Europe & CIS

Progress Report on the National Strategy "On Improving the Living Conditions of the Roma Community", Albania

The Albanian Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, with support from UNDP, produced a report to measure progress on implementation of the National Strategy for Improving the Living Conditions of the Roma Community. Covering the areas of education and training; cultural heritage and family; economy, employment, poverty reduction and social protection; health care and infrastructure; and public order, justice and civil administration, the report also includes recommendations that are necessary to achieve full implementation of the Strategy.

Demographic Policy in Russia: from Reflection to Action

The demographic problem remains one of the most severe challenges in modern Russia: the ongoing population decline and shrinking workforce caused by low fertility, high mortality, ageing, a reduction in the working share of the population, and so far indistinct migration policy pose risks for the future of the country. The United Nations in the Russian Federation and the Center of Strategic Research present the UN in Russia joint publication Demographic Policy in Russia: from Reflection to Action, prepared by a group of independent national experts.
 

Youth in Turkey: national human development report 2008

The 2008 National Human Development Report was launched in Ankara on 21 March 2008 with the participation of public and private institutions, ambassadors, NGOs, academics, parliamentarians and international organizations.

Turkey must now focus on developing comprehensive policies for youth in order to ensure that the country has a healthy, educated, and skilled society to face the challenges of next 15 years and beyond, according to the 2008 Human Development Report for Turkey, which was launched on 21 March 2008 in Ankara.

The report, launched by the United Nations Development Programme and entitled Youth in Turkey, offers guidance on how employment, education and health policies for youth need to be reshaped to ensure that these policies are people-oriented and better prepare the country for the coming demographic challenges.

Corruption in Montenegro 2007: Overview over Main Problems and Status of Reforms

Following a long state-building process, public attention in Montenegro is increasingly turning to governance issues. International observers have pointed out that two of the "key challenges" that Montenegro needs to confront on its way to EU membership are weak governance and the perceived wide prevalence of corruption. This report identifies the key challenges Montenegro faces with regard to corruption and the best hopes for progress, and makes a number of recommendations. 

Development and Transition, 9th issue, "Energy and the Environment"

The ninth issue of Development and Transition newsletter focuses on questions of energy and the environment in our region, with a particular focus on land degradation, biodiversity, water, energy politics, and the role of civil society in pushing for more environmentally friendly policies. The issue discusses land degradation in Central Asia, reforestation in Uzbekistan, potential floods in Tajikistan, biodiversity in Cyprus, environmental NGOs in Central Europe, as well as the successes, failures and implications of Russia's post-2005 gas policies.

Development and Transition is a joint publication of the United Nations Development Programme and the London School of Economics. It aims to be a forum for policy-oriented discussions and debates about how the nature, evolution and challenges of development and transition intersect in Central and Eastern Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and Turkey. 

Mapping of ex-ante Impact Assessment Tools and Experiences in Europe

This resource book for practitioners of ex-ante Policy Impact Assessment contains ex-ante IA methodologies and practical experiences, with particular focus on poverty reduction and on ensuring equal opportunities for vulnerable and marginalized groups. It builds on regional experiences of ex-ante Impact Assessment and Training Needs Assessment conducted in 4 countries (Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova), and lessons derived from experience gained at the country level in implementing IA-related projects.

The aim of the publication is to provide practitioners with available and usable methodologies and best practices for conducting ex-ante Impact Assessment in the region of Europe and CIS and so to contribute to proper policy-making that would be beneficial for the poor and vulnerable. The publication aims to support capacity-building regarding EU standards.

See the project page here.

Social Exclusion and Integration in Poland: an indicators-based approach

This report is the outcome of the project “Strengthening social inclusion process – searching for a compromise in order to reach Lisbon Strategy and Millennium Development Goals”, implemented by UNDP in Poland. It provides a tested framework of indicators for measuring social exclusion and progress toward cohesion, as a basis for comprehensive monitoring and evaluation of policy.

Poverty and socio-economic disparities impede development and social cohesion in many countries, and the report is relevant across a wide range of national contexts; a particular emphasis is made on the link between the EU social inclusion agenda and the UN MDG agenda.

National Human Development Report of Uzbekistan, 2007-2009. Education in Uzbekistan: Matching Supply and Demand

This year’s report on human development in Uzbekistan focuses on education – one of the key parameters in human development and forming the essence of each human being. Consisting of four chapters, the report analyses the general trends of human development in Uzbekistan and correlation of the scholarship index with other human development indicators.

The authors of the report have paid special attention to research into the state of education in Uzbekistan, compared to the rest of the world. Communication between education and human development has also been consistently analysed and attention given to the present condition of the economy and the social policy of the Government.

The authors have done a huge work by devoting one of the chapters to a review of the whole education system. In this chapter, all achievements and successes are very precisely presented, and so are the barriers on a way to the further improvement of an education system.

2007 Annual Report on UN Chernobyl Coordination

Office of UN Coordination of International Cooperation on Chernobyl has recently released the Annual Report on UN Chernobyl Coordination. Efforts in 2007 focused on preparation of the UN Secretary-General Report on Chernobyl, the General Assembly resolution on Chernobyl, UN inter-agency coordination, partnership with UNDP Goodwill Ambassador Maria Sharapova, commemorations of the Chernobyl 21st  anniversary; and programme development for sub-regional initiatives on Chernobyl. The Decade of Recovery and Sustainable Development to 2016 has been declared and drafting of the UN Action Plan on Chernobyl has been launched. Programming synergies were promoted through new ventures in cross-border cooperation and networking among the Country Teams.

Assessment of the Impact of Potential Free Trade Agreement between EU and Georgia

On November 14, 2006 at the 7th meeting of the Georgian-European Cooperation Council in Brussels, the European Neighborhood Policy Action Plan (ENP-AP) for Georgia was officially adopted. Georgia and the EU were urged to “jointly explore options for further enhancing bilateral trade relations, including the possible establishment of a free trade agreement between the EU and Georgia.” The present study reports on the feasibility and likely consequences of an FTA between Georgia and the EU.