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P RO G R E S S F O R A L L
CO M M O N CO U N T RY A S S E S S M E N T
F O R L I T H UA N I A
UNITED NATIONS
September 2001
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Pro g re s s Fo r A l l
COMMON COUNTRY ASSESSMENT FOR LITHUANIA
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The United Nations country team was: Progress For All - A United Nations Common Country
Ms. Cihan Sultanoglu, UN Resident Coordinator, Assessment of Lithuania. Mrs. Mariella C. Tefft, R.N,
UNDP Resident Representative and UNFPA Represen- M.S., Biostatistician and Ms. Virginija Poskute, Ph.D.
tative, in Economics, assisted by Mr. Gediminas Cerniauskas,
Mr. Mark Horton, IMF Resident Representative, Ph.D. in Economics, prepared the assessment. Mr.
Mr. Mantas Nocius, Chief of the World Bank Lithuania Petras Adlys, Director of Lithuanian Department of
Mission, Statistics and his team provided the databases. The CCA
Dr. Robertas Petkevicius, WHO Liaison Officer, process was facilitated by Ms. Aase Fosshaug and Mr.
Ms. Lyra Vysockiene UNHCR Liaison Officer, Ernst van Koesveld JPO/Programme Officers at UNDP
Ms. Audra Sipaviciene, IOM Head of Vilnius Office, Lithuania, as well as by Mr. Mathieu Ryckewaert.
Mr. Jaunius Pusvaskis, Director of the Lithuanian
National Committee for UNICEF, The cover page design shows a reproduction of a paint-
Ms. Leonarda Jekentaite-Kuzmickiene, Secretary-General ing made by Mr. Marius Jonutis. Lay-out and cover
of the Lithuanian National Commission for UNESCO. design: Mr. Arnoldas Puikis.
SBN 9986-639-20-4
UDK 341.12
Pr-129
UNITED NATIONS
J. Tumo-Vaizganto str. 2, LT-2600, Vilnius, Lithuania, 2001
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements 2 5.1.2. Household type
Table of Contents 3 5.1.3. Number of children
Introduction 4 5.1.4. Socio-economic group
Methodology 5 5.1.5. Education level of household head
Executive Summary 6 5.2. Rural vs. urban poverty
5.2.1. Disposable income
1. Current development situation in the country 9 5.2.2. Sources of disposable income
1.1. Political context 5.2.3. Consumption expenditure
1.2. Socio-economic context 5.3. Combination of factors examined with regard
1.3. Inflation to poverty level
1.4. Sector percentage of GDP 5.3.1. Household type and residential area
1.5. Employment 5.3.2. Socio-economic group and residential area
1.6. Unemployment 5.3.3. Education level of household head and
1.7. Social security residential area
2. Demography 13 6. Health 28
2.1. Size of the Lithuanian population 6.1. Reorganization of the health care system
2.2. Factors affecting the size of the Lithuanian 6.2. Universal health coverage
population 6.3. Health status of Lithuanian people
2.2.1. Vital statistics 6.3.1. Life expectancy
2.2.2. Migration to and from Lithuania 6.3.2. Infant mortality
2.2.3. Fertility 6.3.3. Mortality
2.2.4. Abortion 6.4. External causes of mortality
2.2.5. Marriage and divorce 6.5. Tuberculosis
2.3. Distribution of the Lithuanian population 6.6. HIV/AIDS
by residential area and age group
7. Education 34
3. Governance 16 7.1. Increased enrolment
3.1. Corruption 7.2. Compulsory education
3.2. Decentralization of government 7.3. ICT in schools
3.3. Public administration reform 7.4. Students in higher education
3.4. Civil society 7.5. Educational reform
3.5. Information and Communication Technologies
in development 8. Environment 37
8.1. Environmental policy
4. Human Rights 19 8.2. Environmental management
4.1. Challenges in the Human Rights area 8.3. Environmental quality indicators
4.2. Rights of women, children and youth
4.3. Asylum seekers and refugees Conclusions: Priorities for the UN System in Lithuania 39
4.4. Crime
Annex: Key Statistical Indicators 41
5. Poverty 23 Selected References 52
5.1. Extent of poverty in Lithuania List of Acronyms 54
5.1.1. Other factors affecting poverty
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Pro g re s s Fo r A l l
COMMON COUNTRY ASSESSMENT FOR LITHUANIA
INTRODUCTION
The objective of the Common Country Assessment obligations and the efficient use of UN resources
(CCA) for Lithuania is to provide an overview of towards those ends.
national development based on the compilation and
analysis of a set of selected indicators. The CCA intends The CCA for Lithuania addresses selected areas of
to reveal Lithuania's essential development achieve- development in which UN agencies working with the
ments, needs and challenges. Based on that analysis and Government and civil society could have the greatest
assessment, possible areas for the United Nations system impact in promoting sustainable human development
co-operation in Lithuania are outlined. and improving basic living conditions as well as pro-
viding support in those areas, which would, inter alia,
The CCA examines the national situation in relation to help Lithuania to comply with the EU accession
internationally agreed-upon goals set by action plans or requirements in line with the national priorities.
programmes at the UN Global Conferences:
· The World Summit for Children, the Convention on Thus, the CCA for Lithuania:
the Rights of Children; · Provides an analytical summary of the current level
· The UN Conference on Environment and Development; of national development;
· The International Conference on Population and · Identifies improving or deteriorating trends in relevant
Development; indicators;
· The International Conference on Nutrition; · Suggests priority issues that can provide a focus for joint
· The World Summit for Social Development; assistance from the United Nations system;
· The Fourth World Conference on Women; · Initiates the development of a common database on key
· The Second International Conference on Human indicators, which should be updated regularly.
Settlements / Habitat II;
· The World Food Summit; In addition, the CCA provides an outline for the coun-
· The Vienna Conference on Human Rights. try's standing in the framework of the goals of the
Millennium Declaration. The Declaration was signed
The findings of the CCA are expected to contribute to by the President of Lithuania in September 2000
the Government's monitoring of its progress towards together with other Heads of State who attended the
the achievement of its national goals and international historic Millennium Summit.
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METHODOLOGY
METHODOLOGY
The CCA is prepared in the context of the implementa- Migration (IOM). All of these offices contributed to
tion of the Secretary-General's Reform Programme for the identification of thematic issues during the consul-
the United Nations system launched in 1997 as part of tation process initiated in 2000. The Lithuanian
the instruments to bring greater coherence to the UN Department of Statistics provided the statistical data
activities at the country level. The United Nations used in this publication, unless otherwise stated in the
Development Group (UNDG) composed of most devel- text. The principal socio-economic trends and chal-
opment oriented UN institutions, was charged with lenges of the country were identified based on the
providing guidance to this process. analysis of statistical information.
The CCA for Lithuania was prepared during the year The present CCA follows the Country Review that was
2001 by the Office of the Resident Coordinator in undertaken during the first half of the year 2000 by
Vilnius in co-operation with the UN agencies and UNDP, which is the only UN organization that has a
organizations present in Lithuania: the United Nations multi-year cooperation framework in Lithuania. The
Development Programme (UNDP), World Health Country Review was prepared through a participative
Organization (WHO), World Bank (WB), the process in which the main partners of the UN system;
International Monetary Fund (IMF), United Nations Government counterpart ministries and institutions,
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), as well as multilateral and private donors, NGOs and the civil
the National Committees of the United Nations society at large, were broadly consulted.
Children's Fund (UNICEF), United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization It is intended to update the CCA on an annual basis.
(UNESCO) and the International Organization for
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Pro g re s s Fo r A l l
COMMON COUNTRY ASSESSMENT FOR LITHUANIA
decrease in the population due to mortality exceeding
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY the birth rates. Fertility rates have declined consider-
ably during the transition period - from 2.02 in 1990
The Common Country Assessment, as indicated in the to a decade low of 1.28 in 2000. Lithuanian women
introduction, provides an analytical summary of the have fewer and fewer children, which contributes to the
current development situation in Lithuania. Based on decline in the population. The distribution of the pop-
the trends of relevant indicators, priority issues that can ulation by residential area and age group shows that a
provide a focus for joint assistance from the United greater proportion of the rural population is under
Nations system are suggested. Different areas of the working age (<= 15 years old) as well as a greater pro-
country's development, such as human rights, demog- portion of elderly (60 + years old). Both of these cate-
raphy, health, education, poverty reduction, gover- gories are usually not active in the labour market and
nance and the environment are analyzed. thus are not a source of income for the household they
live in. The birth rates are higher in rural areas than in
1. The current development situation in the urban areas, but there are fewer rural inhabitants par-
country is discussed in relation to the political and ticipating in the work force making an income to sus-
socio-economic context. During the first decade of tran- tain their families. The latest Census, which was taken
sition from command to market economy, Lithuania in 2001 in line with the UN recommendations,
had liberalized markets, privatized the majority of revealed a country of 3.6926 million people with
enterprises and on the basis of restrictive monetary poli- approximately 2/3 living in urban areas.
