Activity Report 2015/2016 LIGHT FOR THE WORLD
Table of Contents
Activity Report 2015/2016 LIGHT FOR THE WORLD 0
Publishing information 7
Editor and publisher: 7
RESPONSIBLE FOR CONTENT: 7
Editors: 7
Fotos: 7
Grafische Gestaltung: 7
Print: Druckerei Odysseus 7
Our Approach 8
LIGHT FOR THE WORLD 8
Forword 9
Our programmes benefited 1.3 million people in 2015 9
HIGHLIGHTS 10
Rwanda, Tanzania and Ethiopia 10
EmployAble 10
South Sudan 10
First Sign Language Dictionary 10
Ethiopia 10
Fighting against Trachoma 10
Burkina Faso 10
Training for Physiotherapists 10
Papua New Guinea 11
National Hearing Programme for 100,000 children 11
East Africa 11
Training ophthalmologists 11
Bolivia 11
Advances in eye care 11
Avoidable Blindness 12
Sight is life 12
About 80 percent of blindness is preventable 12
2015 Figures 12
Types of blindness 13
Cataract 13
Uncorrected refractive errors 13
Childhood blindness 13
Glaucoma 13
River blindness (onchocerciasis) 13
Trachoma 13
NTDs 14
Neglected Tropical Diseases 14
Scale up in our efforts 14
FACTS 14
Interview Cyrille Thierry Evini 14
„We aim to reach 11 million people.” 14
Inclusive Education 16
Community-based rehabilitation 16
Towards an inclusive society 16
Achievements: 16
Inclusive education 16
One class for all 16
Case Study: Garango Region 16
Advocacy 18
United Nations 18
The new development goals are for everyone 18
WHAT IS LIGHT FOR THE WORLD’s CONTRIBUTION? 18
Where do we go from here? 19
Good Health (Goal 3) 19
Inclusive Quality Education (Goal 4) 19
Reduce Inequality (Goal 10) 19
Yetnebersh Nigussie, Senior Inclusion Advisor 19
FRANCOIS CARBONEZ, EU Policy Officer and Co-chair of the IDDC EU Task Group 20
Regional Focus 21
Poverty and Disability 21
We take action! 21
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 21
Bolivia 21
Burkina Faso 21
DR of the CONGO 21
South Sudan 21
Mozambique 22
NorthEast India 22
Pakistan 22
Ethiopia 22
Papua New Guinea 22
Camobodia 22
BANGLADESH 22
Uganda 22
Focus Countries 23
Ethiopia 23
5.8 million people supplied with drugs against trachoma 23
TRACHOMA: in the home stretch 23
Self-determined life 23
More ophthalmologists for Ethiopia 23
Focus Countries 24
Burkina Faso 24
113,119 persons reached 24
Education and political Participation for all 24
Strategic Plan for eye health 24
Focus Countries 25
South Sudan 25
1.078 children with disabilities reached 25
Help that reaches everyone 25
Inclusive Education in South Sudan 25
Focus Countries 26
Mozambique 26
250 young people with disabilities receive vocational training 26
Eyesight for central Mozambique 26
national CBR Strategy 26
Focus Countries 27
Dem. Republic of the Congo 27
Help for 65,631 persons with eye problems 27
Prevention of blindness 27
Inclusion of visually impaired children 27
Focus Countries 28
Bolivia 28
965 children with disabilities received school education 28
the future in a familiar environment 28
Better eye health for Bolivia 28
Focus Countries 29
Northeast India 29
Eye sight of 52,511 people saved 29
Fight against avoidable blindness 29
Focus Topic 30
Focus Topic 30
Disability Inclusion Lab 30
INNOVATION 30
JOINT PROGRAMMES 30
LEARNING & SHARING 30
TRAINING & ADVICE 30
LOBBY & ADVOCACY 31
Partner Countries 32
bangladesh 32
Bosnia and Herzegovina 32
Rwanda 32
Uganda 32
Cambodia 33
Papua New Guinea 33
Tanzania 33
Pakistan 33
Projects 2015/2016 34
Projects 2015/2016 gesamt: 181 34
Afghanistan 34
Africa general 34
Bangladesh 34
Bolivia 34
Bosnia and Herzegovina 35
Burkina Faso 35
Cambodia 36
Ethiopia 37
India 38
Indonesia 39
International 39
Lebanon 39
Mozambique 40
Nepal 40
Pakistan 41
Papua New Guinea 41
Rwanda 42
Uganda 42
South Sudan 42
Tanzania 42
ERFOLGE IN ZAHLEN 43
1,333,982 Persons reached in 181 Projects 43
99,428 Eye surgeries 43
54,477 Children with disabilities reached 43
Our supporters 2015 43
Our programmes 43
Our Vision & Mission 44
Inclusive Society 44
Theory of Change 44
Financial results 46
Reliability 46
Sources of Income 47
Areas of expenses 48
PEOPLE 49
PEOPLE 49
Ina Urquidi 49
Sophia Mohammed 49
Martin Filipec 49
Josè Diquissone 49
Woldesenbet Brhanemesgel 49
Deborah Iyute 49
Gnaze Ibrahim Traoré 50
Martine Bilgo 50
Partners 51
A BIG THANK-YOU TO ALL OUR PARTNERS! 51
International 55
AUSTRIA 55
BELGIUM 55
GERMANY 55
UNITED KINGDOM 56
CZECH REPUBLIK 56
THE NETHERLANDS 56
SWITZERLAND 57
BURKINA FASO 57
ETHIOPIA 57
MOZAMBIQUE 57
SOUTH SUDAN 57
LIGHT FOR THE WORLD International: 58
Board of Trustees: 58
Board of Ambassadors: 58
CEO: 58
Austria: 58
Belgium: 58
Burkina Faso: 58
Czech Republic: 58
Ethiopia: 59
Germany: 59
Mozambique: 59
Netherlands: 59
South Sudan: 59
Switzerland: 59
UK: 59
EU Liaison Office 59
Publishing information
Editor and publisher: LIGHT FÜR THE WORLD
RESPONSIBLE FOR CONTENT: Rupert Roniger.
