When Systems Change Becomes Real: A Transformative Eye Health Journey in Bangladesh

2030 In Sight calls on us to think and act differently. It isn’t easy to do so and it’s hard to know whether our actions will deliver results. However, I’m excited to share a story that hopefully will inspire others to adopt an innovative approach that will not only address eye health challenges but will unlock opportunities for transformative impact.

Some years ago, it became evident that achieving the SDG agenda required a departure from the traditional top down, hierarchical and linear approaches to implementing change. Instead, the development sector realised we needed innovative and adaptive approaches that engage broad networks of diverse stakeholders to advance progress toward a shared vision for systemic changes. Back in 2020 while undertaking a fellowship at Harvard University, I discovered this approach is called systems leadership.

The following year, the first ever UN resolution on eye health was adopted, positioning eye health as a social, economic and development issue presenting the sector with an opportunity to address deeper and more complex eco-system issues – to focus on redesigning the underlying system rules that give rise to recurring challenges. The resolution called upon us to bring together multi-sectoral stakeholders to build a local and scalable solution. The Fred Hollows Foundation decided to pilot a systems leadership approach in Bangladesh.

A couple of weeks ago I was sent an article from The Fred Hollows Foundation Bangladesh Country Director published in the Daily Star, the largest circulating Bangladeshi English-language newspaper in the country which triggered a mix of emotions – pride, happiness, relief and excitement. Read how the recently held multi-sectoral workshop marks a pivotal moment in accelerating Bangladesh’s journey toward Universal Health Coverage and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by eliminating avoidable blindness and ensuring inclusive, people-centred eye care for all.

After four years of ups and downs and incredible persistence and hard work by our dedicated country teams, Bangladesh has embraced and adopted a systems leadership approach that translates theory into action, establishing locally-owned and locally-led sustainable development to address challenges and unlock opportunities for transformational impact. Hearing that the head of the Ministry of Health is calling for unified leadership from all sectors to ensure no one is left behind in accessing quality eye care is truly inspiring.