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| Latvia Human Development Report
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Chapter 1: Human Development and the Transition in Latvia
Since the restoration of full independence in 1991, Latvia has had to cope with the threefold challenge of the consolidation of independent statehood, the cultivation of democracy, and the transformation to a market economy. The transition has been fraught with hardship, but presents tremendous opportunities.A key recent event in the consolidation of independence came in August 1994 with the withdrawal of the last remaining active-duty Russian troops from the country. The next step will come in 1998, when an early-warning radar station operated by Russia in Latvia will be dismantled. The transition to democracy, begun in the late 1980's, was furthered by the first general elections held since independence in 1993. Voter turnout was high and the change of governments was orderly, but a sizable segment of the population are non-citizens. Latvia is also in the midst of a painful transformation to a market economy, which has been attended by rising unemployment, plummeting purchasing power, and a concomitant rise in social problems, such as deteriorating public health.
This Human Development Report is the first for Latvia. It not only popularizes the concept of human development, but also analyzes the human costs of the transition by focusing on two sets of issues: social integration and social stress.
Chapter 2: The Development of a Multi-Ethnic Society
Latvia is a distinctly multi-ethnic society, but old patterns of ethnic segregation must be overcome. The ethnic mix of the population today is largely the result of massive post-war immigration, which resulted in a decline in the share of ethnic Latvians from 77% in 1935 to 52% in 1989. Since then, the share of Latvians has grown because of differential birth-rates and outmigration.One of Latvia's most important future domestic policy tasks is resolving issues related to the large number of non-citizens in the country. A Law on Citizenship was adopted in 1994 and naturalization of non-citizens began in 1995. The economic transition has had a differential impact on various ethnic groups. Though the ethnic composition of the unemployed is proportional to that of the population, Latvians predominate among pensioners, who are among the most economically vulnerable groups, and among those living in older housing. Many non-Latvians do not speak the Latvian language due to the legacy of Soviet Russification policy. The professional interests of some of these non-speakers have been adversely affected by measures promoting the Latvian language.
A gradual transition of the educational system towards more instruction in Latvian has been taking place and corresponding changes in the network of schools must be carried out. However, there are still districts in Latvia without schools using Latvian as the language of instruction and many specialties that cannot be acquired in Latvian. While the educational system has been subject to a gradual "Latvianization," non-Russian minorities have been active in renewing the cultural infrastructure destroyed by Soviet rule, including schools, churches and minority cultural organizations.
The main factor facilitating integration is promotion of knowledge and use of the Latvian language. The acquisition of Latvian language skills by non- speakers will not only promote the integration of non-Latvians, but provide them the opportunity to participate fully in the political, social, economic, and cultural life of the country. A broad-based Latvian language training program will be needed to overcome the legacy of Soviet Russification policy, alleviate linguistic segregation and ease fears about the survival of the Latvian language and culture in difficult demographic circumstances.
Chapter 3: The Integration of Marginal/Vulnerable Groups
While many people in Latvia have encountered difficulties in coping with the transition, particularly vulnerable groups include orphans and children without parental supervision and support, people with disabilities, the elderly, and former prisoners. Special institutions providing for the care of orphans and other children without parents face a formidable task: many of the children have mental disabilities. To facilitate the resolution of legal issues related to the fate of these children, planned Orphan's Courts must be established and a concrete period must be set during which parental rights can be suspended. Other possible measures include an educational campaign on contraception to prevent unwanted pregnancies, the further development of the foster parent institution, and the organization of group homes for youth incapable of living on their own.People with physical disabilities receive assistance from the government and experts in medical rehabilitation are being trained, but prostheses and technological aids are too expensive for many, the employment rate of those with disabilities has plummeted, and almost no public facilities are wheelchair accessible. People with mental disabilities often need continuous attention, but no day-care facilities exist, creating additional difficulties for family members. While progress has been made in training new experts, much remains to be done to promote the integration of with disabilities and guarantee their full participation in the process of human development.
The integration of former prisoners into society is a particularly urgent task, as the number of repeat offenders has grown. Prisoners often lack professional skills and have extremely low educational attainment. In order to promote rehabilitation, reforms in correctional facilities and services to former prisoners once they are released (e.g. half-way houses, counseling) are necessary. Broader public involvement and awareness of the special problems of former prisoners and other marginal or vulnerable groups is necessary for change to happen.
Chapter 4: Women in Transition
The legacy of Soviet social policy continues to distort gender relations in Latvia. Though women have levels of educational attainment surpassing those of men, they receive lower salaries on average and are disproportionately represented in lower-paid professions. Discrimination in the job market takes the form of employers specifying the desired gender in job advertisements, even for work that women could perform as well as men.Women occupy relatively few posts in the national executive and legislature, though representation is better in local government and smaller administrative units. A whole range of women's NGOs have emerged or been revived in the past several years and cooperation is growing.
Women in Latvia have often borne the brunt of the economic transition: they are highly represented among the elderly on fixed pensions and must cope with a double workload of salaried employment and household work. The strains of the transition have contributed to a deterioration of women's health: the abortion rate remains extremely high and the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases is growing. Reported cases of rape have fallen, but rape and domestic violence go largely unreported to the police.
