Our work in Uganda
Sightsavers’ focus in Uganda is to promote social inclusion and tackle neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). In 2018 we distributed 283,000 NTD treatments and helped to carry out 6,400 sight-saving operations.
Sightsavers started working in Uganda in 1954.
Our first programmes in the country aimed to control river blindness, a debilitating neglected tropical disease, and to provide rehabilitation and support for people whose sight couldn’t be saved.
In 1994, we opened a dedicated office in Kampala, and the following year we began working to help blind and visually impaired children participate fully in mainstream schools. Since 2010, we have focused on improving local health systems, promoting social inclusion and tackling neglected tropical diseases.
Uganda is also home to our award-winning Connecting the Dots project, which has provided vocational training to young people with disabilities so they can find work and support themselves financially. The project has transformed attitudes to disability, and shows potential employers how hiring people with disabilities could benefit their business.
At a glance
Total populationWhat we focus on
Key programmes
How we’re making a difference in Uganda
Challenging stereotypes
"Disability is not inability. It does not stop you from doing any work another person can perform."
Isaac, employment programme graduate. Read Isaac’s story
Reaching local people
“I wanted to help people because they were dying – I want to save my community and give them medicine.”
Ajuna Socia, local volunteer
Read Ajuna’s story
Raising awareness
“Radio allows people to ask questions, and it spreads awareness among a bigger group of people.”
William Mugayo, district worker
Read the story
Your donation could help change lives
DONATEMore from Uganda
COVID-19: Africa’s economic recovery must leave no one behind
Many people with disabilities work in the informal sector. Unless they can leave their house every day, they struggle to meet their basic needs. For them, the situation is dire.
“As a parent, to see your child happy, is as much as you can ask for.”
Sightsavers and Sense International supported 14-year-old Hellen and her family from Masindi, Uganda, by helping them communicate with each other and support themselves financially.
Supporting youth with deafblindness in Uganda
Alice Nabbanja from Sense International explains how the organisation has been working with Sightsavers in Uganda supporting young people with deafblindness and complex disabilities.
Esther’s story
Esther Anyango, from Uganda, operates on people with blinding trachoma through The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust’s Trachoma Initiative.
Why I support Sightsavers' Equal World disability rights campaign
A lot of people with disabilities grow up not knowing that they have the same right to education and employment as everyone else – we need to change this. My message to other people with disabilities is: We Can.
Groundbreaking new programme will enable 2,000 people with disabilities to get better jobs
The Inclusion Works programme, funded by UK aid and led by Sightsavers, will create job opportunities for more than 2,000 people with disabilities.
Charles’s story
Charles Ahumuza, who is partially sighted, reveals how Sightsavers' inclusive employment programme in Uganda has helped him to fulfil his childhood dream of becoming an electrician.
How I’m building a career as a blind person in Uganda
Deus Turyatemba of Standard Chartered shares his story of career progression, and explains the bank’s partnership with Sightsavers’ Inclusion Works programme.
Putting people at the centre of our work to eliminate neglected tropical diseases
Sightsavers' river blindness and lymphatic filariasis programme has delivered 60 million treatments in four countries. Here’s what we’ve learned from the project.
Treating hard-to-reach people: what we’ve learned from CATCH
The Coordinated Approach to Community Health programme, which finished in March 2019, has restored the sight of more than 21,000 people and generated a wealth of knowledge.
Sightsavers marks 50th anniversary of Mount Kilimanjaro expedition
On 20 February 1969, Sightsavers supported men with visual impairments on an expedition to raise awareness about blindness.
Gladys’s story
Gladys Atto is an everyday hero, saving sight and building long-term eye health services in Uganda. She’s one of the talented cataract surgeons whose training you’ve supported.
We save sight in 30 countries worldwide
Where we work