DAKAR, Senegal — Diaspora remittances could become one of Africa’s most powerful instruments for financing public health, according to findings from a landmark civil society dialogue held across Thiès and Dakar in Senegal this month.

Co-facilitated by ONE and Senegal’s Civil Society Monitoring and Accountability Committee for Health Financing (CSVA) in March 2026, the two workshops convened 50+ health professionals, local authorities, civil society leaders, and parliamentarians as part of Senegal’s Global Fund Grant Cycle 8 (GC8) consultation process.

The consensus was striking: Senegal is sitting on a vast, underleveraged resource base of diaspora flows, mining royalties, corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds, and domestic resource mobilisation. However, it is held back not by scarcity, but by weak governance, fragmented coordination, and limited transparency in how health funds are tracked and spent.

“The question is no longer whether this resource exists. It is whether we have the political will and institutional infrastructure to mobilise it,” said Gloria Bocco, Policy and Advocacy Officer for Africa at ONE.

ONE also introduced participants to HealthBridge, its mechanism for channeling diaspora remittances into structured health investment, which generated significant interest.

In addition, participants proposed dedicating a share of mining royalties to health, pooling private sector CSR into territorial health funds, and expanding community-based health insurance schemes — all underpinned by calls for stronger health governance and transparency and digital revenue tracking.

The workshops’ findings are being advanced for formal inclusion in Senegal’s national GC8 narrative report, directly informing the country’s Global Fund funding request.

About ONE:

ONE is a global, nonpartisan organization advocating for the investments needed to create economic opportunities and healthier lives in Africa. Since 2004, we have helped secure more than $1 trillion in new investments that build a safer, more prosperous world. Our trusted advocacy combines hard-hitting data, grassroots activism and political engagement to influence decision-makers and drive lasting change.