Renewable energy in Slovakia: problems and prospects

Lenka Dojčanová*                                                        Русский/Russian

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia -  1 October, 2012 - Membership in the European Union has meant that Slovakia and other Central European states must align their national energy policies with EU directives and regulations. Many of these are captured by the Europe 2020 programme, according to which the EU is to increase the share of renewables in final energy consumption to 20 percent by 2020.

Drought in Russia and Kazakhstan

What will be the impact on poor households in grain importing countries in Central Asia?
 

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia – 10 September 2012 – The droughts this year have made many farmers lose their crop, especially in the main grain producing and exporting countries of the world, such as the United States, Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. The multiple severe droughts that are being felt around the globe will affect everyone as the world’s biggest exporters of wheat, barley, corn and other staple crops will face much lower than average yields this harvest.

Experience from the 2010 drought in Russia and Kazakhstan shows that when droughts and other natural disasters hit grain exporting countries, the overall quantity of grain available for export declines due to a decrease in production and in some cases to the introduction of exports bans. In 2010, both factors increased world grain prices and negatively affected poor grain importing countries.

Empowering Roma communities in Hungary

Marta Marczis*

BUDAPEST, Hungary - 31 August, 2012 - One of the biggest obstacles to the inclusion of disadvantaged Roma Communities in local development is not only that are they excluded from  development processes, but also that they are difficult to access using standard development tools. 

Roma inclusion in Albania

Entela Lako, Eno Ngjela

TIRANA, Albania – 2 August, 2012 – Roma and Egyptian communities in Albania live on the margins of poverty due to long-standing and two-fold social exclusion.

Roma inclusion: Who will do the work?

*Angéla Kóczé                                                             Русский/Russian

Will this young girl remain with her community? By offering high salaries, international NGOs attract the brightest Roma, but diminish the pool of local leaders. 

BUDAPEST, Hungary – 16 July, 2012 – Before the European Union (EU) enlargement to include certain Central and Eastern European countries many presumed that the institutionalization of Roma political activism over the last two decades had created solid civil society structures to push forward the issue of Roma inclusion.

Roma integration and special schools in Slovakia

Christian Brüggemann* and Daniel Škobla

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia – 29 June, 2012 – Since the late 1970s, the European Parliament and the Council of Europe have stressed the potential of education to improve the living conditions of Roma and other groups such as migrants and travellers. 

A new approach to parental empowerment

Szilvia Pallaghy*                                                           Русский/Russian

     The 'Good start' pilot project aims to increase access to early childhood education for more thatn 4,000 Roma and non-Roma. © Róbert Miskovics/Roma Education Fund

BUDAPEST, Hungary – 14 June, 2012 – Experiences during the early years of childhood have an extraordinary influence on lifelong development. A good start in the early years is the ideal way to promote positive developmental outcomes for children and mitigate the risks from poor or insufficient schooling, as recognised by a recent report from the World Bank.

The way forward for Roma integration

Ioannis Dimitrakopoulos*                                               Русский/Russian             

Many reports document that Roma are highly exposed to racism and discrimination. Will the situation change by the time this child grows up? Luizia Puiu/Chachipe Youth Photo Contest

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia – 5 April, 2012 – The end of the Cold War challenged the artificial division between civil and political rights on the one hand and economic, social and cultural rights on the other, paving the way for a comprehensive and integrated approach to poverty, social exclusion and discrimination.

Defining the Roma: implications for policy

Andrey Ivanov                                                                  Русский/Russian

Defining who the Roma are and what is meant by inclusion are important steps with both practical and policy significance. © ternYpe International Roma Youth Network

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia – 19 April, 2012 – Roma inclusion is increasingly on the political agenda both of governments and international institutions. In its communication of 5 April 2011 the European Commission requested member states with sizeable Roma minorities to present National Roma Integration Strategies by December 2011. Most of the strategies were submitted – as were National Action plans earlier, in the context of the Decade of Roma Inclusion.