cy managed to reduce the annual inflation rate to 1% in
2000. These transformations subsequently led to a sta- 3. Governance, Lithuania has achieved stability of
ble political and economic system which permits to institutions guaranteeing democracy and the rule of
state that Lithuania can be regarded as a functioning law. There are also significant achievements in protec-
market economy. On the other hand, the EU tion of human rights and respect for minorities. The
Commission indicated that the continuation of struc- dialogue between NGOs and governing institutions has
tural reform programme is a prerequisite for being "able become considerably more open and constructive dur-
to cope with competitive pressure and market forces ing the last years. There are a number of concrete exam-
within the Union in the medium term". High levels of ples of NGOs influencing the final content of laws and
unemployment and budget deficits reflect structural implementing joint projects with the authorities.
problems in infrastructure and agriculture and relative- Nevertheless, there are areas which still need attention:
ly low productivity of industry. Furthermore, the gains the fight against corruption and the continued reform
and burdens of socio-economic reforms have been dis- of the judiciary. A relatively high level of crime is
tributed unequally in the society. Differences in the pos- among the biggest concerns as well. Technical assis-
sibilities of economic activity for the population, varia- tance for the development and implementation of the
tions in income from the state and private sector make National Anti-corruption strategy may be considered as
big cities (especially Vilnius and Klaipëda) more advan- an important arena for future activities of international
tageous in comparison to the communities of rural organizations and bilateral co-operation. The introduc-
municipalities. In UNDP's Human Development tion of structures for monitoring and evaluation of
Report 2001 Lithuania has moved up five points to the regional development must have priority. Decentral-
ranking of 47, which has placed the country among the ization of decision-making powers from the state level
High Human Development Countries. to counties and municipalities still raises some concern.
Capacities of local governments have to be developed
2. Demography, Before World War II, 77 % of by strengthening municipal finances and training civil
Lithuania's people lived in rural areas. By 1970 , the servants employed by municipalities. The strengthen-
population was half-urban and half-rural. Today, in ing of regional structures has to focus more on the
2001, 68.1 % of all Lithuanians are living in urban establishment of local and regional partnerships.
centres and 39.1 % are living in rural areas. After inde-
pendence, the total population reached a peak in 1992 4. Human Rights, Political and civil rights are far
with 3.7469 million people. From 1994, there is a slow ahead of socio-economic rights. Despite the solid legal
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
foundations supporting human rights, they are not knowledge network and broad experience in poverty
equally assured either in terms of their nature (politi- eradication, could be invaluable. The UN system has
cal, economic, social) or in terms of the possibility for been called to facilitate the work of the Presidential
everybody to exercise them (men, women, children, Poverty Monitoring Commission, established in 2001
rural and urban residents). Laws do not always reflect as well as to support the preparation of a national
and balance the various interests of the public. The sit- action plan for alleviation and reduction of poverty.
uation regarding human rights awareness and develop-
ment in rural areas and small towns is significantly 6. Health, Lithuania has fundamentally reorganized
worse than in the large cities. Various UN agencies its health care system during the past decade. With
provided significant support to the Lithuanian govern- international assistance, Lithuania has made radical
ment in ensuring that human rights are protected in changes in the legal framework and the financing of
Lithuania after the regaining of independence. The health care. The health care laws passed in 1996 cre-
areas for improvement or concern in protection of ate the basis for introducing health insurance and
human rights include poor conditions in jails, devel- accrediting health care institutions. An evaluation of
opment of effective crime control and prevention pro- the most important health statistics during the past
grammes, ineffective social integration of refugees, decade indicates improvement in many areas of health.
educational programmes on human rights, certain However, there remain many areas of concern. In 2000
aspects in protection of women, children and youth the life expectancy at birth of urban people was greater
rights. Lithuania is the first country in the central and than rural people by more than 4 years and the life
eastern european region to undertake the preparation expectancy at birth of females was greater than males
of a National Human Rights Action Plan. by more than 10 years on average. Hence, it is notice-
able that almost all health data reflect a less favourable
5. Poverty, the negative effects of the transitional situation for people living in rural areas and for men.
process in Lithuania is spread unevenly in Lithuania. The mortality rates for rural people are generally high-
The data shows that the overall situation of poverty in er than for urban people. Similarly, the rates for males
Lithuania is improving, but very slowly. The most vul- are higher than for females. The three main causes of
nerable are young families with two or more children, mortality in Lithuania for the past decade have been
the long-term unemployed, single pensioners, the dis- cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and external causes
abled, and those who lost hope of finding work. The (suicide, transport accidents, accidental drowning,
highest level of poverty is among those households accidental alcohol poisoning, and homicide, etc.). The
where the breadwinner is younger than 30 or older than overall infant (less than 1 year of age) mortality rate
60, families with small children and/or headed by a has improved over the past 10 years from 10.3 deaths
woman, and families with unemployed members. per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 8.5 deaths in 2000.
Pensioner households are not, as is often claimed, the The peak of the infant mortality rate came in 1992
poorest. Poverty among farmers and those living on with 16.5 deaths per 1,000 live births. The rates are
allowances or scholarships is much higher. Poverty in higher in the rural than in the urban areas. Since over
rural areas remains much higher than in urban areas. half of infant deaths occur in the first 27 days of life,
The Poverty Reduction Strategy, that was developed by the higher rural area's rates can partly be explained by
the National Social Committee in 1999-2000 defined a lesser ability to reach in time the sophisticated
Lithuania's strategic goals for the reduction and pre- neonatology hospital units.
vention of poverty. The strategy aims at eliminating
extreme poverty in Lithuania by 2003 (from 0.9% in 7. Education, the increasing figures of GDP spent
1999) and reducing poverty (according to the official on education in Lithuania indicate that it is a priority
relative poverty line) to at least 13% by 2005 (from area for the nation. The reforms within the education
15.8% in 1999). Action at national and local levels system have adhered to the principles of democratisa-
could be not enough for rapid poverty reduction. For tion, liberalisation and integration into the European
the strategic goals to be achieved, co-operation with a education system. The principles of humanism, nation-
wide-range of regional and international partners, al identity and openness are permanently being devel-
including the UN agencies having advantage of global oped as well. The educational reforms are expected to
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speed up the formation of free, independently thinking Conclusion:
and acting individuals and a civil, open and democrat- Priorities for the UN System in Lithuania
ic society. Nevertheless, in spite of obvious achieve-
ments in educational reform, there are areas of concern The UNDP office, hosting the Office of the Resident
and improvement. The following priority goals have Coordinator was opened in 1992. The UNDP is the
been formulated for the second stage of the education only agency that has a multi-year co-operation pro-
reform: the modernisation of teaching and the curricu- gramme (the current Country Co-operation
lum and improvement in the quality of education, Framework (CCF) covers the period 2001-2003).
improvement in the social and pedagogical conditions UNFPA has annual funding to support a variety of
for education and the harmonisation of the education activities and projects. The UN specialized agencies
system emphasising equal access for all. have programmes or projects in line with their region-
al strategies. Due to limited resources available to most
8. Environment, the overriding goal of Lithuania's countries in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)
environmental protection strategy is to guarantee the region, the UN agencies might concentrate their
country's balanced and sustainable development, which involvement in certain priority areas, on policy advice
will maintain a healthy natural environment and pro- and pilot activities where they have regional and global
tect biological and scenic diversity, ensuring the benefi- experience, areas that are identified in this CCA and
cial utilisation of natural resources. Air and water qual- the assistance to the Government in implementation of
ity is a priority. The majority of environmental stan- follow-up to global UN conferences. Poverty reduction,
dards and norms applied in Lithuania fully satisfy promotion of good governance and the protection of
international requirements, and a number of them are the environment constitute the most important areas of
more stringent. Nevertheless, steps towards sustainable focus. Successful future co-operation of the UN system
development in some environmental areas are insuffi- implies building partnership with other donors, the
cient and will need additional government and public Government and civil society. Taking into account
attention in order for conceptual decisions to be made Lithuania's goal to become a full member of the EU,
and changes in action plans to occur. There is a need capacity building and enhancing national execution of
for a more participatory approach to sustainable devel- the initiatives that were successfully undertaken or
opment, requiring closer co-operation between deci- implemented with the assistance of the UN as well as
sion-makers and civil society. Implementation of some supporting Lithuania's interest as an emerging donor
programs in environmental protection is a concern in are among priorities in the co-operation.
sectors requiring heavy investments.
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Chapter 1
CURRENT DEVELOPMENT SITUATION IN LITHUANIA
matters such as unemployment, social security, poverty
CURRENT DEVELOP- eradication, family, children and youth support.
