Our work

The VCF is currently supporting programmes in 18 lower and middle-income countries. We are ready to build and fund more programmes and to scale sources of alternative finance.

Since our inception in 2020, we have cultivated a strong network of partners, relationships within and outside the sector, the support of exceptional technical advisors and the process for deploying the commitment of glasses and lenses from EssilorLuxottica. Details of some of our key initiatives are provided below.

We will continue to build on this work in a number of ways. We will be growing the scale and pace of the glasses and lens donations. We will increase the number of programmes we fund and create as our alternative finance investments grow.  We will continue to support and participate in programmes that bring eye health into interventions focused on other issue areas, such as education, road safety and livelihoods.

Eye Health Accelerator Bond and Grants

The VCF has collaborated with P1 Capital, a UK based investment firm, to develop an Eye Health Accelerator Bond. This simple financial product empowers an investor to deploy at least 4% of their 8% return from a bond towards eye health programmes through the VCF. Using a bond that is already listed, we repurposed one of P1’s existing products to create a financial vehicle to unlock millions of new capital for vision.

Grants ranging from £15,000 to £200,000 will be provided, with a specific focus on programmes that align with our ambitious goal of expanding access to vision in lower and middle-income countries. The VCF aims to offer more and larger grants as investment in the bond grows in the coming year.

Social Impact Guarantee

The VCF has worked with Tri-Sector Associates to undertake a feasibility study to pilot a new financial instrument, a Social Impact Guarantee funding eye health programmes in South East Asia. First developed in Singapore by Tri-Sector, a Social Impact Guarantee operates like an insurance scheme, whereby donors pay a premium to a Guarantor so that their investment is refunded should outcomes not be achieved. The Guarantor benefits by pooling the risk-premiums from multiple successful projects to fund additional social impact work. The VCF’s work with Tri-Sector was made possible by Santen Pharmaceuticals and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

With support from UBS Optimus Foundation, the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office via Levoca’s Outcomes Accelerator, the VCF will be piloting the Social Impact Guarantee to fund a system change school eye health programme in Vietnam. The intervention will work to strengthen the rollout of the Vietnamese Government's National School Eye Care guidelines. We are in the process of engaging Guarantors and Upfront Investors for this initiative. Funder engagement will be followed by a co-creation process involving implementing partners and the Government of Vietnam. Once launched, the VCF aims to promptly start work to launch Social Impact Guarantees in additional countries, including Bangladesh, Nepal and Cambodia. To learn more please get in touch with us.

Project Expand

The Vision Catalyst Fund is providing a grant of US$1.4 million over three years for Project Expand, an initiative of the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) in Cambodia to improve access to non-communicable disease care, including eye health. The Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) has made a significant commitment to dramatically increase access to NCD services through investments from a pooled donor and government funding mechanism, HEQIP-2 (Health Equity and Quality Improvement Project II). This funding provides an incredible opportunity to rapidly expand service availability for Cambodians, upskilling health centres and community workers in screening for NCDs and eye conditions and referring patients for appropriate care. CHAI will provide technical assistance at the national level and through more intensive support to a learning province. The programme will result in the increased accessibility, availability, and affordability of NCDs services and treatments for people who need it most.

Lens partnerships

OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation, as part of its ongoing commitment to eye health, aims to donate 200 million pairs of lenses to partners and programmes working to eliminate poor vision through the Vision Catalyst Fund. The OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation is also providing technical guidance, supply chain assistance and in-country networks to help deliver the VCF’s mission and vision.

Through this partnership, more than 2 million pairs of lenses and reading glasses have been granted in nearly 20 countries across Asia, Africa and South America. We are currently developing further partnerships for this invitation only programme.

  • (1) Photo courtesy of EssilorLuxottica.

    (2) Photo courtesy of EssilorLuxottica.

    (3) Photo courtesy of Clinton Health Access Initiative Cambodia

    4) Photo courtesy of EssilorLuxottica.