We aim to help eye health colleagues globally to plan and deliver eye health programmes that are gender sensitive, gender responsive and/or gender transformative.
In many countries, women do not get to access eye health services and assistive products with the same frequency as men.
Select the following items to read more about the issues with gender equity in eye health.
The eradication of poverty is one of the greatest global challenges facing the world today and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development.
Poverty is both a cause and a consequence of poor eye health. No one should have to live with avoidable blindness or vision impairment in the 21st century when we have cost effective, proven and impactful solutions to hand, yet we know millions are missing out.
All those who need eye care, can and should receive it. Of the 1.1 billion people with vision loss, 55% are women and most live in low and middle-income countries (LMIC).
Vision impairment and blindness have far-reaching implications, not just for the women affected, but also for their families and communities. In industrialised countries this is largely because women live longer than men, but in LMIC, where cataract and unaddressed refractive error are responsible for most blindness and vision impairment, it is often because women do not get to access services and assistive products with the same frequency as men. In some parts of the world, if girls are blind or significantly vision impaired, it is almost impossible for them to access education.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a global call to promote equity in recognition of the disparities that exist and the need for universal action to eliminate these differences. Eye health makes an important contribution to the SDGs as it is a simple and highly cost-effective means of unlocking human potential.
The global eye health sector has a unique opportunity to unite and speak with one voice, to strengthen gender equity in our organisations and programmes collectively.
Please explore the sections below – all links are provided pro-bono by eye health peer organisations. For questions on how to use the Gender Equity Toolkit, please contact the Gender Equity Work Group Secretariat, Louisa Syrett.
Synthesises practice, guidelines and resources to help deliver eye health programmes that are gender sensitive, gender responsive and/or gender transformative.
In light of COVID 19, the way forward for gender equity in eye health must look and be intentionally different.
Under-representation of women in decision making positions limits the acceptability of services for women.