The ties that bind: common belonging and equal citizenship

Bernard Rorke*                                                              Русский/Russian

   Left unchecked anti-Roma prejudice threatens to undo all the work on Roma inclusion. Miodrag Ignjatovic/Chachipe Youth Photo Contest

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia – 19 April, 2012 – One key theme of UNDP’s 2003 report, Avoiding the Dependency Trap, was that legal frameworks for rights protection are a necessary but insufficient precondition for sustainable integration, and that there must be complementarity with an approach that focuses more broadly on development opportunities for Roma.

Towards better monitoring and evaluation

Katarina Mathernova, Joost de Laat, Sandor Karacsony*         Русский/Russian

Identifying the poorest and most vulnerable communities is key for achieving results on Roma inclusion. Sandor Naske/Chachipe Youth Photo Contest

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia – 26 April, 2012 – The April 2011 European Union Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies calls upon European Union Member States to include strong monitoring and evaluation components.

Slovakia's Roma integration strategy

Zuzana Kumanová, Daniel Škobla                                      Русский/Russian

         The new Slovak strategy for Roma inclusion stresses the need to remove residential segregation.

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia - 24 May 2012 - The process of European integration has encouraged a general interest in the protection of ethnic minorities and the struggle against social exclusion in Central and Eastern Europe. This was clearly reflected in the agenda of the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in the 1990s.

Measuring results? Education indicators in Roma integration strategies

Christian Brüggemann and Jaroslav Kling*                          Русский/Russian

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia – 31 May 2012 – In order to fight the exclusion and marginalization of Roma minorities, the European Comission has recently called the Member States to design National Roma Integration Strategies including a "robust monitoring mechanism to ensure concrete results."

Kyrgyzstan: Declining foodstuff prices – a mixed blessing for rural poor?

Bishkek, KYRGYZSTAN – 23 May 2012 – The slowdown in the consumer and foodstuff price inflation, which began in the second half of 2011, continued in 2012 and even resulted in  deflation of foodstuff, and consequently consumer prices. In particular, our calculations based on official data show that a half percent deflation in consumer prices was observed in April 2012 compared to the same month in 2011; this is the first time Kyrgyzstan experienced a negative consumer price inflation rate in more than eight years (Chart 1). In the same month foodstuff prices decreased by almost 10 percent over April 2011, which is also a record indicator for the past eight years. The decline in foodstuff prices was mainly due to a significant drop in the prices of baked goods and cereals (16.9 percent on y-o-y basis), and in the prices of fruits and vegetables (32.1 percent on y-o-y basis) in April 2012.  While a continued favorable trend in foodstuff prices has a positive impact on households’ budgets in general, on the supply side poor rural households that earn money by selling home-grown fruits and vegetables are affected negatively by a decline in the price of these items.

Natural Disaster Risks in Central Asia

Background

Bratislava, SLOVAKIA - 24 April 2012 -Central Asia is highly exposed and vulnerable to natural hazards including earthquakes, landslides, floods, mudslides and droughts. Both exposure to natural hazards and the vulnerability of populations, infrastructure, and economies has risen in the last few decades. Over the last ten years, Central Asian governments and the international community have undertaken an increasing number of disaster reduction initiatives to address the risks posed by these factors. However, many of these efforts are based upon a limited understanding of disaster risks.

The study “Natural Disaster Risks in Central Asia: A Synthesis” prepared for the 2011 Central Asian Regional Risk Assessment (CARRA) conference by UNDP, clarifies and outlines the natural disaster risks facing Central Asia.  The study offers a baseline analysis for identifying disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate risk management (CRM) interventions in the region. Outlining five distinct issues - exposure, climate change, vulnerability, risk assessments and policy making – it reaches the conclusion that there is substantial work to be done to reduce vulnerability in the region in terms of understanding the risks, as well as addressing them.  Many risks are transboundary in nature and can be best analyzed and addressed at regional level.

