Policy and advocacy
Sightsavers influences the development and implementation of health and inclusion policies at local, national and global level.
Our policy and advocacy team works to ensure that people can access the health and education services they are entitled to, and that people with disabilities are not excluded or discriminated against, but empowered to claim their rights.
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.
Our key areas
Health policy & advocacy
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
Disability rights
Put Us in the Picture is Sightsavers’ campaign that calls on international leaders to make global development inclusive of people with disabilities.
Learn about the campaign
Data disaggregation
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
The Global Disability Summit
On 24 July DFID co-hosted a global disability summit in London. It aimed to celebrate the achievements and rights of people with disabilities.
Learn moreResources
Handbooks
Advocacy in programmes handbook
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]
Strategies
Education strategy (2013-2018)
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]
Empowerment and inclusion strategic framework (2015)
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]
Eye health strategy
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]
More on policy and advocacy
What’s so great about the Marrakesh Treaty?
Worldwide, only 1-7 per cent of published works are available in accessible formats, partly because of copyright law restrictions. This is often referred to as the ‘book famine’.
Sightsavers petition calls on government of Malawi to protect people with albinism
It is estimated that there are over 134,600 people with albinism living in Malawi, many of whom face deep-seated discrimination.
United Nations launches new disability strategy
The launch of the strategy coincides with the launch of Sightsavers’ global petition which calls for the UN and its member states to uphold disability rights.
We fight for equality for people with disabilities
Join our campaign