Chapter 5: The Emergence of Civil Society
Human development requires standing totalitarianism on its head -- civil society must take precedence over the state. In economic terms, civil society has grown rapidly in Latvia: the number of people employed in the private sector reached 58% in 1994 and the number of individual family farms and privately owned apartments and houses has mushroomed. However, as the state has retreated from many spheres of economic life, its place has been taken by the extortion and racketeering of organized crime.The life-blood of civil society is the free exchange of information, and the growth of media outlets since the collapse of totalitarianism has been vast. While censorship no longer exists, the main TV and radio broadcasts have yet to be completely transformed from state broadcasters to public broadcasters and most regional newspapers are owned by local governments.
A vast number voluntary organizations exist in Latvia, including trade unions, minority cultural organizations, sports associations, etc. The economic crisis and the legacy of the past have made many people averse to organized political activity and most political parties have only small membership bases. The government has taken important steps to transform the state and make it more responsive to the public. The Ministry of State Reform has enacted changes to create a professional civil service and considerable decentralization has taken place. NGOs have been involved in promoting civics and human rights education, which should contribute to overcoming the legacy of "learned helplessness" bequeathed by the Soviet system.
Chapter 6: Declining Incomes and Rising Poverty
The transformation to a market economy has been attended by a serious economic crisis in Latvia, as in other post-socialist countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Gross domestic product per capita decreased by more than a half from 1990 to 1994 and price increases have considerably outpaced increases in incomes. However, in 1994 inflation slowed and purchasing power increased somewhat.The economic transition has been accompanied by increasing distance between the rich and the poor. Income differentiation in 1994 increased that distance: the more well-off the household, the greater the increase in income. A survey of household budgets indicated that the poorest spend only one-fifth of the amount spent by the rich on food. Large families have encountered the greatest difficulties. Thus, it is not surprising that the birth-rate has plummeted to a record low.
In order to alleviate social stress and address the problems of the needy, the government has exempted low-income groups from taxes and further developed the social welfare system. NGOs such as Churches have rendered significant material assistance to the needy, as have international organizations and major bilateral donors.
Chapter 7: Rising Unemployment
The disruption of old economic links and the restructuring of the industrial and agricultural sectors has been attended by rising unemployment. By the beginning of 1995, 84,000 people or 6.5% of the economically active population had registered as unemployed. Officials believe that ¿hidden unemployment¿ caused by work stoppages, unpaid leave, and reduction of the work week might total an additional 6-7% of the population.Unemployment and the concomitant social stress has struck different population groups and regions with various degrees of severity. The share of women among the unemployed throughout the country decreased to 51.9% at the end of 1994. In the capital Riga, however, women were highly over- represented among the jobless, comprising 68% of the city's total unemployed. All ethnic groups have been affected, and the breakdown of the unemployed by ethnicity corresponds to the ethnic composition of the labour force.
The most difficult situation is in the southeast of the country, in Latgale, where unemployment in some locales is three times the national average. A majority of the unemployed live in rural areas, which have witnessed the collapse of the old collective farm system. State enterprises are dismissing employees on a large scale, while job creation in the private sector is limited. One of the key parts of the government's strategy to address unemployment is a programme of education and retraining, in which stipends are granted during a course of study. The programme has proven quite effective, as have government efforts to involve the unemployed in salaried temporary social work.
Chapter 8: Deteriorating Health
Health is determined by social and environmental conditions and the effectiveness of the health care system. The social stress Latvia is currently experiencing has contributed to growing health problems: infant mortality is growing, life expectancy is falling, and the frequency of death from circulatory diseases, malignant tumors, traffic accidents, and respiratory diseases has increased over the last several years. Chronic alcoholism, especially among men, has reached alarming proportions. The growing incidence of diphtheria and tuberculosis, diseases thought to belong to the past, has highlighted the importance of maintaining immunization levels and improving hygiene.The health care system is being reorganized and should be better able to cope with the crisis soon. However, much depends on the ability of the population to improve its own health, which is put at risk by widespread smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, obesity, and arterial hypertension.
Urgent measures to halt the deterioration of public health include further development of Latvia's Academy of Medicine, expanding vaccination to include 100% of the population, increasing restrictions on smoking and the sale of alcoholic beverages, and involving NGOs in a broad public health education campaign.
Chapter 9: Rising Crime
While official statistics point to a decline in the number of recorded crimes, other sources (the media, sociological surveys) suggest that crime, especially organized crime, is on the upswing. Official statistics do, however, show a rapid increase in the number of violent crimes, a trend that leveled off and declined a bit in 1994 and a growth in the number of repeat offenders.One of the key factors facilitating violent crime is the growing availability of firearms. While citizens with no previous criminal record can now purchase firearms for self-defense and part-time home guards have acquired thousands of weapons for personal use, an uncontrollable black market in weapons emerged as the Russian army withdrew from Latvia. Reform of the legal and law enforcement system did not keep pace with economic, social, and political change in the late 1980's and early 1990's, contributing to emergence of organized crime groupings which reportedly collect "duty" from new private entrepreneurs.
Due to Latvia's geographical location, almost all the main forms of organized crime are transnational in nature and common throughout Europe: car robbery, the drug trade, prostitution, forgery, art and antique theft, and the illegal sale of radioactive substances. Latvia is also becoming a common transit point to Scandinavia for illegal immigrants and asylum seekers, whose passage is often organized and coordinated by middlemen residing in the country. International cooperation will be necessary to combat organized crime, though many steps can and are being taken by the national government. Further reform of the court system and law-enforcement agencies must be continued, tax and duty collection must be improved, and prison reform demands attention. Reforms will enhance public trust in law enforcement institutions and contribute to increased public involvement in strengthening human security in Latvia.