Europe and Central Asia
The Europe and Central Asia regions embrace both low and middle income
countries. They also face a wide range of development challenges. These include
poverty, social exclusion, conflict and state building. Many states are
relatively young and therefore face major governance and economic development
challenges as well.
Patterns of poverty differ significantly across the region and progress with
poverty reduction varies. Current trends and forecasts suggest that the
percentage of people living in poverty will not halve between 1990 and 2015. In,
some places, reducing poverty to 1990 levels, from a peak in the late 1990s, is
likely to be a challenge.
Whilst the Western Balkans have been relatively peaceful since 2000, tensions
remain; the calm is fragile. Resolving the final status of Kosovo (currently
governed by the UN) is the most prominent current challenge.
Health MDGs are off track in many areas and
HIV and AIDS rates across the
regions are among the fastest growing in the world. Over 1% of the population in
Ukraine is infected with HIV, while over 15% of injecting drug users
are infected in the Central Asia republics (source: UNAIDS 2006). The legacy of
the past means that universal primary education (and therefore the gender target
on education) has already been achieved in much of the region. However, there is
some evidence that the quality of education may be slipping in some areas.
Other gender MDGs (female participation in the labour force and in decision
making) are off track in many places, particularly in Central Asia.
DFID’s work now stretches from the Western Balkans (focussed on
Serbia,
Kosovo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and
Albania) to Central Asia, where we are working in
Tajikistan and the
Kyrgyz Republic. We also have bilateral programmes in
Moldova,
Armenia and Georgia.
In March 2008, we closed our bilateral programme in
Ukraine. The country has made
significant progress against poverty during the last 17 years, and has moved
from low to middle income status. The UK will continue to support development in
Ukraine through a number of international organisations.
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Our priorities
Our aim is to support poverty reduction, stability and prosperity across
these regions. Our main priorities are helping to build government capacity to
make the best use of its resources, promoting more accountable and responsive
governance, and creating a good environment for investment and economic growth.
We also work closely with other donors to help partner governments develop sound
poverty reduction strategies. This includes ensuring the needs of the poor and
most vulnerable groups are taken into account in policies and service provision.
EU integration continues to be a power incentive for reform and prosperity.
We are actively working with a number of countries to support this process. We
also work closely with other Government departments on the EU agenda, as well as
on issues like conflict prevention, security and migration.
Promoting aid effectiveness is also a major priority. We are increasingly
focusing our efforts on helping multilateral organisations to make a bigger
impact. Through our EU membership we continue to provide significant resources
through our share of EC budgets. The
 European Bank
for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is another strategic partner. We are
actively helping them to do more work in the Western Balkans and in early
transition countries. We are also supporting the EBRD’s efforts to tackle
climate change through improved energy efficiency.
Last updated: 2 April 2008
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