MENT SITUATION IN
Many bilateral treaties were signed in the early years
LITHUANIA after independence. Lithuania joined the United
Nations in September 1991 and became a member of
1.1. Political Context the Council of Europe in May 1993. In January 1994
Lithuania signed the NATO Partnership for Peace
In 1990 Lithuania regained its independence and treaty and in June 1994 Lithuania became an associate
rejoined the world community as an independent state. member of the West European Union. Free trade agree-
The country has deep traditions of statehood and expe- ments with the EU came into force on 1 January 1995
rience in developing an independent democracy, but and an association treaty with the European Union was
these traits had proven difficult to preserve during 50 signed in June 1995. Negotiations concerning
years of soviet rule. After independence was regained, Lithuania's membership in the Union were officially
Lithuania demonstrated its intention to revive its for- opened in 1999. Despite frequent changes in govern-
mer democratic institutions. A new constitution was ment, the country's main foreign policy objectives have
adopted by referendum on 25th October 1992. The remained the same, i.e. the country intends to become
constitution decrees that Lithuania is a sovereign demo- full member of NATO and the EU together with the
cratic republic and grants all citizens the right to partic- first group countries of the enlargement. Lithuania
ipate in the government of their country both directly expects a formal invitation to join NATO and close all
and through democratically elected representatives. The the required chapters for EU accession in 2002.
constitution opts for a mixed political system, making
Lithuania a parliamentary-presidential republic. Execu- 1.2. Socio-economic Context
tive powers are vested in the President of the Republic,
who is elected directly for a five-year term, and the Clear support for European Union (EU) and NATO
Government, which is headed by the Prime Minister. accession across the political spectrum in Lithuania has
allowed for continued and steady progress in economic
Democracy is now well established in Lithuania. reforms during 2000-2001. The Lithuanian authorities
Several elections and changes of government have been aimed to restore policy credibility during 2000, follow-
completed of which the most recent regular parliamen- ing the prolonged difficulties associated with the
tary elections were held in October 2000. The election August 1998 financial crisis in Russia and a contraction
brought a shift in the political scene marked by an of real GDP by -3.9 percent in 1999. Efforts were
increased support to small and rather young parties made to reduce the fiscal deficit to a more sustainable
such as the New Union and the Liberal Union. They level and to accelerate structural reforms, while pre-
later formed the nucleus of the so-called New Policy serving the currency board arrangement, which is cen-
Coalition that came to power after the elections in the tered on the peg of the litas to the U.S. dollar.
autumn of 2000. However, the centre-left Social Macroeconomic gains have been impressive and growth
Liberals/New Union coalition was dissolved in June has been restored, with real GDP growing by 3.3 per-
2001, mainly due to disagreements over fiscal policy cent in 2000, as compared with projections of 2.7 per-
and privatization of large state owned enterprises. The cent. The economic recovery was underpinned mainly
new Prime Minister, a former President of Lithuania by export growth of 20.6 percent. Inflation has
and leader of the Social Democratic Party appointed a remained subdued, and wage growth has been
new 13-member cabinet, of which three are women, in restrained, although unemployment increased from
July 2001. The centre-left government consists of the 10.0 percent at end-1999 to over 13 percent. These
Social Democratic Party, Social Liberals, and their pro- economic reform efforts have continued in 2001, with
gramme pledges to adhere to the national objectives of policy continuity achieved through two changes of gov-
EU and NATO accession, conduct transparent and ernment, in October 2000 and again in July 2001.
rational privatization and streamline public adminis- There are numerous signs that the economic recovery is
tration. In addition, the program refers to urgent social accelerating in 2001.
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The Lithuanian authorities sharply reduced the deficit been characterized by weak private sector credit growth-
of the general government-including the national credit to the private sector from Lithuanian banks actu-
budget, municipalities and extra-budgetary funds ally declined by -1.2 percent in 2000-and by a build-up
(social insurance, health insurance, road fund)-from of foreign assets of Lithuanian banks of US$266 million
8.5 percent of GDP in 1999 to 2.8 percent in 2000. during 2000. It is hoped that both of these trends will
The key policy actions taken were to suspend the be reversed in 2001 by more local investment and cred-
Savings Restitution Program until 2002, to raise the it. The Bank of Lithuania announced in June 2001 that
payroll tax funding the Social Insurance Fund (SoDra), it would re-peg the litas on February 1, 2002 from the
across the board spending cuts, including on civil serv- U.S. dollar to the euro at the prevailing market
ice wages, and limiting new government net lending to exchange rate between the dollar and euro.
companies, in particular the oil industry. Government
expenditure arrears that emerged during 1999 were 1.4 Sector percentage of GDP
largely eliminated during 2000 and in the first half of
2001 at the central government level, although munic-
ipal arrears have persisted.
Lithuania's external economic position remains strong.
Export growth and an improved fiscal position con-
tributed to a sharp decline of the current account of the
balance of payments, from 11.2 percent of GDP in
1999 to 6.0 percent in 2000. This more favorable
external position in turn restored confidence in the
litas, and international credit ratings have been upgrad-
ed, while spreads for Lithuanian debt versus benchmark
U.S. treasury bonds narrowed sharply during 2000. A host of structural reforms were implemented in 2000
Gross official foreign exchange reserves increased by and the first half of 2001. Key steps included the pas-
US$150 million during 2000 to US$1.37 billion, sage of a new bankruptcy law and amendments to the
equivalent to 2.6 months' of imports. External debt labor law in March 2001, privatization of the Savings
has increased modestly, from 27.0 percent of GDP at Bank and the Lithuanian Shipping Company to foreign
end-1999 to 27.3 percent at end-2000. investors with commitments for significant investments
in the two companies in the coming years, and accession
1.3 Inflation to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in May 2001.
The economic recovery has accelerated in 2001, with
GDP growth picking up to 4.4 percent in the first quar-
ter of 2001. While exports have continued to grow by
12.9 percent, domestic demand has also begun to recov-
er, growing by 5.6 percent in the first quarter, following
a decline of domestic demand by 0.2 percent in 2000.
The authorities have targeted a further reduction of the
fiscal deficit to 1.4 percent in 2001. In spite of the lower
fiscal deficit, a further reduction of the current account
is not anticipated, given the overall recovery of domes-
tic demand, in particular of investment.
Price inflation has remained quite modest in Lithuania,
reflecting in part the peg of the litas to the dollar and Given the world economic slowdown, GDP growth is
the strength of the dollar versus the euro. Consumer cautiously projected to accelerate from 3.3 percent in
price inflation measured just 0.8 percent in 1999 and 2000 to 3.6 percent in 2001 and further to 4.7 percent in
1.0 percent in 2000. Monetary conditions have also 2002. The current account deficit is expected to remain
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Chapter 1
CURRENT DEVELOPMENT SITUATION IN LITHUANIA
in the range of 5.5 to 6.5 percent of GDP over the medi- with the emergence of new forms of employment. The
um-term, a level which should be comfortably financed restructuring of employment caused a decrease in
by foreign direct investment. External debt ratios are employment in the industrial sector and an increase in
expected to remain moderate and stable, and inflation the share of total employment devoted to services and
should remain low, less than 3 percent per annum. agriculture. An increase in employment in the private
sector has coincided with a reduction in the role of the
state in regulating employment and labour relations.
In 2000, 20,1% of the labour force worked in industry
and 6,1 % in construction. The services sector is devel-
oping fast, employing 54,2 % of the labour force.
Nevertheless, the Lithuanian economy depends relative-
ly heavily on agriculture as far as employment is con-
cerned (19,6 % of the labour force was employed on
farms and other agriculture related activities in 2000,
while only 7.6% of GDP was produced in the sector).
Structural reforms in the near term will target a strength- The agricultural sector needs restructuring, as the plots
ening of municipal finances, pension reform, improve- of the land the farmers obtained during the privatiza-
ments in tax administration and in the business climate. tion are too small and inefficient to be profitable.
The authorities will undertake the privatization of the
Agriculture Bank-the last remaining state-owned bank-
and the restructuring and sale of Lithuanian Power and
Lithuanian Gas. To reduce unemployment in the medi-
um term, the government will foster labor market flexi-
bility and job training, as well as a strengthened and bet-
ter-targeted social safety net. More generally, structural
reforms are targeted to facilitate Lithuania's accession to
the European Union, to improve competitiveness and to
promote income growth.
