Addressing public debt sustainability, including solvency challenges, is a prime driver of macroeconomic stability and growth. While debt financing is not the sole engine of financing in the context of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) on financing for development, and it should not be the sole engine of financing, it remains as one of the key sources of fiscal space and financing the SDGs. Unfortunately, the decisions leading to debt finance are often not well strategized regarding the choice of debt instruments, different ways of debt financing and terms and conditions that can affect contingency obligations and debt sustainability in the future. The LDCs and MICs being often at the receiving end of negotiations, and without having adequate tools to inform their decisions, continue to face greater risks of potentially unsustainable debt service in parallel with their financing needs for meeting the SDGs. Against this background, ESCWA is embarking on a project titled “Sustainable Debt Financing Strategies to Enhance Fiscal Space, Provide Financing for the SDGs and Address the Repercussions of COVID-19 in the Arab Region” to support and provide technical assistance to member States in the region in improving their capacity toward more effective debt management practices including improving debt transparency and reporting, better understanding mechanisms of debt relief and reduction, debt instruments, their risks and linkages to meeting contingencies and debt sustainability in the medium and long term. The main expected results of the project would be improved capacity of policymakers to better understand debt statistics, debt instruments and their risks, which can inform their decisions to establish medium to long term strategy on debt finance toward improving fiscal space and financing for the SDGs. The result will be demonstrated by evidence from a sample of pilot countries efforts on debt management strategies with use of the tools developed by the project. The project’s success will rely upon ongoing research and publications of ESCWA on debt and financing and in partnership with UNCTAD. The project will also reach out to other external agencies such as World Bank and IMF during regional workshops/expert group meetings.