摘要：As an innovative financial mechanism to explore additional funds for social development programs in developing countries, debt swaps for development, including debt-for-education swaps, became popular between the 1980s and 2000s. Their popularity, however, seems to have diminished since the beginning of the 2010s. This article describes debt swaps for development with a focus on debt-foreducation swaps, explaining how they became popular, examining why they have lost momentum, and exploring whether debt-for-education swaps are a feasible option for funding social development programs. Despite recent economic recovery and growth worldwide, one of the key obstacles for achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 4—to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all—remains inefficient funding for education programs in developing countries. Based on the findings, this article argues for the feasibility of debt-for-education swaps to seek funding with a number of conditions.
关键词：debt swaps ; social development ; financial mechanism ; education