1.5 Employment
1.6 Unemployment
According to the Labour Exchange the unemployment
rate rose from 4.4% in 1993 to 11,5 % in 2000. Labour
Force Surveys that were carried out by the Department
of Statistics indicate a much higher level of unemploy-
ment (14.1% in 1999). The wide differences in region-
al unemployment levels reveal that the highest unem-
ployment is found in and surrounding the large cities
and in agricultural regions. The rise in youth and long-
The very broad and intensive economic transforma- term unemployment is an issue of concern.
tions in Lithuania resulted in radical changes in
employment. Employment trends in the country 1.7 Social Security
between 1990 and 1999 are characterized by the emer-
gence of unemployment, unofficial employment and a Social security policy in Lithuania since the regaining
decrease in total employment until 1996. A slow of independence had to deal with confronting issues:
increase in employment from 1996 to 1998 coincided the system had to be adjusted to a market economy and
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to provide a social security net for the population neg- well as state interference. Nevertheless, fiscal discipline
atively affected by the transition process. Replacement and control of current account deficit has to be main-
rate of the average old age pension is quite low to com- tained. Furthermore, the gains and burdens of socio-
pare with that of other European countries, it makes up economic reforms have been distributed unequally in
to 40% of net average salary in the country. In spite of the society. Differences in possibilities of economic
quite low pensions and other payments from The Social activity for the population, variations in income from
Insurance Fund, the public pension system remains the state and private sector make big cities (especially
financially unsustainable in the long-term, the Fund's Vilnius and Klaipeda) more advantageous in compari-
budget deficit is constantly increasing. Private social son to the communities of rural municipalities.
insurance still does not exist in the country (in spite of
the enforced law allowing for the establishment of pri-
vate pension funds). In order to solve social insurance
budget deficit problems and to allow future pensioners
to enjoy higher income replacement rate, the
Government has placed renewed emphasis on a more
fundamental pension reform envisaging three-pillar
system. The first pillar is expected to remain financed
by pay-as-you-go principle, the second - compulsory
funded pillar, and the third one - voluntary funded
pension.
From the human development point of view, there are Lithuania's current reform agenda is often conditioned
differences in labour and other income depending on by its overarching goal of achieving membership in the
the place of residence, i.e. better conditions are in cities European Union (EU). At its Helsinki summit of
and regions where industry is more developed. These December 1999, the EU invited Lithuania to begin for-
variations in income determine different demand for mal membership negotiations. This has led to an empha-
social assistance and social services in Lithuania. Much sis on pursuing harmonization with EU directives in a
higher amount of social assistance benefits is paid per broad range of areas. Reforms which will promote this
one rural inhabitant than per one urban inhabitant. objective while also improving growth prospects include:
Since most of the social assistance payments are income (I) strengthening public administration, both at the cen-
or means tested, this indicates that in terms of living tral and sub-national levels; (II) accelerating the restruc-
standards the situation is quite different in rural areas turing of agriculture and agro-processing to raise the
from that in cities and towns. competitiveness of these sectors; (III) limiting direct and
hidden State aids; (IV) continuing the fight against cor-
Lithuania has preserved macroeconomic stability and ruption; and (V) establishing the budgetary institutions
managed to reduce the fiscal and external imbalances as for effective absorption of EU pre-accession support.
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Chapter 2
DEMOGRAPHY
2.2. Factors affecting the size of the
DEMOGRAPHY Lithuanian population
2.1 Size of the Lithuanian Population 2.2.1. Vital statistics
The Lithuanian people suffered through a tumultuous In the past decade, 1993 marked the last year in which
half-century and have finally seen the light at the end the birth rate was higher than the mortality rate, thus
of the tunnel beginning with their reestablishment of there was a modest natural increase in the population
independence in 1990. Figure D-1 shows the pattern of until then. From 1994 on, the mortality rate began to
contraction and growth of the Lithuanian population exceed the birth rate resulting in a slow, natural
from 1939 to 2001, though the data points are few and decrease in the population (Figure B-2).
far between prior to 1989. Before World War II, 77%
of Lithuania's people lived in rural areas. By 1970, the
population was half-urban and half-rural. The popula-
tion reached a peak in 1992 with 3.7469 million peo-
ple, and by then 68.5% of the people lived in urban
centres. Since 1992 the number of inhabitants has
decreased slowly. In January, 2001, the population
declined to 3.6926 million people with 68.1% living in
urban centres and 31.9% living in rural areas.
2.2.2. Migration to and from Lithuania:
Figure B-3 displays the pattern of migration over the
past decade. From 1990 to 1993, there were massive
numbers of people leaving and coming to Lithuania
following the reestablishment of independence in
March of 1990. Larger numbers were exiting the coun-
try than entering it, resulting in a negative net migra-
tion. With Lithuania's achievement of moderate sta-
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bility in the political arena, the migration pattern also foetus is legally aborted. If the abortion rate were
achieved some stability from 1994 to the present. lower, then most likely the birth rate and fertility rate
During this period, only a small negative or positive net would increase, which might then promote a natural
migration has been observed. increase in the population.
2.2.3. Fertility: 2.2.5. Marriage and divorce:
The marriage and divorce rates also indirectly affect
the birth and fertility rates, which in turn affect the
size of the population. The marriage rate has decreased
from 5.0 marriages per 1,000 population in 1998 to
4.6 marriages per 1,000 population in 2000. At the
same time that the overall marriage rate has decreased,
the overall divorce rate has increased. Figure B-6 dis-
plays the pattern of the divorce rate over the past 7
years by residential area. The overall divorce rate
decreased from 1993 to 1995, and from then it has
The total fertility rate also affects the size of the increased, reaching a rate of 64.4 in 2000. Generally,
Lithuanian population. Figure B-4 displays the pattern the divorce rate in urban areas was higher than the
of the total fertility rate in Lithuania over the past divorce rate in rural areas, except for the period from
decade. In 1990, the rate was 2.02, and it has been in 1997 to 1998 when the rural rate was minimally high-
steady decline ever since. In 2000, it reached a decade er than the urban rate.
low of 1.28. The figure also displays the fertility rate
that is needed for population stability. The conclusion
is that Lithuanian women are having fewer and fewer
children, which contributes to the decline in the
Lithuanian population, as observed in Figure B-1.
2.2.4. Abortion:
2.3. Distribution of the Lithuanian
population by residential area
Figure B-5 shows the pattern of the legally induced and age group
abortion rate over the past 7 years. In 1993, the abor-
tion rate was 743.4 abortions per 1,000 live births. Figure B-7 displays the percentage distribution of the
The rate peaked at 763.8 abortions in 1995, and from 2000 urban and rural populations by age group and
then it has declined to a rate of 481.1 abortions in gender. The distribution of the urban population fits a
2000. This is still considered a fairly large rate. normal, bell-shaped curve fairly well. However, the
distribution of the rural population shows the curve
The 2000 abortion rate of 481.1 abortions per 1,000 skewed mostly to the right (the 60+ years old group)
live births means that for every 2 live births almost 1 and somewhat to the left (the <=15 years old groups).
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The figure shows that the rural population has a greater
proportion of their population under working age
(<=15 years old) than the urban population by 2.3%, as
well as a greater proportion of elderly (60+ years old)
by 5.5%. The younger age groups are not in the labour
force and thus are not a source of income for the house-
holds they live in. Similarly, most of the older group is
not in the work force and contribute only pension
income to their households.
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of abuse of official position. In April 1998, the
GOVERNANCE Government adopted a decree on measures against eco-
nomic and financial crimes, organized crime and cor-
Since regaining its independence in 1990, Lithuania ruption.
has been confronted with the necessity to create nation-
al state institutions of democratic governance based on An evaluation of the frequency and the extent of
political freedoms and the rule of law. Development of "bribe tax" in Lithuania was presented in the
governance in Lithuania apart from creating national Transition Report of the European Bank for
legislation, concentrates on the establishment and Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in collabo-
strengthening of public institutions responsible for the ration with the World Bank*. The data from the report
enforcement of legislation. Courts, tax inspections and indicates that there are about 23% of firms bribing fre-
customs are established to assure law, order and fair rev- quently in Lithuania. According to the PHARE survey
enues of the state. Ministries, committees of the gov- (1999), corruption is condemned by 74.1% of the
ernment, county and municipal administrations are the population, but 60.4% of respondents are prepared to
main bodies for the design and supervision of policies give at least a token bribe in order to resolve certain
on national, regional and local levels. The Social issues.
Insurance Fund, the Labour Exchange, the State
Patient Fund are the main agencies responsible for the
implementation of social policies and the functioning
of the social safety net.
All general and municipal elections are free and dem-
ocratic since 1990. Lithuania has achieved stability of
institutions guaranteeing democracy and the rule of
law. The EU Commission concluded in 1999 that
Lithuania fulfils the Copenhagen political criterion. It
means that there are significant achievements not only
in stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy,
the rule of law, but also in protection of human rights
and respect for minorities. Nevertheless, there are
areas which still need attention: the fight against cor- Corruption is not only a regional, but an international
ruption and the continued reform of the judiciary. danger as well. This phenomenon is especially danger-
Relatively high level of crime is among the biggest ous for newly established democracies taking in to
concerns as well. account relative weaknesses of public administration.
Technical assistance for the implementation of the
3.1 Corruption still remains a source of concern, in recently adopted National Anti-corruption strategy
spite of a number of important measures in the fight may be considered as an important arena of future
against it. Empirical evidence on corruption is limited, activities of international organizations and bilateral
but the general perception appears to be that corrup- co-operation.
tion is below CIS levels and close to that in Central
Europe. According to the 2000 global survey of Progress in legal and judicial reform is particularly
Transparency International, Lithuania is ranked 38 and needed. Many laws are excessively detailed and obscure,
the level of corruption is decreasing. Relevant legal acts permitting wide variation in interpretation. Court pro-
that took effect in 1997 include a public procurement ceedings sometimes are too lengthy, especially in com-
law (on which more work is needed for EU harmoniza- mercial cases, hampering the application of the new
tion and to improve enforcement); a law on the com- bankruptcy law. The main immediate areas of concern
patibility of public and private interests in the public are staffing shortages, poor training and organizational
service; and a law on financing political campaigns. A problems despite an increase in the number of judges,
"clean hands" commission has investigated some cases and some improvements in their training.
