THE MYANMAR INITIATIVE

Vision Alliance is a network of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI) and the World Blind Union (WBU). In September 2012, a team of International Non-Governmental Development Organisations (INGDOs) visited Myanmar under the banner of Vision Alliance and had detailed discussions with the Myanmar National Association of the Blind (MNAB) about services for persons with visual impairment and the team brought out a detailed report on the potential areas of collaboration with the MNAB. We are glad that the Nippon Foundation, in partnership with the ICEVI, has already initiated the promotion of higher education for children with visual impairment in Myanmar. The Danish Association of the Blind (DAB) has entered into partnership with the MNAB for capacity building and professional development activities. We are hopeful that more international organizations will develop need-based services focusing on education, employment, empowerment and prevention in Myanmar in the years to come. The Vision Alliance has come out with the recommendation that the websites of ICEVI, WBU and IAPB should post news pertaining to Myanmar for the benefit of all member organizations. The sharing of information about Myanmar through this section will also reveal what types of activities are undertaken by the member organizations so that duplication of activities can be minimized to optimize the utilization of services and resources. Subsequently ICEVI has written to all organizations to post information regarding their work in Myanmar on this section, which will be updated by ICEVI on regular basis.

The INGDOs can send any relevant information on Myanmar to [email protected] which will be reviewed and then posted on the ICEVI website.

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