Our work

The Vision Catalyst Fund is entering its next phase: mobilising catalytic capital to help governments finance eye health at scale.

Across many low- and middle-income countries, eye health remains underfunded, despite being one of the most common reasons people seek care. The solutions are known, but the financing is not yet aligned with the scale of the need.

VCF is working to change this by supporting a new financing model for eye health. The model brings together donor capital, government ownership, technical expertise and rigorous accountability, helping countries integrate eye care into national health systems, budgets and delivery plans.

Rather than funding isolated projects alone, VCF is focused on unlocking larger-scale, government-led investment. Early philanthropic funding can help countries scope opportunities, develop investable plans, access wider public financing, and build the systems needed to deliver eye health sustainably.

This work is designed to support demonstration countries first, proving how catalytic capital can be used to strengthen national systems, unlock additional financing, and generate measurable returns in health, education, employment and economic growth.

Since our launch in 2020, VCF has supported programmes across 18 countries, built a strong global network of partners, engaged technical advisors, developed innovative financing models, and helped facilitate the distribution of millions of glasses and lenses through EssilorLuxottica.

This experience now informs our next phase: helping eye health move from fragmented programme funding into long-term national investment.

Our financing model

VCF’s work is built around a simple idea: small amounts of catalytic capital can unlock much larger, longer-term investment when aligned with government priorities and national systems.

Our model supports countries to integrate eye health into national health plans and budgets, strengthen coordination between health and finance decision-makers, use donor capital to unlock wider public and development financing, fund technical support, research and planning for priority countries, build delivery partnerships that can scale through existing health systems, and measure the social and economic returns of investing in sight.

This approach helps move eye health away from short-term, fragmented funding and towards sustainable public investment.

Demonstration countries

The next phase of VCF’s work will focus on a small number of demonstration countries.

These countries will be supported to identify where eye health can be integrated into existing health and development priorities, such as primary care, ageing, non-communicable diseases, education and workforce productivity.

The aim is to prove that catalytic funding can unlock larger-scale investment, strengthen government commitments, and create a practical pathway for sustained eye care delivery.

Learning from the first demonstration countries will help build a pipeline of future countries and partners.

What success looks like

Success means eye health becoming part of the way countries plan, finance and deliver health care.

In the medium term, this means demonstration programmes underway, technical support in place, additional financing unlocked, and stronger commitments from national decision-makers.

In the long term, it means eye health receiving a greater share of national health investment, with governments able to deliver sustainable services that improve wellbeing, productivity and economic participation.

VCF’s role is to mobilise the capital, partnerships and evidence needed to make that shift possible.

What we have learned from innovative finance

VCF has tested and developed innovative financing approaches that can attract new forms of capital into eye health.

This includes work on a Social Impact Guarantee with Tri-Sector Associates, exploring how risk-sharing mechanisms could support eye health programmes in South East Asia. A Social Impact Guarantee operates like an insurance model, where outcome funders can be partially protected if agreed results are not achieved.

This work has helped VCF build practical experience in designing financing models that connect donor capital, government priorities, technical delivery and measurable outcomes.

As VCF moves into its next phase, these lessons are informing our broader focus on catalytic finance: using early-stage capital to unlock larger-scale investment, strengthen national systems and support sustainable public financing for eye health.

  • (1) Photo courtesy of EssilorLuxottica.

    (2) Photo courtesy of EssilorLuxottica.

    (3) Photo courtesy of Clinton Health Access Initiative Cambodia

    4) Photo courtesy of EssilorLuxottica.