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| Latvia Human Development Report
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Sections:
- Latvia in Transition
- Basic Facts about Latvia (table)
- The Concept of Human Development
- The Human Development Index (HDI)
- The Global Relevance of Human Development
- The Relevance of Human Development in Latvia
- The Process of Formulation of the Human Development Report for Latvia
Latvia in Transition
After nearly a half century of Soviet rule, Latvia regained full independence in 1991 and rejoined the world community of sovereign countries. Since then, Latvia has had to cope with several difficult tasks, including the consolidation of independent statehood, the cultivation of democracy, and the transformation to a market economy. For the people of Latvia, this three-fold transition has been exhilarating, but fraught with hardship. For policy-makers, the transition presents difficult choices and tremendous opportunities, because decisions today will have a lasting impact on the well-being and development of the people of Latvia.Independence is not a new state of affairs for Latvia, as the country enjoyed sovereignty from 1918 to 1940 and was a member of the League of Nations. Many Latvians continue to cherish the memory of that era, which was characterized by many economic and cultural achievements. In the course of World War II, the Soviet Union forcibly annexed Latvia, an act that most Western countries never recognized. When the Soviet Union embarked on liberalizing reforms in the late 1980's, a broad-based movement emerged advocating the restoration of independence. A major step in this direction came on 4 May 1990, when the Supreme Soviet of the then Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic approved a declaration expressing the intention of restoring de facto independence. In March 1991 the Latvian government held a plebiscite on independence, garnering the support of majorities in all electoral districts and almost three- fourths of all voters country-wide.
The breakthrough in the transition to renewed statehood came on 21 August 1991, when Latvia's parliament declared full independence at the height of an attempted coup by pro-Soviet forces. Soon thereafter, Latvia gained recognition by the international community and subsequently became a member of the United Nations, the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Council of Europe, and other bodies. While independence and international recognition were events of enormous significance for most people in Latvia, a development of great strategic (and symbolic) importance was the withdrawal of the last remaining active-duty Russian troops from the country in August 1994. The next step in the consolidation of independence will come in 1998, when an early-warning radar station operated by Russia in Skrunda, a city in western Latvia, will stop functioning and be dismantled.
The transition to democracy began in the late 1980's, an era known as the "national awakening", when political dissidents, environmental activists, and cultural figures mobilized to challenge Soviet policy in a number of realms. In the summer of 1988, Latvijas Nacionala Neatkaribas Kustiba (the Movement for Latvia's National Independence) emerged and called for outright independence from the Soviet Union. That same summer, diverse groups coalesced into Latvijas Tautas Fronte (the Popular Front of Latvia), a mass movement calling for an end to the Communist Party's power monopoly, greater autonomy from Moscow, and the protection of Latvian cultural values.
While the Popular Front played the pivotal role in Latvia's political transformation, it has been superseded by other political groupings since independence. In the general elections of 1993, the Popular Front failed to surpass the four percent threshold reguired for representation in Latvia's transformed 100-member parliament, the Saeima. Nearly ninety percent of the eligible electorate cast ballots in the elections, a high turnout for a post-Communist country. However, only those who were citizens of Latvia in June 1940 and their descendants, about 70 percent of the population, were eligible to vote. This electorate voted eight lists into the parliament, of which the largest, Latvijas Cels (Latvia's Way), has formed the core of two coalition governments since then. The orderly change of governments was a testament to Latvia's democratic maturity.
In many respects, recent democratic changes have drawn on inter-war political traditions, as activists and politicians have not only restored and amended the 1922 Constitution and other laws, but revived "old" political parties, professional associations, and media outlets (described in more detail below). Some issues in the democratic transition, such as how to naturalize non-citizens, have required novel solutions. After consultations with the Council of Europe and the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Saeima adopted a law in summer 1994 establishing the requirements for naturalization.
In conjunction with the consolidation of independence and the development of democracy, Latvia has embarked on the painful path towards a market economy. In the 1980s, Latvia was fully integrated into the Soviet economic system. With the breakup of the Soviet Union, old economic links and production patterns were disrupted while new ones are still in the process of formation. Latvia is a country of enormous potential, rich in human resources and well-situated to become a major transit point for trade between East and West. The successful introduction of Latvia's own currency, the Lat, has been completed, inflation has been controlled, and the economy has stabilised. As a result, Latvia is on the road to becoming a regional banking and financial centre.
