Systems Leadership for Eye Health: Africa Workshop Highlights

On 19 August 2025, a Systems Leadership for Eye Health workshop was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The session brought together participants from across the sector to explore how systems thinking can be applied to the challenges facing eye health, particularly in resource-constrained and complex environments.

The workshop opened with an introduction to systems thinking and the distinction between complicated and complex problems. This framing helped participants reflect on how many of the issues in eye health such as workforce shortages, financing gaps, fragmented data, and limited community engagement are not problems with straightforward solutions.

Using the Systemcraft Action Cycle as a practical framework, participants worked in groups to map out key issues across four thematic areas: workforce and service delivery, financing and supply chains, governance and data, and community engagement. Tools such as Rich Pictures and group canvases were used to capture perspectives and demonstrate how different parts of the system interact with one another.

The session also focused on the five dimensions of systems leadership, encouraging participants to think about how leadership approaches can shape collaboration, influence policy, and strengthen delivery. Building on this, participants identified SMART actions to take forward over the next six months, ensuring that the discussion moved from theory into practice.

A major outcome of the workshop was agreement to establish a Community of Practice (CoP). This platform will allow participants to continue sharing experiences, exchanging resources, and supporting one another in applying systems approaches

to eye health. The CoP is intended to sustain momentum beyond the workshop and provide a space for peer learning.

The workshop demonstrated the potential of systems leadership to help the eye health community think differently, act collectively, and design more effective responses to the complex challenges it faces. The establishment of the Community of Practice marks an important step in building a stronger, more connected community of eye health leaders.