2007

Eye care and optical attention to the Sahrawi population: consultation, surgery, prevention and training

The context

For more than 30 years much of the Saharawi people has been living in the refugees camps in Tindouf (South of Algeria). This exile arises from the unfinished situation generated after the decolonization process of Spain with the territory of the Sahara (1976), when due to the signing of the so-called tripartite Treaty of Madrid, the occupation of the territory of Western Sahara by Morocco and Mauritania was held.

Fleeing of the occupation, the Saharan population -about 160,000 people- is forced to leave their homes in its territory and settled temporarily in the Hamada, an inhospitable desert located in the Algerian region of Tindouf. Since then, they live in tents and precarious constructions in some refugee camps where the weather conditions are extremely harsh.

In order to resist, the refugees have self-organized in the so-called Arab Sahrawi Democratic Republic (Sadr), which has a precarious structure of Parliament and Government of the Organization of the community to deal with the needs of the population. The international community is working with humanitarian aid, although this does not cover all the needs. This has been generated broad international support in favour of a just cause, resolution that is being delayed incomprehensibly.

The project to evaluate

The project started at the end of 2001 by Ulls del Món intends to consolidate the medical-surgical line (consultation, intervention, follow-up and control of the patients, sick bridge,...) in the camps of Sahrawi refugees, and to continue the work in other recent actions. Currently, one of the main objectives is the consolidation of a program of prevention of eye diseases, the consolidation of the strategic line of Pediatric eye care, as well as the training of health personnel linked to the project.

Also, the project maintains the strategic line of support to the Ophthalmology Department of the Sadr through the training of health personnel, the provision of equipment and materials consultations and of the optics workshops, ophthalmological surgery and diagnostic equipment, as well as the donation of essential medical equipment to ensure the best medical and surgical results.

The objective of this assessment is, on the one hand, rating the task carried out from 2001 to 2007, to see the degree of achievement of the initial objectives and analyse the implementation of the project, and, on the other hand, formulate recommendations for the development of future projects.