Disability and inclusion

IT Bridge Academy graduate Lyne stands with her arms crossed.
Stories / Disability and inclusion /

From classroom to career: Lyne’s story

IT Bridge Academy graduate Lyne shares how she overcame barriers and disability discrimination to secure her dream job as a technical support engineer.

Two young girls talk to each other in a playground. One of the girls has a physical disability and is using a wheelchair.
News / Disability and inclusion /

Global Disability Summit 2025: Sightsavers calls for stronger commitment to inclusion

Sightsavers will host two events and two exhibition spaces at the event in Berlin on 2-3 April, calling on attendees to join us in targeting inequality.

March 2025
A portrait image of Sarah smiling.
Blogs / Disability and inclusion /

Women with disabilities must be involved in planning economic empowerment programmes

Sightsavers’ Sarah Wang’ombe shares what we’ve learned about running effective programmes.

March 2025
Caliha stands outside, with a tree behind her.
Stories / Disability and inclusion /

“Usually, men tell their wives not to go to hospital”

Cataracts stopped Caliha from working as a farmer, and without her family’s support, she struggled to access treatment. Caliha was able to have an operation and is now earning a living again.

Maria smiles after her successful operation for advanced trachoma. She's standing outside her home, which has a thatched roof.
Stories / Disability and inclusion /

“Now my sight has improved, I hope to earn more”

Maria was able to return to work as a basket weaver and support her family after receiving treatment for advanced trachoma.

Lydia, an IT Bridge Academy graduate, smiles while standing in front of the Kenyan flag.
Stories / Disability and inclusion /

“Women don’t get easy access to employment opportunities”

Lydia is a graduate of Sightsavers’ IT Bridge Academy and a disability rights activist. She works in the executive office of the president of Kenya.

A headshot of Michelle staring into the camera.
Stories / Disability and inclusion /

“I’ve always wanted to have a very big business”

Entrepreneur Michelle uses her experience of living with a disability to mentor other young women through Sightsavers’ economic empowerment project in Zimbabwe.

Sightsavers’ programme officer Salome Njeri Mbugua-Mutua receives the award on stage alongside two academy instructors.
News / Disability and inclusion /

Sightsavers’ IT Bridge Academy wins top-performing academy award

The IT Bridge Academy, which supports young people with disabilities to train for a career in IT, received the accolade from technology company Cisco.

February 2025
Portrait pictures of Sightsavers' researchers.
Blogs / Disability and inclusion /

Making schools safer for children with disabilities

Dr Steven Kaindaneh and Dr Julia de Kadt explain how our new research puts children with disabilities at the centre of efforts to combat gender-based violence.

December 2024
Sadah, Eunice and Shihab.
Stories / Disability and inclusion /

The impact of inclusion: meet the changemakers

Learn how our disability-inclusive projects are helping to create a better world for everyone by supporting people like Sadah, Eunice and Shihab.

Carine, a council data collector, speaks to Godjon outside her home in Nkoteng, Cameroon.
News / Disability and inclusion /

Sightsavers joins global Commit to Data campaign

We’re excited to be part of the UN’s World Data Forum campaign, which calls for data to be used to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

November 2024
Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner and Sightsavers' Ross Gilligan stand together holding a copy of Sightsavers' Changing Times newspaper. They are standing in front of Sightsavers' stand at the Labour party conference.
News / Disability and inclusion /

Labour party conference: Sightsavers urges MPs to champion disability rights

Sightsavers engaged with some key political leaders at the event in Liverpool.

September 2024
Abigail Brown and Boma Cliford Fosong.
Blogs / Disability and inclusion /

How we’re advancing inclusive data

Sightsavers recently launched the Inclusive Data Network to share our knowledge on inclusive data with the international development community.

August 2024
A girl smiles in a classroom in Zambia. She's sitting in a wheelchair and wearing a blue school shirt.
News / Disability and inclusion /

Landmark disability rights treaty comes into force across Africa

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights says the African Disability Protocol (ADP) is now legally binding.

August 2024
Enock, who uses a wheelchair, poses for a photo with two teachers from his inclusive school.
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
Johannes Trimmel
Blogs / Disability and inclusion /

The key to inclusive education is engaging organisations of people with disabilities

Collaborating with disability groups has earned the Inclusive Futures consortium a Zero Project Award in 2024.