16 * EBRD Transition Report 1999, ISBN 1 898802 11 4
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Chapter 3
GOVERNANCE
3.2 Decentralization of government responsi- ment of administrative capacities in the country: ration-
bilities has been extensive. Its real impact is limited by alization of public administration functions, develop-
weak capacity of local governments, especially as con- ment of accountability regimes, introduction of per-
cerns the budget (limited allocation of funds based on formance management, as well as involvement of private
government strategy and priorities, weaknesses in institutions in policy implementation.
financial management), and by the lack of a tradition
of municipal governance. A further wave of sub-nation- 3.4 Democratic reforms were backed by appearance of
al reform is planned in which the number of municipal independent mass media and the Civil society .
governments will be increased in stages, compounding Among positive developments in relation to governance,
the problem of inadequate capacity. The EU is sup- increasing number of non-governmental organizations
porting improvements in capacity to handle EU pre- taking active part in decision-making process is signifi-
accession and structural funds but these efforts need to cant. After the restoration of the independence, the
be placed within a broader framework of effective pub- Constitutional right to establish or join NGOs became
lic expenditure management. More work also needs to an effective means of civil development. NGOs are
be done to strengthen external and internal auditing becoming more professional, developing their organiza-
and financial control, in both ministries and local gov- tional capacities. The number of NGOs is increasing
ernments. Capacities of local governments have to be with years. There were about 1,500 in beginning of the
developed by strengthening municipal finances and nineties, and about 5,000 of NGOs were active in 1999.
training civil servants employed by municipalities. In spite of the increasing number of NGOs, the partic-
ipation level of the public in their activities is very low
As for enhancement of regional policies, there were - only 9% of the population are members of NGOs*.
quite a few positive developments taking place in
Lithuania. A law on regional development was adopted
in 2000. This law aims at establishing the legal basis for
the formulation and implementation of regional devel-
opment policies. The National Regional Development
Agency became operational in November 1999, but due
to its limited human and financial resources it had dif-
ficulties in carrying out its foreseen tasks. The introduc-
tion of structures for monitoring and evaluation of
regional development should get a priority. The
strengthening of regional structures needs to focus more
on the establishment of local and regional partnerships.
3.3 Public administration reform has been high With support and assistance from the international
on the agenda during the last decade. One of the require- donor community, NGOs are more successfully engag-
ments for EU membership refers to establishment of ing governmental authorities on both the national and
adequate administrative structures and capacity. With local levels. The dialogue between NGOs and governing
external support, including assistance from UNDP, a institutions has become considerably more open and
number of important measures have already been taken constructive during the last years. Nevertheless, a more
to ensure appropriate state administration: support to enabling environment for capacity building and long-
the development of a professional civil service, improv- term sustainability of NGOs is needed. In particular
ing policy management across levels of government, NGOs in rural areas need support. The United Nations
improving the relationship between the public adminis- system together with the donor community in general
tration and citizens, introducing strategic management has played a significant role in strengthening the NGO
and programme budgeting and others. Regardless of the community. At a time when operational assistance to
significant progress that has been made, however, several such civil society institutions is declining, it is impor-
areas remain in which reforms are still to be introduced. tant that governmental support as well as contributions
Progress in the following areas is crucial for the improve- from the private sector and others are unleashed.
* According to the National Public Opinion Survey Report "NGOs in Lithuania", June, 1998, Vilnius. Conducted by Social Information Centre 17
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3.5 Information and Communication Tech- To summarize, in spite of significant achievements in
nologies (ICT) in development: In order to facil- development of state governance institutions based on
itate communication between state and citizens, the gov- principles of democracy and rule of law, there are areas
ernment has established a working group responsible for for future improvement. Assistance to the Government
creation of a model for e-governance. Its realization in dealing with problems of corruption and crime,
would allow to considerably improve the provision of development of regional policies, accountable adminis-
state services on national and local levels. It is foreseen as trative structures, and enhancement of civil society
a wide spectrum of services available through internet, would improve national governance institutions' trans-
simple and flexible application procedures. The parency and accountability to the people.
Lithuanian Parliament adopted a "White Paper" on an
ICT Strategy for Lithuania in 2001.
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Chapter 4
HUMAN RIGHTS
- protocol 6 abolishing the death penalty. In 2001,
HUMAN RIGHTS Lithuania ratified the 1996 European Social Charter.
Since regaining its independence in 1990, Lithuania Establishment of the Centre for Human Rights in 1994
put in place a sound legal and institutional framework is among positive facts in this area as well. The activi-
for the protection of human rights. In March 1991 the ties of the Centre are aimed at the most pressing issues
Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania committed of human rights, and attempt to fill the gaps in the
itself to adhering to the principles of the Universal education and information of the general public, espe-
Declaration of Human Rights, adopted a resolution to cially teachers and lawyers, on human rights.
accede to the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights and the International The role of the mass media and NGOs in promoting
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The and protecting human rights is important and the
Constitution is based on the ideas and principles of the Constitution backs this up. It has to be assured that the
above international human rights documents. The role of mass media and NGOs is broadened and
Constitution guarantees unconditional respect for enhanced in the future as well.
human rights and freedoms, guarantees the most
important civil and political rights - the right to private 4.1. Challenges in the Human Rights area
property, the right to freedom and the inviolability of a
private life, the right to the free expression of beliefs, to One of the significant achievements within the legal
assembly, to free speech and a free press, and the right system reform is the adoption of the Civil and Criminal
to participate in the governing of the country. Codes, which will enter into force gradually starting
Economic, social and cultural rights are given consider- from mid-2001. The Code of Criminal Procedure is
ation in the Constitution as well. In 1995 Lithuania still under preparation.
ratified the European Convention for the Protection of
Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR) However, continued reform of the system of human
together with its additional Protocols 4, 7, 11 and later rights protection is needed since not always national
laws and newly established or reformed institutions are
Institutional reform of the judicial system included: functioning effectively. Among the concerns in the pro-
· Reforming of the court system of general jurisdiction (there is a four- tection of human rights in Lithuania is the practical
tiered court system which replaced two-tiered system since 1995),
application of the laws defending human rights. The
· Introduction of a system of specialised administrative courts in 1999,
· Establishment of the Constitutional Court in order to maintain extent to which various groups are protected and
constitutional supervision in 1993, ensured differs. There is more achieved in protecting
· Reforming the prosecutor's office and police. civil, political and cultural rights until now compared
with economic rights. All-embracing national system of
Besides judicial procedures there are other instruments
monitoring of the implementation of human rights is
for defending human rights in Lithuania:
· the Committee on Human Rights in the Seimas; yet to be developed. Raising awareness of judiciary and
· the Parliamentary Ombudsman institution, established in 1994; the public at large of the protection of human rights
· the Office of the Ombudsman of Equal Opportunities for Women available under international and regional human
and Men, established in 1999; rights instruments remains to be an issue in need of
· the Office of the Ombudsman of Children's Rights;
continuous efforts.
· an independent media: many journalistic investigations help law
and order institutions uncover serious crimes and their perpetrators;
· growing network of non-governmental human rights organizations. The above concerns will be addressed through UN-
The involvement of civil society and its democratic institutions are assisted drafting and adoption of a National Action
now gaining the opportunity for having a real input into enhancing
Plan for the Promotion and Protection of Human
the human rights. Such NGOs deal mostly with the problems of
children, violence against women, integration of ex-convicts into
Rights, in response to the 1993 Vienna World
society, reduction of poverty (both charitable and project oriented Conference on Human Rights. Under the leadership of
organizations), protection of rights and assistance to asylum seekers the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights, the
and refugees. participatory process of drafting the Action Plan is
expected to be finalised by the end of 2002.
