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Annual Report 2024

Gulbahar, a 60-year-old woman from Bangladesh, lives alone and supports herself as a maid. When cataracts darkened her world, she sought surgery, but the cost was too high. Fortunately, she heard of our nearby outreach camp and had cataract surgery. It transformed her life. “I can see my world again,” she says. “I’ve been given a second chance.” – Read her full story here.
Download/View Our Full Annual Report 2024
2024 VideoYour Impact 2024Why More Eye Health Care?Where we WorkFinancials

Message from our President & CEO

Going beyond the restoration of eyesight
In my 15 years at Operation Eyesight, I have seen many things. The sight I value most is the moment a person’s eyesight is restored – when a woman, a girl, a man or a boy slips on eyeglasses, removes eye surgery bandages or blinks in eye drops that relieve pain. Their eyes widen and their jaw drops. Some laugh. Some cry. Some do both at the same time.

However, it is what happens next that I most cherish. Immediately, people move beyond the restoration of their eyesight to speak of what they’ll do, who they’ll see and where they’ll go. They share plans for a life transformed – of connection and education, of employment and independence.

Transforming lives is our work. Globally, 1.1 billion people live with vision loss, and 90 per cent is avoidable. Without investment in eye health care, it will be 1.8 billion by 2050.

That is why we are invested, and investing in, eye health care. In 2024, we brought our sight-saving work to more people than ever through year one of our Global Strategy 2024-2028. Building on our 60+ years of experience, we are scaling our sustainable, local eye health care models to address not only vision loss but also its root causes, including poverty, lack of clean water and gender inequality.

We launched our Global Strategy to achieve three goals: expand our reach, build the capacity of our people and raise awareness of eye health-care needs.

The moment we launched, I saw impact. I felt alignment, energy and enthusiasm in our 65 staff, 4,600 frontline workers and scores of partners. Some say it’s ‘start-up’ energy. I say it’s energy from transforming our organization to improve quality of life for as many more people as possible.

Thank you for your support. Thank you for being part of our growing global community. Together, we will eliminate avoidable vision loss and its causes, to transform many more lives, now and in the future – For All The World To See!

With gratitude,
Kashinath “Kash” Bhoosnurmath
President & CEO, Operation Eyesight Universal

Your Impact in 2024

We provide quality eye health care in 10 countries. As needs already exceed our capacity, we are investing in our organization, people and partners to scale our work.

In 2024, we launched our Global Strategy 2024-2028: Going Beyond the Restoration of Eyesight. Click here to learn more about our global goals and to see the progress we made towards these goals in 2024.

Global Strategy metrics show our progress towards our 2028 goals and our 2024 results. Below we share three years of data for context.
We will achieve our global goals through our five programming areas. Click on each programming area below to learn more and to see our 2024 progress in each area.

Why the world needs more eye health care

Globally, 1.1 billion people in the world live with vision loss. By 2050, it will be 1.8 billion unless there is significant investment in eye health care. 

Vision loss is increasing as the global population ages and lifestyle changes – such as more screen time, less outdoor time, and shifts in diet and health – impact people’s eye health. 
Data shows:

The life-long consequences of vision loss can be devastating. Vision loss leads to:  
This map is interactive! Click one of the countries above to learn more and view our impact in each country!

Where We Work

Fortunately, 90 per cent of all vision loss is preventable or treatable. That’s where we come in.
We believe that clear vision and healthy eyes are a right for all, regardless of where people live, their gender, age or ability to pay.

That’s why our teams are on the ground partnering with communities, ministries of health and education, and like-minded organizations to build sustainable eye health care systems that provide eye health care now and in the future – For All The World To See.

Featured Stories

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2024 Financials

In 2024, we hit two notable milestones: we raised a record $9.2M in revenue in Canada and launched our Global Strategy 2024-2028. Our organizational investment appears in our 2024 financials, as it did in 2023. This investment in our growth strategy will continue as we work to expand from 10 to 15 countries and triple our annual revenue from $5.5M (in 2023) to $16M (by 2028) through all fundraising entities including Operation Eyesight Canada.

