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The eighth PAGE-DCO Dialogue, convened on 19 November 2025 in Addis Ababa, framed debt management as a multidimensional challenge intrinsically tied to fiscal planning, governance, and social inclusion. Participants, including international experts, UNRCO economists, and PAGE country teams, emphasized that sustainable debt management is not about how much a country owes, but about how debt and public resources are used to build resilience, expand equitableopportunities, and drive long-term sustainable development.
UNRCO economists played a pivotal role, bringing practical evidence and policy insights that demonstrate how integrating gender, climate action, and competitiveness into fiscal frameworks is feasible and essential. Strengthening governance, enhancing transparency, and coordinating across sectors emerged as critical enablers for countries navigating debt pressures alongside the imperative for low-carbon, inclusive growth.
Discussions underscored that rising debt pressures are a symptom of deeper structural challenges. Tight fiscal space, fragile revenue systems, climate shocks, and declining development assistanceare combining to make it difficult for countries to balance recovery and long-term reform.
Keynote speaker, Attiya Waris, UN Independent Expert on Debt and Human Rights, highlighted that most climate finance comes in the form of loans rather than grants (71% vis-à-vis 29%), exacerbating debt burdens for vulnerable economies. Delivering climate finance as grants and using mechanisms such as debt-for-climate swaps and solidarity levies could alleviate fiscal stress. Combating illicit financial flows remains essential to preserving national fiscal space.
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