HelpMeSee was recently granted Special Consultative Status as an official non-governmental organization at the United Nations. The decision was made by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) at its Coordination and Management meeting in July 2015, where the committee reviewed a number of NGO’s that had been recommended for the status in previous meetings. This status is highly selective and HelpMeSee is pleased to begin actively participating within the United Nations community.

Special Consultative Status at the United Nations allows non-governmental organizations to attend official ECOSOC meetings, as well as to submit written and oral statements during meetings. HelpMeSee will take full advantage of this opportunity by participating, and playing a leading role in dialogue and events related to healthcare financing, blindness and cataract blindness, quality assurance, and women’s empowerment. During these meetings, HelpMeSee representatives will have the opportunity to speak in front of global delegations regarding these topics and recommend HelpMeSee’s plan of action to combat these issues. We look forward to meeting with official government delegates from our expansion countries in order to discuss ways to improve HelpMeSee’s efforts in their countries and request their support for our global campaign.

About HelpMeSee

HelpMeSee is a global campaign to eliminate cataract blindness, the leading cause of blindness worldwide. Along with a smartphone-based patient mobilization app, HelpMeSee has developed a virtual reality MSICS training simulator that will be used to train cataract specialists as well as a pre-sterilized surgical kit to deliver safe care in remote areas. To date, the campaign has delivered over 200,000 sight-restoring surgeries to patients in India, Nepal, China, Peru, Vietnam, Togo, Sierra Leone, and Madagascar.