Winning projects named

 

A total of 13 proposals, each receiving up to £75,000 from Sightsavers’ ‘Innovation Fund’, range from projects on the promotion of education for children with albinism in East Africa and a national TV series for visually impaired people in India, to improvements to the treatment of diabetic retinopathy in Bangladesh. 

 

The programme is part of a three-year Programme Partnership Arrangement between the charity and the Department for International Development (DFID). 

 

The winning proposals, which were selected from 477 applications, will be implemented over the next 18 months. 

 

Lynne Featherstone, parliamentary under-secretary of state for international development at the DFID, said: “This fund offers an excellent chance for charities, academic institutions and businesses to work together and fund innovative solutions to health or disability problems. I’m thrilled so many organisations are taking advantage of this opportunity and look forward to seeing the results – especially if they can be used later to address other health or disability challenges.”

 

One particular project, led by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, will explore improving the quality of cataract surgery using mentorship in East Africa. 

 

Judges this year included a range of representatives from Moorfields Eye Hospital, 3iE and DFID. 

 

Dominic Haslam, director of policy and strategic programme support for Sightsavers, added: “This initiative encapsulates exactly what innovation means to me; working with others to find solutions to existing or new problems in the sectors where we work – and then putting those solutions into practice, testing them and sharing the results as widely as possible. 

 

“All results, positive and negative, will be shared as widely as possible within the development sector, as well as using them to inform Sightsavers’ own programmes.”

 

A full list of the applications selected for funding can be found at, www.sightsavers.org/innovationfund

Tagged with: Charity, Research