Inclusive data at Sightsavers

Globally, there’s a lack of accurate data on disability. But we’re helping to change this by collecting, analysing and using inclusive data, ensuring no one is left behind.

Inclusive data is vital for achieving Sightsavers’ vision and mission. It enables us to better understand the people we work with, how they are marginalised and the issues that prevent them being included.

Using inclusive data, together we can work to remove these barriers and improve access to services and opportunities so everyone can enjoy their human rights.

In the countries where Sightsavers works, we partner with governments and other organisations to advocate for inclusive data and improve the way it is collected, analysed and used.

We’re proud to have co-founded the Inclusive Data Charter (IDC), a global initiative to mobilise political commitments and create meaningful actions that improve inclusive and disaggregated data. In our first IDC action plan, published in 2018, Sightsavers made seven commitments to advance our work on inclusive data.

In our updated action plan for 2024-2027, we’re boosting our commitments to inclusive data in line with our strategies on health and inclusion. This action plan, alongside our updated vision and approach, was published in November 2023.

Click to read Inclusive Data Charter Action Plan 2024-27
View the easy read version

Click to read our vision and approach to inclusive data
View the easy read version

Sightsavers’ inclusive data objectives

1. Knowledge

We will continue to improve internal knowledge and practice, to strengthen evidence and our learning on how we collect, analyse and use inclusive data.

2. Partnership

We will work with partners to increase awareness and the capacity to collect, analyse and use inclusive data, to improve the way services are delivered.

3. Accountability

We will diversify resource mobilisation, engage new supporters, and strengthen our accountability and reporting to meet our commitments to inclusive data.

4. Advocacy

We will continue to advocate for governments and development organisations to improve their policies, systems and processes to use inclusive data effectively.

Read about our work

Carine, a council data collector, speaks to Godjon outside her home in Nkoteng, Cameroon.

News / Disability and inclusion /

We’re excited to be part of the UN’s World Data Forum campaign, which calls for data to be used to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

November 2024

Blogs / Disability and inclusion /

Sightsavers recently launched the Inclusive Data Network to share our knowledge on inclusive data with the international development community.

Sightsavers, August 2024

Two staff members enter ask a man questions during a survey about river blindness.

News / Disability and inclusion /

The updated plan reaffirms Sightsavers' commitment to enhancing inclusive data and collaboration in the international development sector.

November 2023

In a village in Mozambique, two people in blue polo shirts hold clipboards and talk to members of the local community.

Blogs / Disability and inclusion /

We spoke to Dominic Haslam, Sightsavers’ director of policy and programme strategy, about the launch of our second Inclusive Data Charter Action Plan and how it reaffirms our commitment to inclusive data.

Sightsavers, November 2023

Blogs / Disability and inclusion /

Five years since the creation of the Inclusive Data Charter, we’re updating our goals and commitments on inclusive data. So what are our key learnings?

Tichafara Chisaka, July 2023

Blogs / Education /

Sightsavers’ Liesbeth Roolvink and Gillian Mackay share learnings from the SMILE project in Nigeria, where a new questionnaire is being used in schools to assess children’s educational needs.

Sightsavers, February 2023

During a press interview in Senegal, a man faces a video camera while speaking into a microphone. Three fellow event attendees are standing behind him.

News / Disability and inclusion /

The initiative outlines the steps needed to ensure that people with disabilities are represented in official data, which will inform the government’s planning and monitoring.

December 2022

An older man talks to a younger man, who is holding a tablet computer. They are sitting in a hospital waiting room.

Blogs / Disability and inclusion /

Sightsavers' Tichafara Chisaka explains how the campaign aims to transform data in the development community and why it closely aligns with our inclusion work.

Tichafara Chisaka, September 2022

Blogs / Disability and inclusion /

Sightsavers’ Aissata Ndiaye and Tichafara Chisaka share some lessons on inclusive data advocacy based on our experiences in Pakistan, Cameroon and Senegal.

Sightsavers, July 2022

“Inclusive data enables us to understand the barriers to inclusion so that we can do everything we can to address them.”

Dominic Haslam, deputy CEO, Sightsavers

Tools and resources

Disability inclusion in the eye health sector: 2021 learning brief

This brief outlines disability inclusion in Pakistan’s eye health sector, including key initiatives, learnings and recommendations.
Read the brief: disability inclusion (pdf)

Sustainable Development Goals in Pakistan: 2021 learning brief

This brief outlines how Sightsavers is supporting the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in Pakistan, working with local and federal partners to ensure that people with disabilities are included in policy development and represented in data.
Read the brief: SDGs in Pakistan (pdf)

Political participation in West Africa: the effective participation of men and women with disabilities

This baseline study, a population-based cross-sectional survey, examined the differences between people with and without disabilities relating to their political participation in Cameroon and Senegal. It generated evidence to inform Sightsavers’ programmes and extended partners; including but not limited to governments and others working in the area of disability.
Visit the political participation project page

Rapid assessments of avoidable blindness (RAABs) in various countries

Compared to large-scale epidemiological surveys, RAABs are a relatively quick and resource-light tool to help programme managers understand the scale and type of visual impairment affecting the population they are responsible for. Once armed with this information, they can plan services in a way that best meets the need of the population.
Visit the RAAB project page

Washington Group on disability statistics

World Health Organization International Classification of Functioning

Inclusive Data Charter

Want to learn more about our work?

Sightsavers and disability rights

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Find out how your support can make a huge difference and change lives.

Click to read Inclusive Data Charter Action Plan 2024-27
View the easy read version

Click to read our vision and approach to inclusive data
View the easy read version