An instrumental bequest gift  

In 2024, funding for our strategic plan for growth came from a generous legacy gift, left to us in the will of an anonymous donor who cared deeply about the sustainability and impact of our organization. We received a first installment of $2.5 million in 2024, which helped fund investments that are reflected in our 2024 expenditures and will continue to fund our investments in 2025 and beyond. We are incredibly grateful to our anonymous donor for their past and forward-thinking support! 

Investing in our Global Strategy

We are investing in our future through infrastructure and technology, growing our team and expanding our capacity, and increasing awareness about our organization and mission. This investment is both a necessity and part of our strategy to expand our reach to many more underserved regions and communities.

In 2024, we complemented this by leveraging digital ad grant money and no-cost public service announcements, to generate more support for our cause. By raising awareness and introducing a new, user-friendly donation tool on our website, we increased online giving by 25 per cent. This was extremely useful during the Canadian postal strike that spanned November and December, when year-end giving typically brings in more than half of all annual revenue.

We grew our global fundraising team by four, to increase our efforts to replace our donor base across generations and geographies. We also laid the foundation for global revenue growth by investing in IT systems for global donations and staff training.

Multiplying our impact through partnerships

We continue to partner with governments, hospitals and organizations to multiply our impact. In Asia, we leveraged non-financial technical partnerships, whereby partners fund and implement projects while we provide technical support (non-financial assistance). This multiplies our impact at a reduced cost, providing a higher value than program expenditures show.

We also secured a grant of approximately $700,000 CAD from a new funder, Johnson & Johnson, to expand our cataract surgery training program in Kenya in 2025.

Our work would not be possible without the support of our global community. Thank you for your generosity!

A note on international fundraising

As we grow globally, donations will be generated by our associated entities worldwide. Funds donated to Operation Eyesight Canada (a registered Canadian charity) appear in our Canadian financial statements, filed with the CRA and shown here. Funds donated to the charitable entities in the United States or India, for example, do not appear in Canadian financial statements. In 2024, our associated entities in South Asia and Africa raised an additional $237,000 CAD in support of our programs to address avoidable vision loss, and those donations are not included in our 2024 Canadian financial statement.

View our full 2024 Operation Eyesight Canada financial statements here.

Thank you to our donors!

Our work would not be possible without the compassion and support of our global community. We are grateful to all of our donors – including legacy donors, annual donors, major donors, institutional funders and 636 monthly donors – for their incredible generosity. See a list of our donors who gave $5,000 or more in the  full annual report (pages 36 and 37).
  
Thank you to our global community for your ongoing support – For All The World To See! 

List of Donors

Individuals

Agnes E. Hohn
Chitra Ramaswami
Daniel Parlow
Doreen Richards
Elli Streu and in memory of Henry Streu
Emma Patel
Florence E. Robertson
Jim Dawson
Judy Farvolden
Kadambi and Vijaya Sitaram
Karen Booth and Jonathan Huyer
Margaret and Paul O’Connor
Marlene and Alexander Mackenzie
Marty Cutler and Marilyn Minden
Mrs. Suzannah Dobbie
Ray Mowling & Gerlinde Herrmann
Robert James Burns
Robert Ohlson
Sharon Margison
Susan and Severin Hoch
The Ansari-Cook Foundation
The Lawrason Foundation
The P & P Murray Foundation
The Peter Gilgan Foundation

Corporations

Annapolis Capital Limited
Gestion Maurice et Donna Assh Inc
Heathbridge Capital Management Ltd
Johnson & Johnson
Vision Group

Grants and Institutional Partners

Canada Gives
CBM Christian Blind Mission
Maamba Energy Ltd.
NorQuest College
Rotary Club of Calgary at Stampede Park
Sightsavers International

Foundations

Alice Elizabeth Brown Fund at Waterloo Region
Community Foundation
Calgary Foundation
Christine A. Sethi-Van Impe Foundation
Dorothy May Kelly Fund through the Victoria
Foundation
Dr. Charles and Margaret Brown Foundation
Ethan and Joan Compton Sub Fund (Designated) at Calgary Foundation
Frank J. Flaman Foundation
Gulu Thadani Charitable Foundation
Helen Isaac Fund
Ingetraud McGarry Foundation
Jack Brown and Family Alzheimer Research Foundation
Margaret Clementi Fund
Peterborough K. M. Hunter Charitable Foundation
Pinch Family Trust Fund through the Victoria Fund
Ted and Enid Jansen Fund at Calgary Foundation

