Publication
Title
An assessment of debt-for-education swaps: case studies on swap initiatives between Germany and Indonesia and between Spain and El Salvador
Author
Abstract
A decade has passed since participants in the World Education Forum committed themselves to achieve, by 2015, the six Education for All (EFA) goals under the Dakar Framework for Action. Despite significant progress, some of the goals are likely to be missed by a large margin. Besides the absence of a well co-ordinated multi-donor approach in education, another major problem is the lack of funds: the EFA financing gap in low-income countries is now estimated at around $16 billion annually. This article zooms in on debt swaps as one particular instrument of innovative financing. More specifically it assesses the macro-economic impacts of debt-for-education swaps and their relation to the aid approach now advocated by the donor community. It does so on the basis of theoretical insights from debt relief and case studies on recent swap initiatives between Germany and Indonesia and between Spain and El Salvador. Our conclusions are mixed. On the one hand, typical debt swaps suffer from macro-economic flaws and, in view of competition amongst sectors, have limited potential in narrowing the EFA deficit. On the other hand, our case studies suggest that debt-for-education swaps can be engineered to better comply with the needs of recipient ownership and could in the future address deserving niche problems.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Comparative education. - Oxford
Publication
Oxford : 2011
ISSN
0305-0068
DOI
10.1080/00263206.2011.553931
Volume/pages
47 :2 (2011) , p. 139-156
ISI
000291640100002
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 16.06.2011
Last edited 04.03.2024
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