Geneva - Millions of citizens across Eastern Europe and
Central Asia were surviving on less than 2 US dollars a day despite
healthy economic growth in the region, according to the latest UN
statistics.
Half of the populations of five countries: Uzbekistan, Armenia,
Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan were caught below the 2-dollar
line, according to the statistics compiled by the UN children's
agency, UNICEF, the UN Development Programme, UNDP and the UN
Economic Commission for Europe, UNECE.
Children in particular were victims of a growing polarisation
brought about by the positive economic trend. Every year around
212,000 children died before their fifth birthday in Eastern Europe,
the Caucasus and Central Asia. In Tajikstan and Albania the numbers
of children under five afflicted by stunted growth were on a par with
levels found in the poorest parts of the world.
The survey shows women too have been left behind. In many of the
countries surveyed in 2003 the gender gap in wages between men and
women widened to between 30 to 50 per cent with the exceptions of
Romania and Bulgaria, where the pay difference fell.
The statistics were vital said UNICEF's Deputy Regional Director
for Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent
States, Shahnaz Kianian-Firouzgar.
'They tell us that too many children, women and families in rural
areas of our region are not doing well, that they and their families
are excluded from the current economic recovery,' he said.
Another problem in the region was the number of children placed in
institutions. Russia, has the highest number with 1,200 children per
100,000 in a care establishment.
The statistics help monitor countries' progress in moving towards
the UN's Millennium Development Goals: halve world poverty, prevent
the spread of AIDS and provide education for all by 2015.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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