Editors: Julia Weiss, Marlies Madzar
Fotos: LIGHT FOR THE WORLD, Matthieu Bron, Peter Caton / Krousar Thmey, Ulrich Eigner, Manuel Ferrigato, Jaco Klamer, Thomas Meyer, Aleksandra Pawloff, Dieter Telemans
Grafische Gestaltung: Egger & Lerch, 1030 Wien, Link to the website of Egger & Lerch GmbH
Print: Druckerei Odysseus
Printed on sustainable forest management paper
All statistics and data as of April 2016)
Our Approach
LIGHT FOR THE WORLD
LIGHT FOR THE WORLD is an international organisation specialising in inclusive development. Our goal is an inclusive society that is open to all and leaves no one behind. We champion accessible eye care and support inclusive education and basic living conditions conducive to a self-determined life, so that persons with disabilities can participate with equal rights in society. LIGHT FOR THE WORLD works closely with local partners, eye clinics and Disabled People’s Organisations. This enables us to apply donations in a targeted, sustainable way, to create lasting structures and pave the way to an inclusive society.
33
Forword
Our programmes benefited 1.3 million people in 2015
Dear Friends of LIGHT FOR THE WORLD, with your support we were able to help more people in 2015 than ever before. In 181 projects we reached 1.3 million people suffering from eye disease and persons with disabilities in underprivileged regions of the world. In addition we supplied 7.7 million people with medication against neglected tropical diseases. Your contributions make this possible! In Ethiopia and Mozambique we scaled up our work on eliminating trachoma. In Burkina Faso, persons with disabilities took part in the country's first free elections. In South Sudan and in Lebanon we helped refugees with disabilities. Our disability inclusion lab offers expertise on mainstreaming and inclusion. We also made progress at international level: the United Nations have explicitly included the issues faced by persons with disabilities in their new Sustainable Development Goals. We are delighted that LIGHT FOR THE WORLD has continued to grow as an international organisation, with members in seven European, and offices in four African countries. In 2015 our new partners in Switzerland, Germany and the UK have already made significant contributions to our programmes. Thanks to the support of more than 134,000 individuals, dozens of companies and institutions we are able to help disadvantaged people in underprivileged areas lead an independent life. Thank you!
Rupert Roniger, CEO
LIGHT FOR THE WORLD International
Karin Krobath, Chairperson
LIGHT FOR THE WORLD International
HIGHLIGHTS
Rwanda, Tanzania and Ethiopia
EmployAble
EmployAble is an inclusive vocational training and education programme. We work with governments, training institutes, Disabled People’s Organisations and employers to ensure access to vocational training and employment opportunities for persons with disabilities. The programme runs from 2014 to 2016 and aims to reach 400 young persons with disabilities.
South Sudan
First Sign Language Dictionary
Together with the South Sudan Ministry of Social Affairs, our partners compiled a sign language dictionary in 2015. To start with, we have collected the 200 most commonly used signs from four different local sign languages. The dictionary is the first of its kind in South Sudan.
Ethiopia
Fighting against Trachoma
We won the full support of the regional government in Tigray for our programme to eliminate trachoma. Last year, we treated more than 5.8 million people with the antibiotic Zithromax, 8.5 times more than in the last two years.
Burkina Faso
Training for Physiotherapists
In a training programme physiotherapists learned how to pass on their knowledge effectively to rehabilitation assistants in villages. Through our community-based rehabilitation projects, 12,238 children with disabilities accessed rehabilitation.
Papua New Guinea
National Hearing Programme for 100,000 children
Since the start of the national hearing project, we have worked with more than 100,000 children and young people, administering hearing tests, and providing medical care and instruction in sign language.
