Sightsavers and the SDGs

To achieve the UN’s ambitious Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), countries must devise strategies to build economic growth and ensure access to education, health, social protection and job opportunities.

Sightsavers works directly with governments and partners to make sure these commitments are met. We review evidence, implement effective data disaggregation and support voluntary national reviews (VNRs).

We also advocate for the inclusion of people with disabilities by lobbying governments to perform inclusive consultations, and we support organisations of people with disabilities to take a key role alongside decision-makers.

SDG indicators 

To ensure the SDGs are being implemented, the UN General Assembly has adopted a framework of indicators and statistical data to monitor progress towards the agreed targets, inform policy and ensure governments and other organisations are accountable. These indicators are disaggregated by income, gender, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability, geographic location and more. 

Sightsavers is contributing to or reviewing the national indicators in several countries where we work, to ensure they reflect the level of disaggregation needed to fulfil SDG commitments. 

• India: read the India advocacy brief [pdf]
• Pakistan: read the Pakistan learning brief [pdf]
• Senegal: read the blog about inclusive data (in French)
• Kenya
• Nigeria
• Cameroon

Voluntary national reviews

Sightsavers has supported 32 VNRs processes in 17 countries. We work with partners to promote opportunities for the voice and participation of people with disabilities in national development planning processes.

Supporting civil society groups

Along with our partners, we promote the inclusion of people with disabilities in national development planning. We support civil society forums and help to create inclusive groups within existing coalitions, and we build sector-specific coalitions and formalise relationships with the main SDG coalition. In Cameroon and Sierra Leone, Sightsavers fostered collaboration between civil society organisations and the national government during the VNR process.

Working with decision-makers and governments

We have formed technical working groups in several countries to support the drafting and writing of VNRs. This has included meeting focal points for clarification, developing  briefing notes, organising group retreats to work on draft documents and arranging public presentation of drafts for feedback. We work with governments to ensure that VNR reports are validated before reaching the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), and help administrations agree on delegates to represent their country at the High-Level Political Forum.

Read about Sightsavers’ VNR support in the SDGs Good Practices document [pdf]