February 2024
Teenage girls learning trade skills in Nigeria pose for a group photo along with course leaders.
News / Disability and inclusion /

Spectrum Markets helps teenagers in Nigeria gain creative skills on World Children’s Day

Teenage girls from Kaduna State marked the global event by attending the launch of a new project that will give them the skills they need to start their own business.

January 2024
Two staff members enter ask a man questions during a survey about river blindness.
News / Disability and inclusion /

Sightsavers launches new action plan on inclusive data

The updated plan reaffirms Sightsavers' commitment to enhancing inclusive data and collaboration in the international development sector.

November 2023
John Chiti smiles while wearing sunglasses.
News / Disability and inclusion /

Sightsavers campaign ambassador inspires Netflix film about albinism

The film ‘Can You See Us?’ is based on the life of John Chiti, who is a Zambian albinism rights campaigner and Sightsavers’ ambassador for the African Disability Protocol campaign.

September 2023
Tichafara Chisaka.
Blogs / Disability and inclusion /

Inclusive data and Sightsavers: an ongoing journey

Five years since the creation of the Inclusive Data Charter, we’re updating our goals and commitments on inclusive data. So what are our key learnings?

July 2023
Gertrude Oforiwa Fefoame.
Blogs / Disability and inclusion /

First anger, then action: why you should sign the Feminist Accessibility Protocol

In my years as a disability advocate, I’ve learned that getting angry needs to be accompanied by getting active. We wanted to advise organisations on how to do better to include women and girls with disabilities.

July 2023
Peter Kwasi.
Blogs / Disability and inclusion /

“In Ghana, the work we began on disability inclusion will continue”

Sightsavers’ Peter Anomah-Kordieh Kwasi shares successes and what we learned from the Ghana Somubi Dwumadie participation project, which Sightsavers supported as a partner to improve the lives of people with disabilities.

June 2023
Simon Brown
Blogs / Disability and inclusion /

Why disability-inclusive employment benefits all of us

Sightsavers’ Simon Brown shares how organisations like Sightsavers can influence labour markets to be more inclusive of people with disabilities in decent employment.

June 2023
A still image from the film I Didn't See You There, showing the silhouette of a man in a wheelchair reflected in a doorway, with a colourful circus tent in the background.
News / Disability and inclusion /

Sightsavers-supported film challenges preconceptions of disability

A Sightsavers-supported film about disability rights will feature in the Human Rights Watch Film Festival at the Barbican in London on 16-26 March.

March 2023
Gertrude Oforiwa Fefoame speaking into a microphone.
News / Disability and inclusion /

Gertrude Oforiwa Fefoame elected chair of UN disability committee

Gertrude, who is Sightsavers’ global advocacy manager for social inclusion, becomes the first African woman to lead the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

March 2023
Nanny Powers
News / Disability and inclusion /

Sightsavers launches campaign to ratify African disability rights treaty

The African Disability Protocol (ADP) addresses disability rights issues specific to people with disabilities living in African countries.

October 2022
Jeniffer prepares the crops outside her home.
News / Disability and inclusion /

Sightsavers and partners launch US$6 million inclusion and labour rights programme

The Global Labor Program, part of the Inclusive Futures initiative, aims to increase the inclusion of people with disabilities and improve labour rights at two large Kenyan companies.

March 2022
The Sightsavers accessibility pack box: a white and yellow box with handle, featuring the words 'Accessibility standards and audit pack, produced by Sightsavers'.
News / Disability and inclusion /

Sightsavers wins Zero Project award for accessibility audit pack

Sightsavers won the innovation award for its accessibility standards and audit toolkit, which helps improve healthcare facilities for people with disabilities.

December 2021
A young boy smiles and waves at the camera.
Blogs / Disability and inclusion /

The African Disability Protocol: a call to leave no one behind

The African Disability Protocol is unique to the continent and takes African practices and concerns into consideration so that the lives of people with disabilities improve.

August 2021
Dominic Haslam sat at a desk talking into a microphone
News / Disability and inclusion /

Sightsavers director Dominic Haslam awarded an OBE

Dominic, who is Sightsavers’ Director of Policy and Programme Strategy, is recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for his services to people with disabilities.

June 2019
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