Academy for Educational Development

Roughly 314 million people in the world are blind or visually impaired. More than a million are children, who also often face limited opportunities for education because of their disability.

The vast majority—80%—of these cases can be prevented, cured, or treated. However, 90% of blind and visually impaired individuals live in impoverished countries where comprehensive treatment is limited or non-existent.

The A2Z Child Blindness Program, managed by AED with funding from USAID, works with 23 non-governmental organizations around the world to improve and expand eye-related healthcare in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia.

“Our child blindness program includes a competitive grant fund for initiatives that promote good vision in 25 different countries,” said Nadra Franklin, the project's acting director.

In addition to awarding and managing the grants, AED also provides technical support including monitoring and evaluation of grant-funded activities, and documenting the experiences grantees have when delivering these important services.

On October 8, 2009, the A2Z Child Blindness Program and partners will commemorate World Sight Day – a day created to emphasize blindness and visual impairment as global health concerns, influence governments, and recognize NGOs working in the field.

Since the program began in 2005, partner organizations have screened the vision of nearly two million children, provided more than 23,000 eyeglasses, performed 2,500 cataract surgeries, and treated 39,000 non-surgical eye conditions. The program also provides education on proper eye health and local capacity building in pediatric ophthalmology.

Focus on Gender Equity

This year, the theme of World Sight Day is, “Gender and Eye Health: Equal Access to Care.” Overall, girls have less access to medical and surgical services than boys, said Franklin.

“A study in Tanzania found that parents were less likely to take their daughters with congenital cataracts to the hospital for surgery than they were to seek similar treatment for their sons,” she said. “This inequity continues into adulthood, with women accounting for two-thirds of blindness and three-quarters of trachoma-related blindness.”

To address the inequity, the A2Z Child Blindness Program supports projects that target services to girls, orphans, and other vulnerable populations.

For example a young girl in Vietnam's Quang Nam province, A Rat Ly, of the Quang Nam province of Vietnam was blind in her right eye for more than two years. The 12-year-old girl had difficulty completing her schoolwork and household chores. Through the efforts of the Fred Hollows Foundation, an organization supported by the A2Z Child Blindness Program, A Rat Ly went on to receive cataract surgery.

Just eight days after the surgical procedure, she eagerly demonstrated to her family and friends her improved vision and ease with reading her school lessons.

The services provided to A Rat Ly were just one example of how A2Z is addressing gender inequity, according to Franklin, who added that the project is also supporting other organizations that are promoting eye-care treatment for women and girls.

“Improving a girl’s sight is not a band-aid treatment,” she said. “The ripple effects of improved education and opportunity can last a life time.”