In 2003, Standard Chartered Bank launched the Seeing is Believing program—which seeks to help alleviate avoidable blindness across the globe—as one of its major global CSR programs. Today, there are more than 45 million blind people in the world and the vast majority live in developing countries. Tragically, it is estimated that 80 percent of these people are needlessly blind, often because they do not have access to basic healthcare treatment.

From 2005 to 2008, JCIE worked with Standard Chartered Bank to facilitate the Seeing is Believing program in Japan. The program’s objective was to raise $7.5 million in Japan, which would assist in restoring sight to 1 million people. In its facilitation role, JCIE managed the donations from Japan to the program, which supports the work of international eye health organizations such as Vision 2020 and Sightsavers International.