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Among the challenges for the country in protection of 4.2. Rights of Women, Children and Youth
human rights is development of multi-disciplinary edu-
cational programs (starting with schools and ending Another human rights area where greater progress is
with professional training) aiming at informing the needed concerns protection of rights of women, chil-
general public, youth as well as officials on human dren and youth. There are quite a few achievements
rights. Although since the regaining of independence, and positive trends in Lithuania following the UN
Lithuanians have become more socially conscious and Fourth Conference on Women in Beijing.
aware of human rights, not all society members are
informed equally about them and mechanisms available Among the most significant developments:
to protect them. According to a UNDP-commissioned · The Government in 1996 approved the Action Plan for the
Advancement of Women in Lithuania. The Action Plan is being
public opinion poll in November 2000, nine out of ten
implemented in collaboration with Government institutions and
Lithuanian people think that human rights in women's NGO, the most successful implementation process took
Lithuania are either systematically (38.6%) or occa- place with regard to legislative and educational activities;
sionally (54%) violated. One out of four believes that · The national machinery for dealing with women's issues
there is no system of human rights protection in launched in 1994 was gradually expanded;
· The NGO "Women's Issues Information Centre" (WIIC) was
Lithuania; two thirds of the respondents claim that
established with support from UNDP as a focal point to follow
while such a system exists, it is not effective. Just over up on the Beijing Platform for Action. Creation of the databases
40% of people believe that they themselves should pro- and development of gender statistics at the WIIC formed the
tect their rights, and only 17% consider it to be a task basis for gender analysis, which enables the Government to
introduce gender-mainstreaming policies;
of NGOs.
· The Law on Equal Opportunities came into effect in 1999;
· The Office of the Ombudsman for Equal Opportunities was
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees established and started monitoring the enforcement of the provi-
(UNHCR) continuous work in educating secondary sions of the above law at the same year making Lithuania among
school teachers in human right topics and particularly the pioneers in the region in this area;
· The number of women's organizations grew significantly. They have
rights of asylum seekers and refugees, including supply
become stronger and more influential. By 1st January 1999, 63
and development of teaching materials and methodolo- NGO were active in the field of women or gender equality issues.
gies, could be mentioned as a successful UN initiative
in this respect.
Positive changes in the status of women and the provision
Among human rights trends, noticeable improvements of equal opportunities are noticeable in several spheres of
in reforming the police and the army should be men- life. However, at the same time, gender equality has to be
tioned. There has been a significant reduction in improved in many spheres. Women in Lithuania are
human rights violations committed by army officials. underrepresented significantly in some professions and in
Nevertheless, the abuse of detention laws and abuse of a managerial sector as a whole, they are in a disadvan-
power by police still happens occasionally. taged position in the labour market. Political representa-
tion and participation in decision-making processes in
Another problematic area related to the human rights general remains an open problem. Considering the drop
protection concerns conditions in overcrowded and of women in parliament from 18 % to 10.6 % after the
poorly maintained jails, especially in pre-trial confine- elections in 2000, (compared to the increase from 7 % to
ment facilities. Prolonged detention in some cases is 18 % in the 1996 elections), there are indications that
still a problem. One development regarding the stronger co-operation, mutual support among women, as
administration of prisons the transfer of the well as specific programmes to address the issue are need-
Penitentiary department from the Ministry of the ed. Another crucial problem to be addressed is violence
Interior to the Ministry of Justice. The country is against women, and domestic violence in particular. An
attempting to reform its prison system; however, the institutional mechanism for dealing with problems of
progress has been very slow. Positive developments domestic violence is being formed only very slowly.
could be mentioned in respect of substantial improve-
ment of living conditions for asylum seekers. The protection of children's and youth rights and wel-
fare fall under the official responsibility of the
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Ministries of Social Security and Labour and of the everybody to exercise them (men, women, children and
Interior. Children's Rights Service of the Ministry of youth, rural and urban residents). Laws do not always
Social Security was established in 1994 in order to reflect and balance the various interests of the public.
focus more attention on the social welfare needs of chil- Political and civil rights are far ahead of socio-econom-
dren. The institution of the Controller (Ombudsman) ic rights. Poverty strikes families with children more
for protection of the rights of the child was established often than other groups of the population, depriving
in 2000. The Government in 2000 approved the the children of poor families from vital capabilities nec-
National Programme Against Commercial Sexual essary for their future lives. The situation regarding
Abuse and Sexual Violence against Children. human rights awareness and development in rural areas
International organizations have been active in protect- and small towns is significantly worse than that in the
ing children rights and welfare as well. Despite the large cities. Various UN agencies provided significant
established institutional and legal framework to deal support to the Lithuanian government in ensuring that
with problems of children, there are areas that need human rights are protected in Lithuania after the
improvement. Local institutions dealing with the rights regaining the independence. The above-mentioned
of children are severely understaffed. Problems of child areas for improvement or concern in the protection of
abuse, improving of child protection in public care, human rights can be regarded as an important chal-
increasing number of out-of-school children, child lenge for the future partnership with UN agencies.
prostitution, increasing juvenile delinquency, alcohol
and drug abuse among youth (under-18) are of very 4.3. Asylum seekers and refugees
important concern of the state.
Another important area in the protection of human
rights in Lithuania concerns the situation of asylum
seekers, refugees and foreigners in general. This area
can be characterised as one of those where very rapid
improvements were made and progress achieved (e.g.
introduction and operation of alternative status of pro-
tection for those foreigners who do not fall under the
criteria of refugee, but are nevertheless in need of pro-
tection under international human rights instruments;
substantial revision of legislation in order to align with
the EU requirements and approval of National Action
Plan in the field of asylum, effective operation of free
legal aid system for asylum seekers established by the
UNHCR and implemented by the NGO, as well as
Reform of the juvenile criminal justice has started in partnership work of NGOs with the Ministry of Social
1998 under the UNDP and UNICEF assisted Security and Labour and local municipalities in imple-
Programme. The Programme, which should continue menting social integration of refugees).
through 2002, aims at reducing juvenile criminality
through modernisation and humanisation of the juve- In spite of obvious achievements in this area, there are
nile criminal justice. The reform includes changes in still problems faced, in particular in the area of social
the legislation, specialisation of the relevant legal insti- integration of refugees, including unwillingness of local
tutions as well as a public awareness campaign. municipalities to receive refugees and legal obstacles in
Lithuania is considered to be among the pioneers in implementing social integration of humanitarian
this field in the region. refugees (e.g. limited access to state guaranteed health
care, no access to certain social benefits). Legal and
To conclude, it can be said that despite the solid legal financial obstacles for extending residence permits of
foundations supporting human rights, they are not humanitarian refugees hamper the effective operation
equally assured either in terms of their nature (political, of alternative protection regime. Positive developments
economic, social) or in terms of the possibility for throughout 2001 to revise the main Refugee Act are
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launched a regional advocacy campaign against traf-
ficking in women.
Quantitative and qualitative crime indicators have
changed in a negative direction faster than a new and
adequate system for crime control and prevention has
been created. Thus in the area of the human rights
protection as far as security of citizens is concerned,
initiation and implementation of local programs and
measures which would help to stop the increase in
crime and would provide special social assistance for
crime victims is needed. The creation of an effective
system of social crime prevention would improve the
diminished by introduction of restrictive approaches safety of the population and the protection of human
that may raise concern in view of Lithuania's commit- rights and interests.
ments under international instruments on human
rights and refugees. Lithuania, being an active participant in many
internationally acknowledged human rights
4.4. Crime organizations since regaining independence:
· pledged commitment to the principles of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights in 1991;
The state should guarantee social stability and the per- · acceded to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and
sonal security of its people. Beside governmental insti- Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and
tutions, an independent Centre for the Prevention of Political Rights in 1991;
· signed the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to
Crime in Lithuania which co-ordinates crime preven-
National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities of the
tion programs and activities has been established to UN in 1992. The Declaration influenced the development of
that end. Crime rates were increasing rapidly during national legislation: a Law on Religious Communities and
the last decade in Lithuania, only in 1999 they slowed Associations was adopted in 1995;
down. Property related and serious violent crime has · ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women in 1995;
grown and its proportion in the overall crime rate has
· ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1995 and
increased. Juvenile delinquency is growing faster than adopted national legislation concerning the rights of the child
the general crime rate (nearly half of all convicted crim- including the Law on Fundamentals of Protection of the Rights
inal offenders are between ages 14 and 24). Unless of the Child of 1996 and the Law on Childcare of 1998;
· acceded to the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel,
appropriate crime prevention measures are put into
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and Punishment in 1996;
effect, this tendency could result in a new wave of · ratified more than 20 ILO conventions, most of which directly
increasing criminal activity. related to fundamental human rights in 1994;
· ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Organized crime includes crimes related to manage- Discrimination in 1998;
· ratified the European Convention on the Protection of Human
ment and finance, trafficking in women and illegal
Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and other protocols addition
drugs, prostitution, etc., is both a national and an al to this Convention in 1995;
international problem. Broader and more effective · ratified the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol Relating to
inter-state co-operation by law and order institutions in the Status of Refugees in 1997. Rights of asylum seekers and
the sphere of prevention and control of organized crime refugees are protected under national legislation enforced in
1997 and substantially improved through revision in 2000;
is necessary. The situation demands implementation of
· ratified the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless
various mutual mechanisms of legal assistance such as Persons in 1999;
extradition, the tracing of suspects and operative meas- · ratified the 1996 European Social Charter in 2001.
ures outside national borders. IOM has recently
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POVERT Y
opportunity" condition. The people living in rural
POVERT Y areas experience poverty 2.6 times as often as city
dwellers (27.6% vs. 10.5%).
