The ripple effect: how we’re making a difference

From one part of Malawi to another: go on a journey with Angeshita, as she has her life transformed by a straightforward cataract operation.

Every story like Angeshita’s is an honour for us to be part of. To give you an idea of just how honoured we are, since 1950 we’ve carried out more than 8.3 million cataract operations.

Next, we’re jumping from Malawi to India, where our social inclusion programmes help to combat the inequalities faced by people who have been marginalised on the grounds of disability, gender, age and other factors.

Amaresh, from our India office, takes us on a tour around an innovative Sightsavers-supported community kitchen run by and for people with disabilities.

And from India to Nigeria: see the difference it makes when children with disabilities are supported to reach their potential.

Inclusive Futures, a consortium of development and disability partners led by Sightsavers, created an inclusive education project at primary schools in Kaduna State, Nigeria. The SMILE project – Support Mainstreaming Inclusion so all Learn Equally – is run in partnership with organisations of people with disabilities and was funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Much of our work focuses on women and girls with disabilities, who often face multiple forms of discrimination and are frequently denied their human rights.

Reya, Jane, Abia, Sarah, Getty and Joy are just a few of the women we’ve been lucky enough to work with who are claiming their seat at the decision-making table. They’re advocating for other women with disabilities, forming support groups and even leading UN committees. Read the story

Reya, featured above, is also a supporter of Sightsavers’ disability rights campaign, Equal World.

The campaign calls on governments and global organisations to uphold disability rights around the world and take action to address inequality, stigma and discrimination. But we’ll let some of our ambassadors introduce it to you properly.

The central promise of the Sustainable Development Goals is to leave no one behind.

To see this in action, take a difficult and hazardous trip with our researcher Kareen. She’s using GPS technology to find hard-to-reach communities in Cameroon to make sure they can be given treatment to prevent river blindness, a potentially blinding and debilitating disease.

This has been a whistlestop tour through a few of our programmes – but it’s just the tip of the iceberg.

To learn more about Sightsavers’ work, how we’re contributing to the SDGs and universal health coverage, and how you can collaborate with us to create global change, contact Anna Becker, our director of institutional funding, for a chat by emailing [email protected].

We’ll leave you with a TED talk presented by our CEO, Caroline Harper, in 2018, about the possibility of eliminating diseases like trachoma within our lifetimes. Since then, six countries have reached this milestone, and more are on the way.

The ripple effect of our work changes lives and adds to progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. We’re committed to creating a better, more equitable society where everyone can thrive and no one is left behind. Are you with us?