LIGHT FOR THE WORLD expands its European Network

Directors: Prof. Martin Filipec, Peter Rettinger, Staf Nietvelt

Covenant on cooperation with the Belgian aid organisation CBM-B facilitates a notable increase of project work in support of the blind, of persons with ophthalmic illnesses and of disabled persons in developing countries.

After the formation of the Czech affiliated organisation SVETLO PRO SVET in 2007 the Austrian specialised organisation LICHT FÜR DIE WELT now expands its network to include a Belgian partner organisation. The respective covenant on the future cooperation was agreed upon with the Belgian organisation CBM-B on Wednesday, September 3rd 2008. It was signed by representatives of all three organisations. As of January 1st 2009 LICHT FÜR DIE WELT thus is firmly rooted in three European countries: Austria, the Czech Republic and Belgium.

This cooperation brings about that the current project work with its focus on Ethiopia, Mozambique, Burkina Faso and South Sudan can in the medium-term be expanded significantly.

The new partner CBM-B brings its key activities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania and Rwanda into the partnership. CBM-B also brings with it extensive professional expertise in the field of rehabilitation work with hearing impaired and blind persons as well as with persons affected by ophthalmic illnesses. Shared quality standards and coordinated strategies are to augment - on both a European as well as an international level - the effectiveness of measures taken in the fields of prevention of blindness, rehabilitation of disabled persons and furtherance of disabled person’s rights in developing countries.

The network operates internationally and in the partner countries under the name LIGHT FOR THE WORLD. In Europe the association operates under its name translated into the respective country’s national language: LICHT FÜR DIE WELT, SVETLO PRO SVET, LICHT VOOR DE WERELD and LUMIÈRE POUR LE MONDE.