UN Report: Central Asia Lags In Human Development

Presenting the "Human Development Report 2005" of the United Nations Development Program, UNDP official Gina Volynsky said the main conclusion was inequality is "a barrier to development."

Volynsky said the UNDP's "human development index" has increased worldwide and in most regions of the world. But she said Central Asia and sub-Saharan Africa are being "left behind as far as human development is concerned."

The "most impressive gains" have been in the new European Union member states. Conditions have also improved in the
western parts of the former Soviet Union.

Volynsky said inequality remains "a major barrier to growth."

(AFP/Reuters/AP/dpa)

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