Overall Aim  To support Irish Aid’s mission in reducing poverty Key Objectives  To facilitate the establishment of collaborative N/S partnerships  To support the realisation of strategic pro-poor policy objectives  To support N/S capacity development – not just a S issue Key Partnership & Poverty focus PSC – Aims & Objectives

International partnerships in policy relevant research – aligning academic programmes & research interests with government policy & objectives Enhanced teaching & learning in participating institutions – novel & innovative approaches e.g. ICT Establishment of cross-institutional networks – facilitating communication, knowledge exchange and advocacy Development of specialist knowledge & expertise Increased public awareness and critical engagement in development cooperation PSC – Expected Outputs

Collaboration between the Higher Education Sector, NGO’s, Private Sector & Local Government has the potential to become a key organ for: Overall development of educational systems Strengthening governance, Research generation and knowledge development, Creating space for independent analysis of development issues to address public sector needs. Role of Collaborative Partnerships

In funding this initiative, Irish Aid provide formal recognition that poor vision is: an indicator of vulnerability, a constraint to sustainable livelihood development and education and more generally implicated in health and poverty complexes. This represents a significant broadening of Irish Aid’s development agenda for Mozambique. So what about “Blindness”?

Aligning eye health with health Aligning eye health with poverty alleviation Vision 2020 more than the “Right to Sight”, it’s about the “Right to education, to employment, to social inclusion, ultimately its also about the “Right to Life” Blindness & Poverty – A lethal combination (Holden, 2007) 50-60% of children die within 1-2 years of becoming blind (Gooding, 2006) Life expectancy for blind poor people is years less than sighted poor (Gooding, 2006) Out of the “Blindness Box”

Multi-Level Collaboration Mozambique Eyecare Programme Research Collaboration DIT UU UKZN ICEE AVRI Funding Collaboration Irish Aid ICEE DIT Policy Development Irish Aid ICEE DIT MECC MISAU Strategic Collaboration Irish Aid Universities Ireland Council Irish African Partnership Inter-Departmental Collaboration Optometry ICT Social Sciences Mathematics & BioStatistics Economics

Coalition of  All Eyecare NGO’s active in Mozambique  MISAU Sharing of resources Coordination of “National” Activities Strategic Planning (National Eyecare Plan) Mozambique Eyecare Coalition

The MEP continues to: initiate collaborative research enhance teaching and learning across institutions establish a flourishing cross-institutional network generate specialist knowledge, research expertise, increased awareness and critical engagement in development cooperation.

Policy, Planning & Implementation all need to be underpinned by focused, needs-driven research Collective team of expertise greater than the sum of individual parties Lateral and creative thinking to source funding, create “logical” synergies, explore new and “uncomfortable” avenues, ultimately to get out of the “blindness box” Conclusion