National governments at the World Social Summit in
Copenhagen in 1995 committed themselves to eradi- 5.1.1. Other factors affecting poverty
cate absolute poverty, to satisfy the basic needs of their
citizens, to make an effort to include marginalized Besides residential area, other factors affect whether
groups of society into a country's social and economic one lives in poverty, such as the type of household one
development, to ensure that people living in poverty lives in (single, couple, or other; with or without chil-
have access to resources and income enabling them to dren), the number of children in one's household, the
reach an acceptable standard of living. To that aim, The socio-economic group one belongs to, and the educa-
National Social Committee to develop the National tion level of one's household head. The following four
Poverty Reduction Strategy was established by the figures, D-2, D-3, D-4, D-5, display the poverty levels
President of the Republic of Lithuania in 1999. The for each category of these factors by year.
Poverty Reduction Strategy was approved and present-
ed to the President and public in May 2000. The 5.1.2. Household type
Strategy presents a concept of poverty, defines its meas-
ures, describes the spread and nature of it, identifies
most vulnerable groups of the society, and defines
strategic goals for poverty prevention and its elimina-
tion. In 2001, by Presidential decree, a Poverty
Monitoring Commission was established as a watchdog
entity representing various stakeholders. A Poverty
Reduction Action Plan is to be prepared with assistance
from the UN system during the first quarter of 2002,
with a view to the implementation of the Strategy.
5.1. Extent of poverty in Lithuania
In 2000, almost one in every six Lithuanians, or 16%
of the Lithuanian people, lived below the relative
poverty line. The relative poverty line is estimated at
50% of the average consumer expenditure, and it is
used as the main indicator of poverty. Figure D-1 dis-
plays the percentage of people living below the relative
poverty line by residential area from 1996 to 2000. It
is immediately apparent that poverty is not an "equal
Figure D-2 shows for years 1996-2000 the poverty level
by household type, which is a combination of two fac-
tors: household head (couple, single, or other) and child
status (whether or not a household has children less than
18 years old). Child status, taken alone, is the more
important factor. Households without children are
much less likely to be poor than households with chil-
dren. But household head, taken alone, is also impor-
tant. Generally, households headed by couples are less
likely to be poor than households headed by singles, and
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households headed by others (e.g. more than two adults, Figure D-4 shows the poverty level by socio-economic
extended generations, etc.) are the most likely to be poor. group for years 1996-2000. People self-employed in a
business other than agriculture are the least likely to be
5.1.3. Number of children poor. In 2000, only 7.7% of these self-employed peo-
ple were poor, compared to 11% of hired workers, and
20.4% of pensioners. The poorest were self-employers
in agriculture at 35.3% and others at 41.1%. The per-
centage of farmers living in poverty has grown most dra-
matically, from 26.3% in 1996 to 39.9% in 1999. In
2000, the poverty level for farmers decreased to 35.3%.
5.1.5. Education level of household head:
Figure D-5 displays the poverty level by education level
of household head for the years 1997-1999. As expect-
ed, households headed by people with higher education
(university and above) are the least likely to be poor
(2.2% in 1999). And those households headed by peo-
ple with only basic or less education are the most likely
to be poor (26.3% and 26.6% in 1999). In 1999,
Figure D-2 showed the importance of child status on households headed by people with intermediate educa-
poverty level. But the number of children less than 18 tion, specialized secondary (vocational) or secondary,
years old is also important. Figure D-3 displays the pover- had poverty levels of 10.3% and 19.4%, respectively.
ty level by number of children for years 1997-1999. The There was a very slight trend during those three years for
probability of being poor increases with the number of the poverty level to decline for households whose heads
children. The biggest difference occurs between house- had at least a secondary education. For those households
holds with 3 or more children (35.4% in 1999) and all whose heads had basic or less education, the slight trend
other households (12.2% to 18.7% in 1999). was in the reverse, with an increase in the poverty level.
5.1.4. Socio-economic group:
5.2. Rural vs. urban poverty
Earlier figures showed us that the poverty level is much
higher in rural areas than in urban centres and that
farmers are much more likely to be poor than the self-
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POVERT Y
employed in other businesses, hired workers, or pen- from self-employment in agriculture (24.2%), com-
sioners. The following figures will focus on factors that pared to 2.3% for urban dwellers. Rural people also
might partly explain the difficult conditions under received a higher percentage of their income from retire-
which rural people, and farmers in particular, live. ment pensions (20.7% vs. 13.1%) and other benefits
(13.1% vs. 8.2%) than urban people.
5.2.1. Disposable income
We have also seen from the distribution of the rural
population by age group that it is more heavily skewed
to the elderly and the young, the former group with
limited pension income and the latter group contribut-
ing no income to the household.
5.2.3. Consumption expenditure
Figure D-6 shows the average monthly disposable income
per capita by residential area for the years 1996-2000. In
1996, urban people had 31.1% more disposable income
then rural people. In 2000, the gap increased to 49.5%
more disposable income for urban people.
5.2.2. Sources of disposable income
Figure D-8 shows the average monthly consumption
Figure D-7 displays the percentage distribution of dis- expenditure per capita by residential area for the years
posable income by source and residential area for 2000. 1996-2000. In 1996, urban people spent 27.8% more
Urban dwellers derived 59.4% of their income from
employment, almost twice that of rural people (29.1%).
Rural people derived almost a quarter of their income
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money than rural people did. By 2000, urban dwellers D-11, D-12, D-13, display poverty level by a combina-
were spending 37.2% more money than rural people were. tion of two factors.
Figure D-9 displays the percentage being spent in differ- 5.3.1. Household type and residential area
ent categories by residential area in 2000. The most
noteworthy category is food and non-alcoholic bever- Figure D-11 shows us the poverty level by household
ages. Rural people spent a much greater percentage type and residential area. In 1999, the poverty level of
(56.2%) than urban people (40.4%) on food and non- rural households ranged from being 70% to 247%
alcoholic beverages. They also spent a slightly higher higher than urban households, depending on the
percentage on alcohol and tobacco than urban dwellers household type. Rural households showed a clear pro-
(4.4% vs. 3.8%). However, for all other categories, rural gression in poverty level, from the couple without chil-
people spent proportionally less than urban people. dren at 13.9% to the other household with children
<18 at 38.8%. On the other hand, urban households
showed no clear-cut progression in poverty level. The
household headed by a single adult with children<18
had the highest poverty level (21.5%) of all the urban
households. The urban couple without children had the
lowest poverty level at 5.9%.
Figure D-10 shows the percentage of employed people
in each economic sector compared to the percentage
that sector contributed to the gross domestic product of
2000. In a balanced economy, each economic sector's
percentages should be approximately equal. While
19.6% of employed people worked in the agriculture,
hunting & forestry, and fishing sector, it contributed
only 7.6% to the country's gross domestic product. The
percentage of employed people who worked in the con-
struction sector and the percentage it contributed to the 5.3.2. Socio-economic group and
economy are approximately equal. And the industry residential area
and services sectors, the largest sectors in the country,
contributed more to the economy, while employing Figure D-12 shows the poverty level by socio-economic
fewer people, proportionally. In effect, the agriculture group and residential area for 1999. The poverty level
sector can be considered a drain on the economy due to
this imbalance and inefficiency. The UN can be of
assistance in the modernization of the agriculture sector
and the retraining of farmers, as well as contributing to
the creation of income-generating activities.
5.3.Combination of factors examined
with regard to poverty level
Figure D-1 has already shown us that the probability of
being poor is 2.6 times more likely if one lives in rural
areas rather than urban centres. The next three figures,
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POVERT Y
for rural households ranged from being 63% to 411%
higher than urban households, depending on their
socio-economic group. With the exception of the others
group (53.2%), those self-employed in agriculture had
the highest poverty level at 40.6% among the rural peo-
ple. Again, with the exception of the others group
(32.6%), pensioners had the highest poverty level at
26.2% among the urban dwellers. Urban businessmen
had the lowest poverty level at 4.7%.
5.3.3. Education level of household head
and residential area rural households, whose head had only a basic education
level, had the highest poverty level at 35.7%. And among
Figure D-13 displays the poverty level by education level the urban households, those with a primary education or
of household head and residential area for 1999. The less reached the highest poverty level at 20.6%. Urban
poverty level of the rural households ranged from being households, whose head achieved a higher education
49% to 300% higher than the urban households, as the level, had the lowest poverty level at 1.5%.
education level of the household head climbed. Those
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in Lithuania and are in a vulnerable situation, are not
HEALTH yet covered by the state guaranteed health care system.