East Africa
Training ophthalmologists
LIGHT FOR THE WORLD has been championing the training and further education of ophthalmologists in East Africa since 1998. After completing their training, the scholarship recipients that we supported remain in Africa to work on improving local health systems. In 2015, two scholarship recipients from Tanzania completed their training, and two doctors from South Sudan entered the training programme. A total of fifteen young doctors are currently studying in a sponsored programme.
Bolivia
Advances in eye care
As a result of LIGHT FOR THE WORLD’s advocacy, the incidence and causes of avoidable blindness in rural regions have been studied with a view to offering targeted assistance in the future. To this end, the Bolivian Ministry of Health has, for the first time, employed a special coordinator for eye health.
Avoidable Blindness
Sight is life
About 80 percent of blindness is preventable
A young boy injures his eye whilst playing and, because the wound is not treated, becomes blind. An elderly woman develops cataract and her vision weakens until she can no longer see. A young girl is infected with trachoma by a fly and, because she does not receive antibiotics, might lose her sight forever.
80 % of all cases of blindness can be easily treated or could have been prevented in the first place: by the timely administration of medication, by small routine operations, and by education on eye health. However, many people still do not have access to medication or treatment. Together with international, national and local partners LIGHT FOR THE WORLD has been working to reduce preventable blindness. We strive to achieve this through education, distribution of medication, training of ophthalmologists, and by supporting hospitals and mobile services that provide health care in remote areas.
In Burkina Faso, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Northeast India, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Pakistan we collaborate with the government to develop and implement national blindness prevention programmes. Ensuring access to affordable eye health services for poor people and creating a good evidence base are important elements within the national health strategies of the partner countries we support.
A successful example is Maria Marupa, 53, from Mozambique, who can see again after cataract surgery.
2015 Figures
50,863 cataract operations
26,270 eyelid operations for trachoma
57,791 people provided with spectacles
5,851,410 people supplied with medication for trachoma
1,851,576 people received medication for river blindness
Types of blindness
Cataract
is the world’s most common cause of blindness, and is responsible for the loss of vision of 20 million people. This clouding of the lens may occur due to age, injury or be congenital. Cataracts can be treated by replacing the cloudy lens with an artificial one in a 15-minute operation.
Uncorrected refractive errors
About 106 million people are visually impaired, due to causes such as uncorrected refractive errors. In most cases, vision can be restored with spectacles or other vision aids.
Childhood blindness
About 1.4 million children are blind. 12 million children are visually impaired due to uncorrected refractive errors. We support the early detection of problems so that treatment, therapy and rehabilitation can be given.
Glaucoma
is the second most common cause of blindness. Glaucoma can be treated with medication and alleviated by a small operation, but is not cureable.
River blindness (onchocerciasis)
is a parasitic disease. The pathogens migrate through the body and cause inflammation and bleeding that leads ultimately to blindness and other disabling effects. River blindness is on the retreat worldwide thanks to the widespread distribution of the drug Mectizan.
Trachoma
is the most widespread infectious cause of blindness. It causes the inside of the eyelid to scar, turn inward and scratchthe cornea, leading to irreversible blindness. Trachoma is treated with antibiotics and is preventable through improved hygiene and sanitation. In its final stage surgery on the eyelid prevents the loss of sight.
NTDs
Neglected Tropical Diseases
Scale up in our efforts
Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a diverse group of diseases, including trachoma, onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis. They affect more than one billion people, mainly in tropical and subtropical countries, living in poverty. NTDs control can be achieved by improving sanitation and public health, administration of drugs and access to medical services. Our trachoma and river blindness programmes in Ethiopia and Mozambique reached 7.7 million people in 2015, thanks to substantial UK and US government funding via Sightsavers and the Research Triangle Institute (RTI).
FACTS
1.4 billion people are affected by NTDs globally
100 % of low-income countries are affected by several NTDs
200 million people are at risk of trachoma infection globally, 37 % live in Ethiopia
3.6 million people are suffering from trachoma at an advanced stage
1.2 million people are already blind due to trachoma
99 % of people infected with river blindness live in African countries
500,000 people are blind due to river blindness
Interview Cyrille Thierry Evini
„We aim to reach 11 million people.”
Cyrille Thierry Evini is programme coordinator for NTDs at LIGHT FOR THE WORLD
What are Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs)?
Cyrille Thierry Evini: NTDs are a group of diseases, which are found mainly in developing countries, affecting 1.4 billion people. They are called neglected, because they have been mostly eliminated in developed countries but still affect people in developing countries.
What are the major issues in fighting NTDs?
Cyrille Thierry Evini: Governments in developing countries don’t necessarily view NTDs as being of major concern, given their other priorities, so government involvement is a critical issue. Then it is difficult to make sure that we have adequate funding, and can get communities to support and sustain the fight against NTDs.