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- News Wrap
March 2025 News Wrap — our work, successes and impact.
Inclusive sports partnership with adidas Foundation
Light for the World and adidas Foundation have teamed up for a three-year inclusive sports programme to tackle ethnic divisions, gender-based discrimination and ableism in South Sudan.
Running in Pibor, Bor South and Yambio counties, United by Sport will bring together people from diverse ethnic backgrounds to enable conversations and promote peace. It will focus on young people, especially girls with disabilities, aiming to improve participants’ confidence and academic performance.
The project will bring together pupils with and without disabilities for school sports and increase access to inclusive sports for people with disabilities, including an expansion of the South Sudan Blind Football Premier League.
The project will be implemented by Light for the World South Sudan and funded by the adidas Foundation.
A game-changer for eye health in Mozambique
Eye care in Mozambique will be revolutionised after a flagship hospital received equipment to dramatically improve surgeries and ophthalmology training.
Central Hospital Maputo launched the country’s first surgical simulation lab, where residents can practice on artificial and animal eyes and receive remote training, and significantly upgraded its operating theatre.
Light for the World donated equipment including surgical microscopes for the operating theatre, an ophthalmoscope and portable slit lamp, and provided technical support for the simulation lab.
The milestone delivery of the equipment, which will ensure more people are treated for conditions like cataracts and glaucoma, was covered by national media including Jornal Moçambique.
The donation was made under the 10-year “1,2,3 I can see!” programme, which reached 200,000 children in schools and hospitals in Mozambique in its first phase.
Commitment to inclusion at GDS Mini Summit
Light for the World Kenya joined the Global Disability Summit Mini Summit in Nairobi to assess progress and strengthen commitments to driving disability inclusion across Africa.
Bringing together participants from government, Organisations of People with Disabilities, private sector and civil society, discussions highlighted both achievements and gaps in disability rights.
Light for the World Kenya reaffirmed its focus on inclusive employment, skills development and strengthening labour markets to deliver lasting change for people with disabilities.
The GDS Mini Summit comes as momentum builds for the Global Disability Summit 2025 next month in Berlin, where young African disability rights advocates will be among the attendees.
RISE Cabo Delgado: reinforcing resilience in a crisis
Light for the World and partners have launched the RISE Programme in Cabo Delgado to support 10,000 people affected by conflict in Mozambique.
Funded by the Austrian Development Cooperation, RISE will provide food security, livelihood opportunities and rehabilitation services for internally displaced people and host communities.
The programme will equip families with income-generating skills, microcredits and agricultural training to rebuild their lives. A strong focus on gender and disability inclusion will ensure women, children and people with disabilities can safely access essential services, while targeted efforts will prevent gender-based violence.
RISE will also offer psychosocial care and mobility aids. Delivered alongside the Institute for Economic and Social Development (IDES), the Women, Law and Development Association (MULEIDE) and the Forum of Mozambican Associations of People with Disabilities (FAMOD), RISE aims to foster long-term recovery in Cabo Delgado.
Targeting the silent thief of sight
Ophthalmologists across the world have raised awareness of glaucoma, the world’s leading cause of preventable blindness, for World Glaucoma Week.
In Mozambique, Dr Lácea Alfredo, who received a scholarship from Light for the World to specialise in glaucoma, performed 13 surgeries at Maputo Central Hospital.
“With World Glaucoma Week we warn the population of the silent thief of sight,” Dr Alfredo says.
“Early detection is key. We need more specific equipment to diagnose and perform more surgeries. The need is huge.”
Light for the World created the first Toolkit for the Management of Glaucoma in Sub-Saharan Africa, used to train eye health providers in glaucoma detection and treatment.
In case you missed it…
- Our #CommitToInclusion campaign continued to highlight the work of Disability Inclusion Facilitators (DIFs) Naome, Doreck and Noeline and their drive to spark lasting change.
- We published an article about the unique DIF approach and how young changemakers are putting inclusion into action.
- US magazine Earth Island Journal published a feature on Light for the World’s work to support people with disabilities affected by flooding in South Sudan.
- Colleagues and programme participants shared letters to their younger selves on International Women’s Day.
- The Week Junior, a US magazine for children ages 8-14 years, published an article about Dr Vasco da Gama, a paediatric ophthalmologist supported by Light for the World.
