International Agency For The Prevention of Blindness - History

History

In the early 1980s, a group of Non-Governmental Development Organisations (NGDO) involved in eye care began to meet informally, as the "Partnership Committee". This group met annually to exchange information, and discuss priorities in the prevention of blindness and eye care, as well as, education and rehabilitation of blind, and visually impaired people.

In order to formalise a collaboration between the International NGDO community and WHO/PBL, the Consultative Group was formed, an elected body of 10 NGDOs from the Partnership Committee. The Consultative Group met every two years with WHO/PBL, from 1986 to 1994. This body made important contributions to strategies for preventing blindness, but it was limited in what it could achieve due to a lack of designated funding.

In 1994, at the Fifth IAPB General Assembly in Berlin, the Consultative Group was replaced by a "Task Force for Prevention of Blindness". The founder members were CBM International, and Sight Savers International, who were soon joined by Helen Keller International, and Orbis International. During the period 1996 to 1998, through a series of consultations between the Programme Advisory Group (PAG) of WHO, the Partnership Committee, and the Task Force, the document, "Global Initiative for the Elimination of Avoidable Blindness", was developed and adopted. The document sets out priorities and strategies to eliminate avoidable blindness.