Spectrum Markets, which joined Sightsavers as a corporate partner in April, provided art materials, sketchbooks, footballs and backpacks for children in Kaduna State.
One of the children who benefited was 12-year-old Hamza, who hopes to be a doctor when he’s older so he can help his community. He said: “I’m very grateful to Sightsavers and Spectrum Markets for helping me to see better and giving me these items, which I can use at home and school.”
Thanks to support from Spectrum Markets, Sightsavers’ childhood blindness project in Nigeria has been providing sight-saving cataract operations and glasses to children like Hamza, enabling them to see more clearly and continue making progress with their education so they can achieve their goals.
Martina Hoffard, head of marketing at Spectrum Markets, said: “The opportunity to give children sight is not only an investment in the future of these children and their families, it is also an investment in the future of our global community. Our partnership with Sightsavers will help support full-circle projects that provide greater access, provisions of training and facilities to communities that need them most.”
Held each year on 20 November, the event promotes children’s rights across the world. This year’s theme focuses on giving children a bigger voice, and calls on adults to create a better future.
Read more: UN.orgThe UK government’s new international women and girls strategy is a positive step. But because 18 per cent of women have a disability, it is essential that disability inclusion is prioritised.
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.
Sightsavers is sad to learn of the death of disability rights activist Judith Heumann, who was often referred to as the ‘mother of the disability rights movement’.