Riyadh (UNA) – The World Health Organization and the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade announced the launch of a new Islamic finance alliance for global health.
This came during the high-level roundtable meeting on promoting investment in global health through Islamic finance, which was held in Riyadh on Monday, December 15, with senior leaders from all sectors of Islamic finance, development and global health.
The coalition aims to promote cooperation between governments, multilateral institutions, financial actors, philanthropic organizations, and technical partners to expand the use of Islamic finance tools to support primary health care, universal health coverage, and the Sustainable Development Goals. Membership in the coalition is voluntary, and interested institutions will be invited to join as the initiative develops.
The roundtable meeting was attended by ministers, senior officials and leaders of institutions from the Organization of the Islamic Conference and African member states, along with partners from multilateral development banks, philanthropic organizations and the private sector.
The participants explored the practical opportunities to mobilize moral capital through instruments such as zakat, endowments, charity, khums, sukuk, and takaful, and discussed their application to strengthening health systems and providing pro-poor health services and interventions.
The World Health Organization and the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade affirmed that Islamic finance—guided by the principles of equity, solidarity, justice, and shared responsibility—offers a powerful yet untapped avenue for expanding sustainable health financing. Recognizing the rapid growth of Islamic finance and the significant untapped potential of social finance flows such as zakat and waqf, the partners emphasized the opportunity to channel new and predictable resources toward addressing public health priorities.
The alliance will support countries and institutions in their efforts to achieve:
- Identifying successful models for engaging Islamic finance in the health sector, and expanding the scope of those models;
- Facilitating access to technical expertise, analytical tools, and policy guidance;
- To promote learning and joint cooperation at the regional level among member states;
- Encouraging partnerships between public and private sector actors and charitable organizations;
- Mobilizing innovative Islamic finance for primary healthcare and strengthening health systems.
Dr. Hanan Hassan Balkhi, Regional Director of the World Health Organization for the Eastern Mediterranean Region, noted that Islamic finance “is one of the promising avenues for mobilizing sustainable resources on a large scale from an ethical standpoint, particularly for countries facing persistent health funding shortfalls.”
Dr. Latifa Bouabdellaoui, Director General of the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade, highlighted the importance of cooperation across the OIC region to “translate values-aligned finance into tangible improvements in health outcomes for the most vulnerable communities.”
The coalition will begin preparatory consultations in early 2026. Governments, institutions and stakeholders interested in contributing to the development of the coalition will receive further information from the World Health Organization and the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade in the coming months.
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