On 1 January 2021, Clearly, the charity founded in 2016 by James Chen to raise the profile of vision among world leaders, will merge into the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB).
The move is designed to combine the two organisations’ advocacy and campaigning expertise, bring renewed pressure on global actors and governments to end the vision crisis, and begin “the next exciting phase in the battle to deliver vision for everyone’.
For more than two decades, IAPB jointly led the global initiative Vision 2020: the Right to Sight with the World Health Organisation, increasing the global profile of vision and avoidable blindness. It has a network of more than 150 members working in international eye health and leading global advocacy body for the sight sector.
James Chen will become a global ambassador for IAPB following the merger. He said: “IAPB have long been a leader in the vision sector. I am delighted that we will be able to combine their unprecedented authority and reach within the sector with our ground-breaking campaigning work – particularly on school eye health, work-based sight tests and the links between vision and delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals. This merger brings us a step further to my dream of helping the whole world see clearly.”
Peter Holland, CEO of the IAPB, commented: “This is a hugely important development for the sector and comes at a time when poor vision is rising across the world. Clearly has made massive strides forward in waking up the world to the scale of the vision crisis. This merger will provide the IAPB with renewed vigour and expertise in effective campaigning. It will enable us to make the case even more effectively about the urgency and value for money of tackling the global vision crisis.”
Dr Caroline Harper, CEO of Sightsavers, welcomed the merger saying: “Momentum is building for more concerted action by governments and international organisations -–including both international NGOs and private sector organisations – on ensuring that everyone has the best vision they possibly can. It is now widely accepted that this issue affects billions of people, limiting human potential and damaging prosperity.
“This merger will give the IAPB, the network organisation to which we all belong, an invigorated approach to campaigning on the issue and could not come at a more important moment.”