A young Indian girl with facial deformities is guided to read braille by a special educator

Our impact: 2024-25

Building change, together.

In 2024 we celebrated 30 years of Sense International – three decades of supporting people with deafblindness, delivering sustainable impact, and amplifying voices to realise rights.

We’ve helped more children with deafblindness to access vital healthcare through sensory screening and early intervention programmes, broadened access to inclusive education, and supported adults into training and employment opportunities to build independence and earn an income.

Throughout the year we’ve advocated for rights and access for people with deafblindness and complex disabilities, influencing governments to fund sustainable development and institutions to recognise deafblindness as a distinct disability. Along the way, we’ve worked with some truly incredible changemakers, working to build sustainable change.

Thank you for supporting our work.

Download our full Impact Report 2024/2025

Our incredible teams across the globe have again worked tirelessly to deliver change for people with deafblindness. It is through your continued support that we are able to deliver, and help some of the most marginalised in society. Thank you for joining us in driving this mission.

Thanks from our Chair, Rex Shah

Beryl’s story

A young adult Kenyan woman sits at a table where she sells handcrafted carpets

Throughout her childhood, Beryl suffered a series of illnesses that caused partial loss of both her sight and hearing, leaving her unable to attend school. When she returned, she struggled to learn and keep up with her classmates. Financial constraints meant she was unable to attend secondary school, leaving her future uncertain.

When she was connected with Sense International Kenya, Beryl’s outlook became brighter. She received an investment from the InBusiness programme to found her own stall selling matts, enabling her to buy materials for her work.

A young adult Kenyan woman wearing a white t shirt is handed a white can by a man with albinism wearing a cream suit

Through the programme, Beryl received training on financial management and sales and marketing, learning to price her goods well and reinvest profit back into her growing carpet business. By founding her business, she has been able to achieve financial independence – once unthinkable as a woman with deafblindness. Proud of her ability to serve her community, she is well-respected by her customers, helping to change limiting perceptions of people with complex disabilities.

Our InBusiness programme has run in partnership with the Inclusive Futures consortium with funding from Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).

“When Sense International took me in, they gave me some money and I started my business.

I started small, we began by selling just about four items. But right now, the stall is fully stocked. I have many customers. My hope for the future is to expand this business so it grows.”
Beryl, supported by Sense International Kenya’s InBusiness programme

Learn more about our impact throughout the year.

Our year in numbers

56,000

children screened for deafblindness

6,000

children supported into education

1,600

adults connected with opportunities to earn.

Our impact

Over 17,000 people

trained, including carers,
educators, and policymakers,
to understand and support
people with deafblindness.

We launched the Global Deafblindness Resource Hub

featuring over 240
resources across seven
languages

We contributed to the ‘Six Principles’

Under the Inclusive Futures
consortium, embedding
disability inclusive practises across
international development.

Together with over 70 parents

Sense International Romania
published a guide for parents
of children with deafblindness
and sensory impairments.

Sense International Kenya

won the Zero Project award
for their InBusiness
programme supporting
micro-entrepreneurs with
deafblindness. Over 60% of
businesses report more than
doubling their growth.

Sense International India

contributed to the civil
society report on accessibility,
commissioned by the
Supreme Court of India.
More than 117 people with
deafblindness participated.