However, the economic transition is still underway, large-scale privatization has yet to be completed, and restructuring has caused much human distress. As noted below, substantial unemployment has emerged: according to official data for the beginning of 1995, 6.5% of the economically active population was registered as unemployed. However, experts believe that "hidden unemployment" might total at least another 6-7% of the economically active population. The unemployment situation is particularly severe in the eastern part of the country, Latgale, where official unemployment in some districts is three times the national average.
For the working population, increases in wages have been outstripped by inflation. As noted below, GDP per capita decreased by more than a half from 1990 to 1994, leaving a large portion of the population struggling to make ends meet. Particularly hard hit have been the elderly, families with many children, the disabled and ill, and employees in the fields of health care, education, and culture. Austerity has prevented the government from fully alleviating the hardship that many sectors of the population have experienced.
The economic crisis has contributed to the deterioration of public health. As noted below, infant mortality has risen, as has mortality from circulatory and respiratory diseases and malignant tumors. Along with a decrease in immunizations, the incidence of diphtheria has grown severalfold in recent years. A health care system in transition, bad hygiene, and the broader social crisis have contributed to a rising incidence of tuberculosis. Though the state of public health is largely dependent on broader social and environmental conditions, both the medical community and the government understand the need for bolstering preventive and primary health care.
While the transition has been accompanied by a host of difficulties, the
government, non-governmental organizations, and the international community
have been increasingly active in addressing Latvia's development challenges.
The government and the people of Latvia clearly understand the need for further
reforms and are concerned to ease the human costs of the transition. This
Human Development Report for Latvia is intended as one element in the
ongoing debate on the country's development.
Basic Facts About
Latvia
If the table below is unreadable, Click here
to see preformatted version.
| Table 1.1 Basic Facts About Latvia | |
|---|---|
| POPULATION (1993) | |
| Estimated population (millions) | 2.6 |
| Population growth | -1.9% |
| Population density(persons/sq. km.) | 39.7 |
| Population distribution (%) | |
| - Rural | 31 |
| - Urban | 69 |
| Gender distribution(%) | |
| - Males | 46 |
| - Females | 54 |
| Age distribution (%) | |
| - Under 15 | 21.0 |
| - Active age(Males 15-59, females 15-54) | 56.8 |
| - Over active age | 22.2 |
| Ethnic distribution (%) | |
| - Latvians | 54.2 |
| - Russians | 33.1 |
| - Belarussians | 4.1 |
| - Ukrainians | 3.1 |
| - Poles | 2.2 |
| - Lithuanians | 1.3 |
| - Others | 2.0 |
| Adult literacy rate (1993) % | 99 |
| HEALTH (1993) | |
| Average life expectancy (years) | 67.2 |
| - Men | 61.6 |
| - Women | 73.8 |
| Child mortality (per thous. born) | 15.9 |
| Number of doctors (per 10,000 inhabs.) | 36 |
| ECONOMY (1993) | |
| Total GDP (LVL millions) | 1,467 |
| Real GDP per capita (LVL) | 567.3 |
| Real GDP per capita (PPP$) | 5,170 |
| Real growth in GDP % | -14.9 |
| Unemployment % of work force | 5.8 |
| Distribution of employment by sector, % (1993) | |
| - Agriculture | 20 |
| - Industry | 28 |
| - Services | 52 |
| Government expenditures as % of GDP (1993) | |
| - TOTAL, of which | 36 |
| - Defence | 0.8 |
| - Education | 6.1 |
| - Health | 4.1 |
| - Social protection | 13.0 |
| Human Development index rank (HDR 1994) | 30/173 |
| LAND AREA, sq. km | 64,600 |
The Concept of Human Development
The Human Development Report for Latvia aims to build greater awareness of the human dimension of development, to highlight the human costs of the transition process, and to focus development strategies and policies on people.The concept of human development arose in reaction to the narrow conception of development that stressed economic growth regardless of the human consequences. While sustainable economic growth remains an important goal, there is a broad desire to ensure that development results in an improved quality of life and human well-being for the broadest possible number of people, that people not only benefit from the development process but participate in it as well. Human development is development of the people, by the people, for the people.
The human development initiative advocates that basic human needs be met for
all people and that disadvantaged groups also participate in and reap the fruits of
development. Human development requires broad popular participation, as only
such participation can guarantee the formulation and implementation of effective
development policy. In addition, popular participation guarantees that
development is in line with the people's aspirations, not imposed from the
outside. Human development must be sustainable so that current progress
benefits future generations and safeguards their options.
