International Women’s Day: Restoring Sight for Girls in Bangladesh

This International Women’s Day, we celebrate girls whose potential is limitless and highlight the barriers that too many still face. The theme, Balance the Scales, reminds us that equality does not happen automatically. It must be built into the systems that shape people’s lives.

For the past seven years, Sumaiya and Habiba have spent their days camped in a small house near Chandpur in Bangladesh. The sisters, aged 17 and 14, should be at school – but they have lived with severe vision loss from a rare eye condition that affected them shortly after birth.

Sumaiya, 17, and Habiba, 14, sit side by side on a small bed inside their family home in Chandpur, Bangladesh. The sisters sit close together in the dimly lit room, their expressions quiet and uncertain as they live with severe vision loss before receiving cataract surgery. Photo credit: Michael Amendolia

Their father, Md Awlad Hossain, a farmer, struggles to earn enough money to keep his family fed and housed. It is impossible for him to raise the money needed for his daughters’ eye surgery.

Sumaiya misses school. Habiba is also desperate to attend classes and play with her friends. After Sumaiya’s vision deteriorated, Habiba’s began to blur. Awlad was devastated.

Photo credit: Michael Amendolia

“They were not like this before. They lived normal, active lives – playing with other children, attending school, going to the mosque to recite the Quran and spending their days running and playing freely. But as their vision gradually became blurry, everything changed. They stopped going out and playing with others and stayed at home most of the time,” he said.

A lifeline through care

Sumaiya and Habiba sit quietly among other patients in a hospital hallway in Chandpur, Bangladesh, waiting to be screened. They sit close together on a bench, surrounded by families seeking eye care. Photo credit: Michael Amendolia

Awlad shared his situation with a distant relative who recognised the urgency and connected the family with Mazharul Haque BNSB Hospital in Chandpur, one of The Fred Hollows Foundation’s partner hospitals. The medical team contacted Awlad and explained a program supported by the Foundation and the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP).

Sumaiya and Habiba were screened and scheduled for cataract surgery, about 90 minutes from their home.

Inside the operating theatre at Mazharul Haque BNSB Hospital in Chandpur, a young girl undergoes cataract surgery while the surgical team works carefully under bright theatre lights. Medical equipment surrounds the operating table as staff focus intently on the procedure. Photo credit: Michael Amendolia

The day after surgery, they waited for the medical staff to remove their eye patches. Habiba reached confidently for a lollipop offered by a nurse. Their parents were overcome with relief and joy. Hajera, their mother, was crying tears of happiness. Awlad was thrilled knowing that his daughters could now look forward to a better future and return to school.

Habiba reaches confidently for a lollipop offered by a nurse as her eye patches are removed the day after surgery. Sumaiya sits nearby, while their parents, Hajera and Md Awlad Hossain, watch with tears of joy and relief, celebrating their daughters’ restored sight and new opportunities. Photo credit: Michael Amendolia

The gendered impact of vision loss

Sumaiya and Habiba’s story reflects a global reality: women and girls are more likely to experience vision loss and less likely to receive treatment. Globally, women and girls account for 55% of vision impairment. In many communities, cultural expectations, caregiving responsibilities, and financial constraints prevent girls from accessing care.

Vision impairment affects more than individual health. Girls who lose their sight are often excluded from education, limiting their opportunities to learn, work, and contribute to their communities. Women who act as caregivers for relatives with vision impairment frequently sacrifice their own education or employment, perpetuating cycles of disadvantage. Older women face similar challenges, with vision loss affecting independence and increasing the caregiving burden on the next generation.

Why eye care is a gender equity issue

The Fred Hollows Foundation works to close the gender gap in eye health by:

Training female surgeons, nurses, and health workers so women have role models and advocates in the system

Removing barriers to care that prevent girls and women from accessing treatment

Advocating for gender-responsive policies and programs that address systemic inequities

When girls like Sumaiya and Habiba can see, everything changes. Restoring sight opens doors to education, restores independence, and creates opportunities for a better future.

This International Women’s Day

Sumaiya and Habiba sit side by side with their eye patches removed after surgery. They are looking forward, adjusting to their restored sight, with neutral expressions. Photo credit: Michael Amendolia

Balancing the scales means ensuring that girls like Sumaiya and Habiba are not left behind. Every contribution helps more girls receive eye care, return to school, and reclaim their futures.