Professional Documents
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Background At the end of the Second World War, many veterans returned to their Commonwealth Countries and territories nursing injuries from the War. Many suffered permanent disabilities including blindness. Although war was by no means the main cause of blindness, the fact of several veterans returning home blind, helped focus public concern on the problem of blindness.
Sir John Wilson, the then Executive Director of the Organization and by the mid-1960(s), there were several National Organizations in operation.
During the late forties and fties, several National Associations and Societies were formed to promote the interest of the blind and those at risk of becoming blind. In the Caribbean, this process received signicant support from the UK-based Royal Commonwealth Society for the Blind (now Sightsavers). Many of the Organizations were formed after visits by the late
In all, there were upwards of eleven National Organizations seeking to work with the Royal Commonwealth Society for the Blind, to develop services for their clientele, while seeking to prevent blindness.
Establishment of the Caribbean Council for the Blind and Visually Impaired. In 1967, the various National Organizations (with nancial and technical assistance from RCSB), now Sightsavers, formed themselves into the Caribbean Council for the Blind and Visually Impaired, [CCB]. This provided a focal point for regional discussions and some joint action. The original Constitution for CCB was approved on September 24th, 1967 in Trinidad and Tobago; and its revision approved on September 13th, 1980 in Grenada.
Kevin
Carey
Establishment of a Secretariat
In 1978, the Council established a Secretariat to execute its day-to-day functions. The rst Secretariat was headed by Kevin Carey and located in Trinidad and Tobago. Two years later, (in 1980), the Secretariat was relocated to Antigua and Barbuda. A principal reason for the relocation of the Secretariat in Antigua and Barbuda was the Island's strategic position for travel across the Region, North America and Europe. With relocation to Antigua, CCB appointed its rst regional Executive Director, Dr. Aubrey Webson, now a Director of Perkins International.
y Dr. Aubre
Webson
Programme Context
From the outset, the Council's Programme emphasis included: Blindness Prevention (since the late nineteen seventies 1970s the CCB has been directly involved in the development and implementation of programmes designed to prevent blindness;
Rehabilitation and Vocational Services for adults who are blind or visually impaired;
Organization Development (Institution Building) for its Member Agencies. Contemporarily, all of these services are being deployed with increasing emphasis on: gender equity and poverty alleviation.
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As the Inter Island Eye Service was implemented, it became clear that the long-term solution was to facilitate the training of indigenous Ophthalmologists for the affected countries. In the early nineteen eighties, the Council (in association with The Royal Commonwealth Society for the Blind, the University of the West Indies and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (Barbados), developed and implemented a Diploma in Ophthalmology for General Practitioners. When the programme concluded, Eye Doctors from the following countries/territories were trained: Belize, Grenada, Guyana, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and The Grenadines and The British Virgin Islands. With the exception of Guyana, the successful candidates served their countries for more than thirty (30) years each.
Launch of Vision 2020: The Right to Sight in the Caribbean Vision 2020:The Right to Sight, is a global partnership involving a number of International Eye Care Agencies, and led bythe World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) with the aim to reduce the main causes of avoidable blindness by the year 2020. The initiative was launched in the Caribbean in July of 2000. For the region, the ve (5) Vision 2020 priority diseases are: Cataract; Glaucoma; Diabetic Retinopathy; Conditions which cause blindness or visual impairment in children;Refractive Error and Low Vision. The rst Regional Strategy for the attainmentof Vision 2020Objectives in the Caribbean wasdeveloped by the Council (with technical assistance from PAHO/WHO). The Strategic Plan for Caribbean ran from 2003 to December 2008.The new Strategy, (2010 2014), which has evolved, is based on new National V2020Plans, as approved by participating countries in the Caribbean
How We Work We believe that persons with blindness or visual impairments are entitled to some basic services and opportunities, wherever they live. Therefore, our entire advocacy seeks to assure the following: Eye Health Services of: good quality, which is available, accessible, affordable, and equitable; Inclusive Education Services which are (at least) on par available to children and adults without blindness or visual impairments; Viable employment; and where employment opportunities are not available, unemployment or pension benets, at or better than the national minimum wage. A safe and physically secure environment. We believe that a number of International Conventions and Initiatives, provide useful impetus to our cause. These include: The Global Initiative to Reduce Avoidable Blindness and Visual Impairment by 2020; The Education-For-All (EFA) Initiative; The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). with education opportunities
About CCB/Eye Care Caribbean Since 1967, CCB has facilitated: Eye Health services to more than one million persons across the Caribbean; helped more than a thousand children with blindness or visual impairment gain access to formal education and provided close to ten thousand adults who are blind, with training in adjustment to blindness techniques. The Caribbean Council for the Blind [CCB], when it was initially established comprised of Societies/Associations of and for the Blind mainly from the English-speaking Caribbean. However, it now includes Societies and Associations from the Francophone Caribbean Haiti, Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guiana. In 1998, the role of CCB was expanded with the establishment of a subsidiary, The Foundation for Eye Care in the Caribbean, [Eye Care Caribbean], Incorporated.
This Agencys mandate includes responsibility for pursuing cost recovery ventures, which, in turn would provide additional resources for expansion and sustainability of Council's Programmes; hence, the appendage, CCB/Eye Care Caribbean. Eye Care Caribbean is currently represented in three (3) countries: Guyana (Eye Care Guyana); Jamaica (Eye Care Jamaica) and St. Lucia (Eye Care St. Lucia). It is anticipated that, over time, Eye Care Caribbean will expand to other countries in the region.