The Human Development Index (HDI)
Globally, a consensus has emerged that any measure of human development
must capture three essential aspects of human life -- longevity, knowledge and
the resources needed for a decent standard of living. These essential features
of human well-being are represented by three indicators: life expectancy,
educational attainment (comprising adult literacy and mean years of schooling)
and per capita income. Together, these indicators provide a Human
Development Index (HDI), which is a convenient but imperfect tool for measuring
a country's level of well-being.
The HDI has attracted much interest and generated much controversy. The
primary purpose of the HDI is to provide a benchmark for placing a country's
performance in a global context and measuring a country's progress over time.
Efforts have been made to create within-country indices to compare
development between urban and rural areas, different regions, ethnic groups,
genders, and more. By highlighting disparities, the human development index
indicates important global and national inequities that need to be addressed.
The Global Relevance of Human
Development
In order to promote people-centred development and introduce new issues to the
global agenda, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has
sponsored the preparation of World Human Development Reports every year
since 1990. The 1990 Report introduced the concept of human development
and the HDI, summarized the record of human development over the previous
three decades and analyzed the experience of 14 countries in managing
economic growth in the interest of the broadest possible number of people.
The 1991 Report focussed on the enormous potential for restructuring both national budgets and international aid allocations in favour of human development. The 1992 Report concentrated on the international dimension of human development, discussing global trends in political freedom, widening disparities among countries in the social and economic realms, and the impact of global markets, which often benefit the strongest and prevent developing countries from trading on an equal basis. The 1993 Report analyzed people's participation in markets, decentralized governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The 1994 Report investigated human security, a concept that goes beyond the traditional focus on military security to comprise the security of all people from unemployment, environmental degradation, famine, and other sources of deprivation.
In 1995, the human development initiative is part of a broader campaign
spearheaded by the United Nations which includes the World Summit for Social
Development and the World Conference on Women. In cooperation with local
partners, the UNDP has also produced a number of country human development
reports, analyzing in depth the particular challenges faced by individual
countries.
The Relevance of Human
Development in Latvia
The human development initiative is particularly relevant in Latvia, which has
been undergoing a difficult transition process since the collapse of the Soviet
Union and the restoration of independence in 1991. While Latvia has made
considerable economic progress, the transition has entailed heavy human costs.
This report highlights two sets of issues that pose particular challenges for human development in Latvia: social integration and social stress. In the realm of social integration, the Report analyzes the development of a multi-ethnic society in Latvia, the position of marginal/vulnerable groups, the changing status of women, and the emergence of civil society. Under the rubric of social stress, the Report investigates the human costs of rising poverty, growing unemployment, deteriorating public health, and burgeoning crime.
Since this is the first human development report for Latvia, the focus shall be on raising the most relevant issues and introducing unfamiliar concepts. It is to be hoped that a Report will be issued annually and that the availablity and accuracy of the relevant statistics will continue to improve over time. Given the fragmentary nature of existing statistics and ongoing reforms in the methodology of data collection, earlier rankings of Latvia in the World Human Development Index (1993 - #35; 1994 - #30) should not be considered accurate. This Report seeks to strike a balance between accuracy and comprehensiveness, including only those data with a relatively high degree of credibility.
By providing credible data and identifying disparities, this Report seeks to advance the domestic development debate and raise awareness about progress made and challenges still ahead. Since this is the first Human Development Report for Latvia, it could serve as an inventory of the current situation regarding social development and a basis for monitoring Latvia's future progress.
Accurate data and insightful analysis are important, but action is what will determine whether and how human well-being is enhanced in Latvia. To this end, the Report also lays out alternative strategies that could serve as a basis for policy towards enhancing human development. The information and analysis within the Report will not only assist in the mobilization of resources at home, but also in garnering support from Latvia's development partners in addressing the most urgent human needs.
The Process of Formulation of the Human
Development Report for Latvia
The Human Development Report for Latvia evolved through meetings and
discussions with government officials, academics, representatives of non-
governmental organizations and statisticians. Since there is as yet no firm
consensus on the nature of some of the challenges facing Latvia, it was
particularly important to consult with a wide array of experts. As a result, the
preparation of the Report involved the mobilization of the country's plentiful
intellectual resources to analyze progress and problems and chart new
development strategies. This Report is but a first step in what promises to be a
long but rewarding struggle to put and keep people at the centre of Latvia's
development process.