US$100million commitment will change lives by 2020

21 September 2011

Today, at the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting in New York, where companies announce their new commitments to making an impact on the world’s social problems, Standard Chartered will proudly renew its commitment to Seeing is Believing in spectacular fashion. The Bank announced that it will raise a staggering US$100 million to provide treatment and eye-care with the aim to eliminate avoidable blindness by 2020.

What the commitment means
Since 2003, Seeing is Believing has grown significantly, and the Bank has raised US$37 million to provide eye-care to 25 million people. Our funding – made up of donations from staff, clients and customers that is matched by the Bank - has provided for 2.7 million eye surgeries, training for more than 58,000 health care workers, 3.4 million eye-care screenings and the distribution of 126,000 pairs of eye glasses across Asia, Africa and the Middle East. 

This latest commitment means that the Bank will raise a further US$63 million, almost trebling the Bank’s fundraising efforts. Our involvement is long-term, as this new focus will take us through to the year 2020.

The Bank will work hand-in-hand with its key partner, the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), and other leading international eye-care NGOs to deliver 35 comprehensive eye-care projects globally. These projects range from providing access to cataract operations and preventative treatments in deprived communities. As part of a new focus, five of these projects will focus exclusively on providing eye-care for children. The remaining 30 projects, raising awareness of eye-care issues in local markets, provide eye-care screenings or carry out surgeries across 20 countries.

The difference
Although 39 million people around the world remain blind, around 80% of blindness is treatable or preventable. Treatment or prevention can help people transform their lives and the lives of those around them and can significantly impact economic productivity in some of the world’s poorest countries. 

With your help, the Bank will match every donation dollar for dollar, and we can work together to will build sustainable eye-care services across Asia, Africa and the Middle East by 2020.

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