Policy is critical because it shapes people’s lives: no matter who you are or where you live, your life is shaped by the policy environment around you. Sightsavers works to influence policy in the areas of global health, education and neglected tropical diseases, and social inclusion. Our policy and advocacy work is supported by our research.
We’re exploring how to address the global lack of disability data, helping people with disabilities and older people to conduct and analyse research with their peers, and promoting the financial independence of people with disabilities through innovative economic empowerment projects. We’re also testing how to make more inclusive health projects and promoting accessible political participation.
Our policy campaign for disability rights calls on the international community to make global development inclusive of people with disabilities, and since 2013 it has contributed to an increasing focus on disability-inclusive development both in the UK and around the world.
Sightsavers’ policy and advocacy work aligns with the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and fully supports their commitment to ‘leave no one behind’ in creating a fairer world.
Globally, 253 million people are visually impaired, 36 million of whom are blind, while neglected tropical diseases affect 1.4 billion people.
Read about our health work
Sightsavers’ disability rights campaign calls on international leaders to make global development inclusive of people with disabilities.
Learn about the campaign
Globally, there’s a lack of accurate data on disability, so we’re looking at new ways to collect data about the inclusion of people with disabilities.
Read about our data
This toolkit outlines an approach to the integration of advocacy plans and strategies in Sightsavers’ country offices. Our advocacy ultimately aims to hold governments to account and influence them to put policies in place that will reach the furthest behind people first.
View Advocacy in programmes handbook [pdf]
This document outlines Sightsavers’ strategic directions in education, identifying our goals and highlighting the approaches and fields of activity that will enable us to achieve them.
View the education strategy [pdf]
View the strategy summary [pdf]
This framework explains our rights-based approach of mainstreaming disability throughout our programming and operations, and complements our other global strategies on eye health, education and research.
View the strategic framework [pdf]
Our eye health strategy provides a clear vision on how the organisation will move forward between 2013 and 2018, It outlines where we’ll invest resources, and how we’ll work with stakeholders to achieve our objectives.
View eye health strategy [pdf]
Ghana has made significant strides towards addressing disability rights. But people with disabilities are not given equal opportunities to participate in electoral processes.
Sightsavers and other organisations recently came together to share practical tips around collecting data that includes everyone.
Sightsavers and its partners are holding a special event on 28 January, to share what we've learned about producing data that includes everyone.