The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. The work of The Foundation, and the eye health and development sectors more broadly, will impact on and be impacted by the pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
WHAT IS THE 2030 AGENDA FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT? WHAT ARE THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGS)? WHAT SDGS ARE WE ADDRESSING? ADDRESSING GOAL 3: ENSURE HEALTHY LIVES AND PROMOTE WELL-BEING FOR ALL AT ALL AGES. HOW IS FRED’S VISION CONTRIBUTING TO BROADER SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS? OUR COMMITMENT TO THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a universal commitment to end poverty, protect the environment and ensure prosperity for all. The Agenda is framed by 17 global goals (Sustainable Development Goals, or ‘SDGs’), which encompass 169 targets and 232 individual indicators to guide action and monitor progress. Fulfilment of the 2030 Agenda’s objectives would deliver a world in which nobody is living in poverty, basic health outcomes are not dictated by an individual’s wealth or location, and where human and development gains do not come at the expense of planetary health.
If you're ready for a deep-dive, download the full SDG Contribution Report now.
The 2030 Agenda is framed by 17 goals, known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs are the successor to the Millennium Development Goals applying to all countries, and will be pivotal in informing international aid and development agendas over the coming decade. The SDGs are used to guide action and measure progress across a range of development priorities, and reflect the myriad of complex social, economic and environmental factors which impact health and wellbeing, at both an individual and population level.
The SDGs are indivisible - progress in one area can often catalyse success across others. That being said, different actors have unique contributions to make. As an organisation with an eye health focus, the work of The Foundation aligns most closely with the targets contained within Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
However, the flow-on impacts of The Foundation’s work go far beyond good health, cutting across many of the 17 SDGs, most notably:
Let’s take a look at our contribution a little closer.
Goal 3 calls for progress in all domains of health, across prevention, treatment and access to appropriate specialist and primary care services. Its indicators track progress related to reductions in the global burden of maternal and infant mortality, communicable and non-communicable diseases, and environmental diseases. It also seeks to reduce disparities in health outcomes and access to health services which exist between population groups. Achievement of Goal 3 would mean a world in which neither health outcomes nor access to health services are determined by who you are, where you live or your financial circumstances. The Foundation contributes to this through delivering eye health development programs across 25 countries and undertaking local, national and global advocacy and research initiatives which build capacity and help to strengthen national and local health systems towards universal health coverage for eye health across the world. As we move forward into the future over the next five years, The Foundation’s efforts will be focused around four impact goals:
The Foundation will prioritise taking a health system strengthening approach aimed at improving equity, quality, efficiency and sustainability. We have a strong emphasis on engaging communities and patients, advocating for policy and priority change, and innovation to accelerate change.
The Foundation’s work is focused on the development of eye health services and strengthening health systems, the benefits of which extend far beyond good health. Restoring sight allows individuals and families to return to work or school, and overcome the inequality and exclusion that blindness and vision impairment often perpetuate. The work of The Foundation impacts on, and is impacted by, the pursuit of SDGs outside of what we would typically consider health domains.
The Foundation contributes to ending poverty in many ways across our country programs, in our global and national level advocacy, and in many of our research projects. Since its inception, The Foundation has prioritised ensuring that our services are accessed by poor and marginalised communities, who otherwise would not be able to access comprehensive eye care.
Closing the gender gap in access to eye health is an immediate area of focus for The Foundation. Globally, women are 1.3 times more likely to be blind than men – meaning 55% of people who are vision impaired worldwide are women. In recognition of this disparity, The Foundation is prioritising gender equity and working to promote gender equality through our programs, in our public communications and in our business practices and has launched a whole of organisation gender strategy.
Education, especially for children in primary and secondary years, provides an essential foundation for economic participation across the life course. Good vision is critical for participation in education and the lifelong benefits it provides to individuals, their families and communities.
The Foundation contributes to reducing inequality in many ways across our country programs, in our global and national level advocacy and in many of our research projects. In addition to a strategic focus on gender equity, The Foundation is also prioritising reducing the gap in access to eye health services between low and high income countries as a priority over the next five years as it works towards zero prevalence in avoidable blindness and vision impairment. Our work in Australia to close the gap in eye health between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians and non-Indigenous Australians provides an example to demonstrate our targeted efforts in combating inequality. In Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are three times more likely to be blind than non-Indigenous Australians. We work with local Aboriginal community controlled health services to close the gap and advocate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights.
The Foundation recognises the cross-cutting nature of sustainable consumption and production and its impact on the SDGs. Our global procurement policy specifies the objective to support the achievement of the SDGs and the revised internal procurement framework and selection criteria considers the most positive environmental, social and economic outcomes across the full life cycle of a service or product.
The Foundation recognises that it cannot achieve its core mission of ending avoidable blindness by working in isolation. All of our programs are delivered through local partners, as our strategic approach to program implementation and capacity building. There are cascading benefits of all eye health interventions. In recognition of this, The Foundation pursues strategic global partnerships with organisations which either share, or can contribute to, our mission to end avoidable blindness. Our current partners include governments, non-government organisations, philanthropic organisations and the private sector, through coalitions built around mutually-beneficial objectives. We are committed to constantly reviewing the efficacy of these existing partnerships and horizon scanning for new partnerships.
FOR A DEEP-DIVE, DOWNLOAD THE FULL-LENGTH VERSION OF OUR SDG CONTRIBUTION REPORT
Restoring sight transforms lives. It can enable individuals and families to pull themselves out of poverty, help people to return to work or school, and overcome the inequity, marginalisation and exclusion that blindness and vision loss often perpetuate. People living with blindness and vision impairment in developing countries are often poorer and less likely to engage in paid work, compared to those without a vision impairment. Helping to restore sight has been shown to have sustained economic benefits, raising individuals and their families out of poverty, and increasing the likelihood of people returning to productive activities and paid work. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provides an invaluable and transformative opportunity to build a better future for generations to come. The late Professor Fred Hollows dreamed of a fairer, more equitable world and he understood the transformative potential of good sight to reducing poverty and marginalisation, access to education, and improving livelihoods and economic opportunity. Achievement of the SDGs would help translate Fred’s dream into reality.
“Real humanity is shown when we care for others” - Fred Hollows
This is why we’re committed to contributing to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Looking forward to 2023, The Foundation is committed to leaving no one behind in access to eye health and has placed a renewed emphasis on equity at the heart of our new strategic plan. We will:
Over the next three years, Goal 3 will remain as The Foundation’s unique value offering under the 2030 Agenda, and we will focus our effort on scaling up access to eye health services and strengthening health systems as part of universal health coverage.
If you need more information about our contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals, please fill out a contact form, or email us at [email protected]
Watch this video to learn about the impact we had in 2018 and check out our YouTube channel for more videos about the work we do around the world.