Country Support Team in Europe & CIS

New EU Countries

	Bulgaria		Cyprus
	Czech Republic		Hungary
	Latvia		Lithuania
	Malta		Poland
	Romania		Slovak Republic
	Slovenia		St. Helena

UNDP’s Organization

UNDP currently has Country Offices in Bulgaria, Lithuania, Poland and and Romania and two project offices in Cyprus. Ongoing activities in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Saint Helena and Slovakia (as well as limited advisory functions in Malta and Slovenia) are coordinated from the Bratislava Regional Center through the work of the Country Support Team. UNDP ceased its activity in Estonia in 2001.

Working closely with the Bratislava Regional Center, UNDP’s EU Accession team (based in New York) supports the work of the Country Offices to develop new programmes, mobilize resources, and build partnerships with new donors and organizations within the United Nations and externally. The team consists of Parviz Fartash, Team Leader and Senior Programme Manager; Emmanuelle Saint-Firmin, Associate Programme Manager; and Josy Philogene, Programme Associate.
 

Challenges

The countries of Central Europe (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia) and the three Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), which joined the European Union on 1 May 2004, are major development success stories. The human development index for these countries today is significantly higher than it was in the early 1990s. Convergence toward European organizational structures, policies, and income levels has been broadly consistent with socio-economic progress and democratic consolidation.

The economic transition—in the sense of creating well functioning, competitive markets comprised largely of private companies reasonably well integrated into the global economy, and regulated by institutions that conform to the acquis communautaire—is largely complete. The severity of environmental problems in most of these countries is declining with the adoption of the EU acquis and full-cost resource pricing. Living standards in nearly all of these countries are slowly converging towards those of Western Europe, as economic growth rates of the new EU member states generally exceed the EU average.

The new EU member states continue to face important development challenges, however. Unemployment is high, socio-economic inequality is growing, and populations are shrinking. Regional disparities are often pronounced. Governments in Central Europe are only slowly coming to terms with the challenges posed by rapidly growing Roma populations, which are victims of discrimination, poverty, and social exclusion. The challenge of adapting the new EU countries' middle-income economies to the high-income social policy framework in force in many incumbent EU states is a formidable one. Still, compared to other countries coping with the legacy of Soviet-style communism, the Central European and Baltic states are examples of successes to be emulated.

 

	Population (million, 2008)a	GDP per head (PPP US$, 2006)b	GDP growth, 2006 (%)b	Life expectancy at birth (years, 2005)c	Human development index rank, of 177 countries (2007/08 data)c
Bulgaria	7.6			72.7	53
Czech Republic	10.4	19,408	6.4	75.9	32
Cyprus	0.8	22,805	3.8	79.0	28
Estonia	1.3	14,555	11.2	71.2	44
Hungary	10.0	16,814	3.9	72.9	36
Latvia	2.3	11,653	11.9	72.0	45
Lithuania	3.4	13,107	7.7	72.5	43
Malta	0.4	18,879	3.2	79.1	34
Poland	38.1	12,974	6.1	75.2	37
Romania	21.5			71.9	60
Slovakia	5.4	14,623	8.3	74.2	42
Slovenia	2.0	20,939	5.7	77.4	27

Source: ^aEurostat, ^bEconomist Intelligence Unit; ^cUNDP Human Development Report 2007/08; .
 

UNDP efforts in the new EU member states focus on four main areas:

• Helping the countries make the best use of EU structural and regional funds to address persistent pockets of poverty and overcome lingering development challenges;
• Combating social exclusion of the Roma and other vulnerable populations;
• Supporting "emerging donor" initiatives, by helping countries in their efforts to become providers of international development assistance, both in the form of financial aid and through the provision of their accumulated expertise in overcoming transition challenges; and
• Promoting Energy and environment best practices.