Estates

Estate of Barbara Eveline Burman
Estate of Cheryl Steinhauer
Estate of David Charles Procter
Estate of Dr. Henry Sawatzky
Estate of Helena Balczewska
Estate of Joanne Anderson
Estate of Jonathan Wyn Jones
Estate of Letitia Anne Gore
Estate of Lorena Grace Saxton
Estate of Lorraine Mary Aldridge
Estate of Robin Edward Dangerfield
Estate of Rosemary Elizabeth Bergin
Estate of Van Cam Nguyen
Estate of Violet M. Marsh

Annual Report 2024 Sources

Please find full citations for sources for external data (data sourced outside of Operation Eyesight) from the footnotes here. 
  1. IAPB Vision Atlas. (2025, May 22). IAPB Vision Atlas. https://visionatlas.iapb.org/
  2. Global economic productivity losses from vision impairment and blindness Marques, Ana Patricia et al. eClinicalMedicine, Volume 35, 100852
  3. Child eye health – IAPB Vision Atlas. (2025, May 22). IAPB Vision Atlas. https://visionatlas.iapb.org/topics/child-eye-health/
  4. The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness. (2024, November 14). New research shows children who don’t get the glasses they need learn half as much as classmates – the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness. https://www.iapb.org/news/new-research-shows-children-who-dont-get-the-glasses-they-need-learn-half-as-much-as-classmates/
  5. The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness
  6. World Health Organization: WHO. (2023, August 10). Blindness and vision impairment. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/blindness-and-visual-impairment
  7. Noncommunicable Diseases, Rehabilitation and Disability  (NCD). (2019, October 8). World report on vision. https://www.who.int/Publications/i/Item/9789241516570
  8. Global data – IAPB Vision Atlas. (2025, May 22). IAPB Vision Atlas. https://visionatlas.iapb.org/global-data/
  9. Causes of sight loss – IAPB Vision Atlas. (2025, May 22). IAPB Vision Atlas. https://visionatlas.iapb.org/topics/causes-of-sight-loss/
  10. Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD). (2024, July 12). WHO Alliance for the Global Elimination of Trachoma: progress report on elimination of trachoma, 2023. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/who-wer9928-363-380#:~:text=WHO%20Reference%20Number%3A%20WER%20No.%2028%2C%202024%2C%2099%2C,district-by-district%20data%20submitted%20to%20WHO%20by%20national%20programmes.
  11. Country Data – Ethiopia – IAPB Vision Atlas. (2025, April 23). IAPB Vision Atlas. https://visionatlas.iapb.org/country-data/ethiopia/
  12. Country Data – Ghana – IAPB Vision Atlas. (2025, April 23). IAPB Vision Atlas. https://visionatlas.iapb.org/country-data/ghana/
  13. Child eye health – IAPB Vision Atlas. (2025, May 22). IAPB Vision Atlas. https://visionatlas.iapb.org/topics/child-eye-health/
  14. Country Data – Kenya – IAPB Vision Atlas. (2025, April 23). IAPB Vision Atlas. https://visionatlas.iapb.org/country-data/kenya/
  15. Country Data – Liberia – IAPB Vision Atlas. (2025, April 23). IAPB Vision Atlas. https://visionatlas.iapb.org/country-data/liberia/
  16. Country Data – Malawi – IAPB Vision Atlas. (2025, April 23). IAPB Vision Atlas. https://visionatlas.iapb.org/country-data/malawi/
  17. Country Data – Zambia – IAPB Vision Atlas. (2025, April 23). IAPB Vision Atlas. https://visionatlas.iapb.org/country-data/zambia/
  18. Country Data – Bangladesh – IAPB Vision Atlas. (2025, April 23). IAPB Vision Atlas. https://visionatlas.iapb.org/country-data/bangladesh/
  19. Country Data – India – IAPB Vision Atlas. (2025, April 23). IAPB Vision Atlas. https://visionatlas.iapb.org/country-data/india/
  20. Country Data – Nepal – IAPB Vision Atlas. (2025, April 23). IAPB Vision Atlas. https://visionatlas.iapb.org/country-data/nepal/
  21. Child eye health – IAPB Vision Atlas. (2025, May 22). IAPB Vision Atlas. https://visionatlas.iapb.org/topics/child-eye-health/
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