Essilor’s social impact fund, Vision for Life™, announced a €300,000
financial support scheme to help over 1,800 vulnerable primary vision care
providers, whose livelihoods are at risk due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
These
primary vision care providers are based in five countries – India, Bangladesh,
Indonesia, Cambodia and Kenya – and will each receive a cash assistance sum,
equivalent to one month’s income.
These
primary vision care providers are mainly micro-entrepreneurs trained under
Essilor’s Eye Mitra (friend of the eyes in Hindi) program, first launched in
India in 2013 and subsequently expanded and adapted to different countries
around the world. Today there are over 16,000 primary vision care providers
globally, providing sustainable access to vision care for over 320 million
people.
The
pandemic has seen many countries impose stringent lockdown measures to contain
the spread of the virus, impacting a lot of businesses, including the network
of primary vision care providers. They have been forced to close or operate
under restricted conditions. Even as countries emerge from lockdowns, business
has not returned to normal for these vision care providers. A recent survey
conducted by Essilor found that a number of them do not have enough savings to
sustain prolonged business closures and are the only source of income for their
families.
The cash
assistance sum is equivalent to one month’s income for each primary vision care
provider and will be disbursed to each primary vision care provider with the
help of local NGO partners. Essilor has earlier issued personal protective
equipment, safety tips as well as advisories on the safe handling and usage of
eyeglasses to stem the spread of COVID-19 to its entire network of primary
vision care providers. It is also providing online training, enabling them to
upskill during this period. In addition, the Essilor teams are investigating
relevant support schemes and assistance programs within each country and
helping the vision care providers apply for them.
Click HERE for the full press release.