GLN Domestic Resource Mobilisation Webinar VI | Leveraging Debt Swaps to Finance Women’s, Children’s, and Adolescents’ Health

28 April 2026 17:00 – 18:30 EAT
United Nations Ave, Westlands, Kenya

Date and time: 28 April 2026, 17:00-18:30 hrs EAT

Duration: 90 minutes

Platform: Hybrid- In-person at the World Health Regional Summit and online (Zoom)

Organizer: Global Leaders Network, The Global Fund, and The Gates Foundation


Introduction

In many developing countries, there is an urgent need to raise resources for the health sector to accelerate progress toward Universal Health Coverage and the Achievement of Women’s, Children’s, and Adolescents’ Health (WCAH) outcomes. At the same time, debt burdens and debt servicing are placing significant pressure on national budgets. Debt levels have doubled since 2009, and in some context,  interest payments have outpaced expenditure on health and other social services (Afreximbank, 2024; One Data, 2025). This trend has direct implications for the ability to finance the health sector.  

High debt burdens may limit governments’ ability to increase fiscal space, restricting investments in essential health services, the health workforce, essential commodities, and the resources needed to strengthen primary health care. Meanwhile, global shifts in developmental assistance for health—marked by a rapid shift in external funding—require countries to increasingly find sustainable and predictable ways to finance health and strengthen their own health sovereignty.  

In this context, efforts to address debt challenges have emerged as a critical topic, and debt relief a policy instrument that may be necessary to unlock fiscal space and redirect resources toward social sectors. However, translating debt relief into increased health spending is neither automatic nor guaranteed. It depends on public financial management, country prioritization, and accountability mechanisms. 

Within the health space and a complement to overall efforts to strengthen health financing, debt swaps have re-emerged as one potential solution that can channel debt relief into meaningful, tangible health sector investments. Through debt for health, a portion of debt service is redirected into domestically managed or jointly governed funds that finance targeted health interventions. Debt swaps may also offer a direct and accountable mechanism by linking debt restructuring to predefined investments in priority sectors such as WCAH. 

The Global Fund has a worldwide track record in debt conversations, offering critical lessons learned on converting existing sovereign debt into tangible health investments. To date, the Global Fund has used debt for health swaps in 11 debtor countries,  converting close to US$500 million of bilateral debt into US$330 million in health funding.  

This webinar will examine how debt swaps can be strategically leveraged as a DRM pathway to increase and sustain investments in WCAH. It will highlight the potential role of debt swaps as part of more comprehensive efforts to finance the health sector, including improving public financial management, increased health sector prioritization, and more efficiency in existing spending. It will focus on bridging the gap between macro-fiscal processes and health financing outcomes, the role of key stakeholders—including Ministries of Finance, Ministries of Health, regional institutions, and global partners—in negotiating and implementing debt swaps and the role of civil society organizations (CSOs) in advocating for transparency, accountability, and alignment of fiscal gains with health priorities. 

By drawing on country experiences and global advocacy processes, the session will also provide practical insights into how countries can integrate WCAH priorities into debt discussions and ensure that the emerging conversation on debt swaps contributes to sustainable and equitable health financing outcomes.

Event Objectives 

The webinar will address the following objectives

  1. Explore strategies to leverage debt swaps and broader debt-relief mechanisms as DRM tools for WCAH.

  2. Showcase successful country experiences and innovations where debt swaps have been used to increase fiscal space and finance WCAH.

  3. Identify practical approaches for integrating WCAH into debt negotiations.

  4. To identify common pitfalls and propose strategies to mitigate risks in the design and implementation of debt swaps.

  5. Facilitate multi-stakeholder collaboration for effective debt relief advocacy and implementation.