to make everything we produce in print and online accessible to as many people as possible.
Read our Instagram post for accessibility tips

A middle aged woman gets her eyes tested.

May

A middle aged woman gets her eyes tested.
The World Health Organization published a new guide for countries working to deliver high-equality eye care services. Sightsavers’ senior global technical lead for eye health Sumrana Khan was part of the team that helped to develop it. Read the news story
An artistic representation of Sightsavers' inclusive sensory garden at Bord Bia Bloom in Dublin. Trees and foliage surround an earth pathway. Children and adults are gathered under three colourful awnings.

June

Sightsavers Ireland exhibited its first-ever inclusive garden at Bord Bia Bloom, Ireland’s largest gardening festival. Created for people with visual impairments or sight loss, the sensory garden drew inspiration from Sightsavers’ work in West Africa. Judges awarded the garden a silver gilt prize.
Read about the event

A large group of primary school children smile and pose for a photo as they hold their artwork.

June

A large group of primary school children smile and pose for a photo as they hold their artwork.
Finalists in Sightsavers Ireland’s Junior Painter of the Year competition celebrated their award-winning paintings at a ceremony held at the Irish Museum of Modern Art. All 19 winners received a certificate and art materials.
Read the news story
A close-up of two people shaking hands.

July

We launched a short film about corporate partnerships that shares how important corporate partners are to Sightsavers and how organisations and companies can support our work to protect sight, tackle neglected tropical diseases and fight for disability rights.
Find out more about our corporate partnerships

Shahadeb post surgery, can see clearly and looks out of the window.

July

Shahadeb post surgery, can see clearly and looks out of the window.
In July, we thanked Sightsavers supporters for helping to raise money for childhood cataract operations. Our summer appeal shared the story of 10-year-old Shahadeb, who was at risk of losing his sight, independence and childhood to cataracts.
Read our past appeals
Co-founder Lady Jean smiles during an interview.

August

Lady Jean Wilson, who co-founded Sightsavers with her husband Sir John Wilson, celebrated her 100th birthday in August. Lady Jean and Sir John started Sightsavers in 1950 to help advance the rights of people with sight loss and remove the stigma around being blind in Africa.
How we celebrated on Instagram

The Queen smiles as she greets staff.

September

The Queen smiles as she greets staff.
Sightsavers Ireland paid tribute to Sightsavers patron Queen Elizabeth II and celebrated the impact of her legacy to eliminate trachoma as a public health problem in Africa.
Read our CEO’s statement
Vainesi smiles and claps outside her home in Malawi.

September

Malawi celebrated the announcement that trachoma has been eliminated as a public health problem. Sightsavers helped to launch the Malawi Trachoma Elimination Programme in 2014. Now 9.5 million people in the country are no longer at risk of losing their sight to the disease.
Read the news story

Ophthalmic nurse Suraju helps a young girl wash her hands using water from a teapot.

October

Ophthalmic nurse Suraju helps a young girl wash her hands using water from a teapot.
Sightsavers and the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene hosted an online event with experts from the Ascend programme to share key learnings on eliminating neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Ascend was UK Aid’s flagship initiative to tackle five NTDs in 13 countries.
Learn about the event
Simon Bush.

October

Sightsavers director of neglected tropical diseases Simon Bush received a lifetime achievement award for his work to fight river blindness. Simon is the second person to receive the accolade, which was presented to him by the non-profit organisation United Front Against Riverblindness.
Read about Simon’s achievement

Mehnu stands outside and looks into the distance

November

Mehnu stands outside and looks into the distance
In late November, we launched our final appeal of the year, to help raise money for children like Mehnu. At five years old, Mehnu was struggling to learn how to read. Through our schools programme, Mehnu was able to attend a screening session, where he was diagnosed with cataracts.
Join our winter appeal

November

On 29 November, our generous supporters raised more than €80,000 during our Giving Tuesday appeal. Donations made on Giving Tuesday are matched and doubled so that individual gifts go twice as far, helping to treat many more schoolchildren like Zill, who featured in our appeal.
About the Giving Tuesday appeal

Giving Tuesday logo with text 'Official Partner'.
Epidemiologist Michael Dejene, who is collecting data on trachoma, crouches next to a woman who is sorting produce.

December

Epidemiologist Michael Dejene, who is collecting data on trachoma, crouches next to a woman who is sorting produce.
December marked 10 years since Sightsavers began using smartphones to collect data about trachoma. The Tropical Data project uses technology to survey areas where trachoma is endemic, so that countries can effectively focus their elimination efforts.
Read about Tropical Data

December

Sightsavers ended the year on another high by winning a Zero Project award for an inclusion project in Cameroon and Senegal. In collaboration with our partners, the project empowers people with disabilities in local governance and leadership by increasing access and participation.
More about the award

A woman sits talking on a mobile phone.

Our latest stories

Enock, who uses a wheelchair, poses for a photo with two teachers from his inclusive school.
sightsavers_news
News / Disability and inclusion /

Sightsavers responds to report into FCDO’s work on disability inclusion

A report on the UK government’s development strategy and how inclusive it is of people with disabilities was published on Thursday 4 April.

April 2024
A large group of primary school children smile and pose for a photo as they hold their artwork.
sightsavers_news
News / Education /

Entries now open for 2024 Junior Painter of the Year

The annual competition invites primary school children to create artwork that promotes equality for people with disabilities around the world.

March 2024
Eye care staff perform trachoma surveys on children in Cote D'Ivoire.
sightsavers_news
News / Fighting disease /

Sightsavers’ Accelerate programme gets US$36.5 million funding boost to banish trachoma

The extra funding from international donors will help speed up the elimination of trachoma in Africa by expanding and extending the programme.

March 2024

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