Kyrgyzstan: Despite declining industrial production and shrinking GDP, real wages continue to grow.

Bishkek, KYRGYZSTAN – 12 April 2012 - After a fall of 12.5 percent in January 2012, Kyrgyzstan’s GDP continued to fall in February and the overall decline during the first two months of 2012 was 10.5 percent (Chart 1). As was indicated in our previous analysis, the economic slowdown was mostly driven by a sharp decline in industrial production that started in November 2011 and deepened in the following months. As official statistics indicate, the drop in industrial production was due to a big fall in the output of the Kumtor gold-mining complex. Excluding Kumtor production, official GDP growth was 3.7 percent in January-February 2012 compared to the same period in 2011.  

Kyrgyzstan: GDP drops by 12.5 percent in January 2012

Bishkek, KYRGYZSTAN – 12 March 2012 - After reaching strong growth in fall 2011 Kyrgyzstan’s GDP started to decline in November 2011 and fell by 12.5 percent in January 2012 on year-on-year basis. The economic slowdown was mostly driven by a sharp decline in industrial production that started in November 2011 and deepened in the following two months. Official statistics indicate the drop in industrial production was due to a big fall in the output of the Kumtor gold-mining complex. As a matter of fact official GDP growth calculated excluding Kumtor production was 1.3 percent in January 2012 compared to January 2011.  

Remittances in Europe and Central Asia: between the Euro crisis and Russia’s growth prospects

The bifurcated trend continued in 2011

Bratislava, SLOVAKIA - 13 February 2012 - The bifurcated trends in remittances observed in 2010 seem to have continued in 2011. Preliminary central bank data from countries whose migrants work mostly in the Russian Federation, or with large diasporas in Russia, continue to indicate stronger growth in remittances this year than in countries whose migrants are mostly working in the Europe Union (new EU member states, Western Balkan economies). Whereas the former group has seen remittances growing by some 29 percent in 2011 (bright blue and yellow in chart 1), the latter group has recorded growth of about 7 percent (light blue and yellow in chart 1).

The “Euro Crisis”: Implications for Wider Europe

Bratislava, SLOVAKIA - 24 January 2012 - Euro-pessimism has been a feature of the global financial crisis, particularly since Greece and Ireland’s fiscal meltdowns in 2009 and 2010 respectively. This was followed by the debt crises in Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain (the so called “PIIGS”), and most recently by the downgrade of the triple A sovereign debt qualifications of France and Austria by Standard & Poor’s on January 13^th 2012, bringing additional uncertainty to the eurozone. The fear of further repercussions on the other countries in the entire union is growing stronger. These are indeed trying times for the EU and constructing scenarios in which things worsen hardly requires the imagination of a novelist. However, some of this criticism is perhaps misguided as a recent presentation from the UNDP senior economist’s office in Bratislava suggests.

Kyrgyzstan: Are two quarters of economic recovery and declining inflation improving households’ real income?

“Fast facts” from Kyrgyzstan’s official socio-economic data

Bishkek, KYRGYZSTAN – 11 January 2012 – The latest official data report a 8.5 percent GDP growth in Kyrgyzstan from January to November of 2011 over the same period a year ago. This trend points to a full recovery in GDP growth in 2011 after the decline experienced in 2010. The industrial sector continues to be one of its main drivers. During the period January-November 2011 industrial production increased by 24.1 percent on a year-on-year basis.

What’s driving the recovery?

The strong performance of the Kumtor gold-mining complex can explain some of the 2011 recovery. However latest data show that other factors contributed to this result. Declining inflation in the second half of 2011 eased the recovery process. As a matter of fact, growth in GDP and industrial output during 11 months of 2011 would be 6.6 and 19 percent respectively, if production of Kumtor gold mining complexwere to be excluded. The rapid growth in manufacturing, which increased by 24.9 percent in January- November 2011, and the 20.9 percent growth in production and distribution of electricity, water and gas strongly supported economic recovery in 2011.