Light for the World is a global disability & development organization, breaking down barriers to enrich society and unlock the potential in all of us. We enable crucial eye health services and empower people with disabilities in some of the poorest regions of the world. We focus on the poorest and hardest to reach because those people need it most. We create change through local people, organisations and governments because we want our impact to last. We try new things because we believe in the power of innovation! We work with partners because we cannot do it alone.

We work with partners and underserved communities around the world in countries including Burkina FasoDemocratic Republic of CongoEthiopiaMozambique and South Sudan.

Our work is made possible with support from donors in countries including AustriaBelgiumCzech RepublicGermanyNetherlandsSwitzerlandUnited Kingdom and USA.

Read more: https://www.light-for-the-world.org/light-world

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Representation and empowerment of persons with disabilities
Within the next three years (2019-2021) Light for the World is committed to increase its support to strengthen the capacity and representation of Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs), to help unlock the leadership power of people with disabilities, particularly the youth, in all aspects of life. The geographical focus will be on Sub-Saharan Africa.

Timeframe and/or implementation plan
*Support mainstream organizations in disability mainstreaming *Elevate youth leaders and disability champions *Enter new partnership with the African Disability Forum *Financial and training support for DPO partners, in cooperation with IDA & IDDC *Support DPOs with civil society reports towards the UN *Ensure DPO representation at international fora, including the UN Conference of States Parties to the CRPD; the World Data Forum; and EU events *Collaborate with partners to fight discrimination against people with disabilities.

Theme: Eliminate Stigma and Discrimination
Year: 2018
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Additional resources and implementation
Over the next three years (2019-2021), Light for the World will raise and invest minimum 11 million euros in inclusive education in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and other low-income countries. We will support more than 10,000 children into inclusive school settings in 2019. In the longer run, we commit to achieving system-change in each country setting. We will carry out impassioned international advocacy work. We will prioritise the youngest and most marginalized children with disabilities.

Timeframe and/or implementation plan
*Advocate for increased investment in disability-inclusive education and support the Initiative for Inclusive Education *Promote increased investment in disability inclusive Early Childhood Development and deepen our programmatic work *Strengthen the education workforce to ensure quality teaching *Foster systemic reform via policy engagement and capacitating the mainstream education movement on disability inclusive education *Collaborate with INGOs with a bigger footprint to extend our reach *Empower children & youth with disabilities to secure a better future.

Theme: Inclusive Education
Year: 2018
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Skills development for decent work
Over the next three years (2019-2021), Light for the World will leverage at least 9 million euros towards inclusive economic empowerment and livelihood programmes in Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya, Mozambique, North-East India, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. We will also carry out focused international advocacy work.

Timeframe and/or implementation plan 
*Advocate for inclusive youth employment programmes and recruitment by global companies *Model disability inclusion practices for skills building with formal and non-formal vocational training providers, acknowledging different types of disability *Support micro-entrepreneurship among people with disabilities, including their links to the value chains of medium to big companies *Strengthen the uptake of people with disabilities in the workforce by employers, while prototyping innovative solutions*Collaborate with INGOs, DPOs, policy-makers and donors to extend our reach.

Theme: Routes to Economic Empowerment
Year: 2018
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New programmes or services
We will strengthen the use of technology across all our programmes, with a special focus on inclusive education and gathering data.  We will advocate for the use of universally designed applications and open source technology in conjunction with our advocacy and we will support accessible publishing and the Marrakesh Treaty.  

Timeframe and/or implementation plan
*Use ICT more effectively in M& E and teacher training and promote the use of our video based learning tool on inclusive education: https://www.eenet.org.uk/inclusive-education-teacher-training-video-resource/bundle-downloads/*With the Daisy Consortium, deepen accessible ICT and publishing work in Burkina Faso and countries *Launch our App, Make 12.4% work, in Uganda – as a platform for companies to learn more about becoming an inclusive employer *Supply ICT equipment and training to partners in technical vocational training centres and teacher training colleges.

Theme: Harnessing Technology and Innovation
Year: 2018
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Commit resources to support strengthened disability data
In the coming three years (2019-2021) Light for the World will strengthen its own data disaggregation in projects. We will invest in national advocacy efforts to push governments to collect disaggregated data in-country; and to apply the OECD DAC disability marker. 

Timeframe and/or implementation plan 
*Improve our own monitoring and evaluation systems *Capacity building in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Mozambique to make best use of census findings *Promote the use of Washington group short set of questions, UNICEF/inclusive Education Management Information System’s guide in our target countries *Facilitate DPO participation in international consultations, including the World Data Forum *Lobby governments in Austria, Czech Republic, Netherlands and the European Commission to implement the OECD DAC disability marker.

Theme: Data Disaggregation
Year: 2018
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Ahead of the Global Disability Summit, we will launch a brand new Award called ‘Her Abilities’, honouring the achievements of women with disabilities. The Award aims to change minds and tackle discrimination against women with disabilities by telling those stories that are too seldom told: www.her-abilities-award.org. We will also work with expert organizations in sexual and reproductive health to promote disability inclusion. And we will further strengthen our programme response to gender issues ‘across the board’.  

Timeframe and/or implementation plan
*Collaborate with external partners to ensure maximum impact for the Her Abilities Award, including e.g. the independent jury, made up of prominent women from different walks of life:https://www.her-abilities-award.org/jury.*Provide strong communications support to the announcement of Her Abilities Award on 3rdDecember, World Disability Day. *Mainstream disability in Sexual Reproductive Health programmes in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Rwanda – ‘Every Life Matters’ *Bring greater gender sensitivity into our organization and programme work.

Theme: Women and Girls with Disabilities
Year: 2018
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Ensure the provision of comprehensive eye health services, with a focus on Ethiopia, Burkina Faso and Mozambique, through raising and investing 7 million euros per year (2019 - 2021)

Timeframe and/or implementation plan
*Strengthen human resources in Sub-Saharan Africa: training 350 eye health specialists (ophthalmologists, optometrists and ophthalmic nurses); and supporting 4 training institutions and 1 regional coordinating body *Address Uncorrected Refractive Errors in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Mozambique, using learnings from our successful Uganda pilot programme *Contribute to the elimination of blinding trachoma in Ethiopia and Mozambique *By 2021, we want our regional programmes to serve as a reference for governments to develop quality eye health services.

Theme: Other
Year: 2018