6.1. Reorganization of the health The dawn of health insurance in Lithuania has intro-
care system duced market principles in resource utilization and
finance-based services. The long-term results of this
Good health is not only an essential aspect of an indi- new system on the overall access to health care will have
vidual's well being, but collectively, it is a measure of a to be seen. Patients are now treated for shorter periods
society's wealth. Lithuania has fundamentally reorgan- of time at inpatient facilities, which decreases the aver-
ized its health care system during the past decade. age length of stay, which in turn makes these facilities
With international assistance, Lithuania has made rad- more accessible to all patients who need inpatient care.
ical changes in the legal framework and the financing of Patients pay no co-payments for the majority of inpa-
health care. The Law on a Health Care System (1994) tient and outpatient services. However, the low fees for
provides the legal framework for developing a health some services at inpatient facilities puts a financial con-
care policy and defines the roles of state and local gov- straint on these institutions, which then have to charge
ernments in administering the health care system. The patients for some of their medications and dressings.
health care laws passed in 1996 create the basis for This same low-fee structure exists for primary care out-
introducing health insurance and accrediting health patient facilities, making them also financially con-
care institutions. Despite the legal foundations for strained. Thus, the total number of medical facilities
health care reform, not all of the new laws are being has dwindled in rural areas, disadvantaging the rural
fully enforced. In 1998 Parliament approved the poor in terms of access to health care.
National Health Programme, which calls for action in
public health, general practice development, and med- The pharmaceutical market has been privatized, and
ical training; implementation of new medical technolo- there has been a constant growth in private dental prac-
gies; and restructuring of hospital sectors, all for the tices. The State Sickness Fund covers about 40% of
purpose of promoting healthy life styles, preventing national expenditures for medications and about 30%
diseases, and effectively treating sick people. of dental care costs. All together, patients are paying
about 25% of their total health care costs. This figure
National, regional, and municipal health authorities, as is among the highest in Europe.
well as state and territorial sickness funds, form an
institutional health network throughout the country. 6.3. Health status of the Lithuanian people
National legislation has contributed to the empower-
ment of municipalities and counties, but NGOs (repre- An evaluation of the most important health statistics
senting both patients and medical professionals) need during the past decade indicates improvement in many
to gain a stronger voice in the decision-making on areas of health. However, there remain many areas for
local, regional, and national levels. concern. The following discussion and figures will
examine the principal indicators reflecting the state of
6.2. Universal health care coverage health of the Lithuanian people.
Universal health care coverage is granted to all 6.3.1. Life expectancy
Lithuanian citizens and permanent residents under the
provisions of the Constitution, the Law on a Health Overall life expectancy at birth has increased about a
Care System, and the Law on Health Insurance. All half-year from 1990 at 72.33 years to 2000 at 72.87
employers and employees pay health insurance contri- years. At first look this does not seem much of an
butions, which amount to approximately 10% of each improvement, but when one looks at the entire decade,
employee's salary. The state budget pays the health one will notice that life expectancy at birth dipped to a
insurance contributions for the vulnerable social groups low in 1994 of 68.71 years, so the gain of 4.16 years in
of children, the elderly, and the unemployed. However, six years is quite an improvement indeed. Figure E-1
foreigners, who receive humanitarian residence permits shows the life expectancy at birth by residential area
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and gender for the past decade. Similar trends as the
overall above are noted. In 2000 the life expectancy at
birth of urban people is greater than rural people by
more than 4 years and the life expectancy at birth of
females is greater than males by more than 10 years on
average.
Figure E-3 shows the infant mortality rates for urban
and rural areas during the past decade. The rates are
higher in the rural than in the urban areas. Since over
half of infant deaths occur in the first 27 days of life, the
higher rural area's rates can partly be explained by a less-
6.3.2. Infant mortality er ability to reach in time the sophisticated neonatology
hospital units of major urban centres, which are rich in
The overall infant (less than 1 year of age) mortality technology to keep alive the sickest of newborns.
rate has improved over the past 10 years from 10.3
deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 8.5 deaths in
2000. The peak of the infant mortality rate came in
1992 with 16.5 deaths per 1,000 live births. So the
overall rate has been reduced almost in half in the past
8 years. Figure E-2 shows the infant mortality rate over
the past 10 years, as well as the neonatal and post-
neonatal mortality rates, of which the infant mortality
rate is comprised. The post-neonatal mortality rate
remains fairly steady during the 10-year period, but the
neonatal mortality rate mirrors the trends in the overall
infant mortality rate. Thus, we can conclude that the
improvement in the overall infant mortality rate in the
past 8 years is due primarily to the improvement in the
neonatal mortality rate. The spike in the neonatal mor-
tality rates in 1992 can partly be explained by the 1991
change in the minimum standards for the registration 6.3.3. Mortality
of newborn children (alive or dead), which were low-
ered to 500 grams and 22 weeks of gestation. Since The overall mortality rate during the past decade start-
children born alive at these new lower limits are at ed at 10.6 deaths per 1,000 average population in
increased risk of dying, the mortality rate subsequently 1990, rose slowly to 12.5 deaths in 1994, and then
shot up the following year. Before this legal change, decreased slowly to 10.5 deaths in 2000. Figure E-4
children born at these lower limits were not even shows the mortality experience over the past 10 years
counted. by residential area and gender. The mortality rates for
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rural people are higher than for urban people and sim- all areas for cardiovascular diseases, the number one
ilarly the rates for males are higher than for females. In cause of death in Lithuania, have decreased from 615.7
2000, rural people died 65% more frequently than deaths per 100,000 average population in 1990 to
urban people, and men died 23% more frequently than 566.4 deaths in 2000, after peaking in 1993 with a rate
females on average. of 671.5 deaths (Figure E-5). The 2000 mortality rate
for cardiovascular diseases in rural areas was 83%
greater than in urban areas.
Mortality rates over all areas for cancer, the second
leading cause of death, have increased steadily from a
rate of 188.0 deaths in 1990 to a rate of 211.4 deaths
in 2000 (Figure E-6). The 2000 cancer mortality rate in
rural areas was 35% greater than in urban areas.
The three main causes of mortality in Lithuania for the
past decade have been cardiovascular diseases, cancer,
and external causes (suicide, transport accidents, acci-
dental drowning, accidental alcohol poisoning, and
homicide, etc.). The following three figures, E-5, E-6,
E-7, show the mortality pattern of the above main
causes for the past decade by residential area. In all And the mortality rates over all areas due to external
three figures the rural mortality rates are considerably causes, the third leading cause of death, increased from
higher than those of urban areas. Mortality rates over a rate of 119.4 deaths in 1990 to a peak of 185.9 deaths
in 1994 and then decreased to a rate of 138.1 deaths in
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2000 (Figure E-7). The 2000 mortality rate of external Suicide: Suicide is the number one external cause of
causes in rural areas was 61% greater than in urban death for Lithuanians. The suicide rate was acutely
areas. high for rural males at 113.3 deaths per 100,000 aver-
age population. This rate was 97% higher than the rate
In 2000, cardiovascular diseases were the primary cause of 57.5 for urban males, 388% higher than the rate of
of 53.8% of the deaths. Cancer was the primary cause 23.2 for rural females, and 785% higher than the rate
of 20% of the deaths. And 13.1% of the deaths can be of 12.8 for urban females. The peak for suicides dur-
attributed to external causes. Together, these three main ing the past decade came in 1996 with an overall rate
causes accounted for 87% of the mortality in 2000. of 46.4. Since then it declined to 41.9 in 1999, but it
Figure E-8 below shows the mortality rate by main has risen again to 44.1 in 2000.
cause of death, residential area, and gender for 2000.
Males have higher mortality rates than females for can-
cer and external causes in both urban and rural areas.
But females have higher mortality rates than males for
cardiovascular diseases in both areas. This seemingly
contradictory finding can be explained in part because
females live on average 10 years longer than males and
because males are dying at earlier ages from other caus-
es. Over all ages, cardiovascular diseases are the number
one cause of death for both males and females.
However, after one examines age-specific causes, one
sees that external causes of death predominate for males
from the ages of 1 to 54 years and for females from the
ages of 1 to 44 years. Cancer, in particular breast can-
cer, is the number one cause of death for females from
the ages of 45 to 54 years. And from the age of 55 years
and up, cardiovascular diseases are the predominant
cause of death for both males and females.
Transport accidents: Transport accidents are the sec-
ond major external cause of death for Lithuanians. The
rate of 51.6 deaths per 100,000 average population for
rural males was very high. In fact their rate was 93%
higher than the rate of 26.7 for urban males, 334%
higher than the rate of 11.9 for rural females, and
670% higher than the rate of 6.7 for urban females.
Accidental drowning: Accidental drowning is another
major external cause of death for Lithuanians.
Similarly, we see rural males taking the lead in mortal-
ity. Their rate of 24.7 deaths per 100,000 average pop-
ulation is 87% higher than the rate for urban males,
375% higher than the rate of 5.2 for rural females, and
6.4. External causes of mortality 815% higher than the rate of 2.7 for urban females.
Since 13.1% of the deaths in Lithuania in 2000 can be Accidental Alcohol Poisoning: Accidental alcohol poi-
attributed to external causes, Figure E-10 displays the soning is a major external cause of death for
mortality rates due to different external causes by resi- Lithuanians. Here the mortality rate of 15.3 deaths per
dential area and gender. 100,000 average population for rural males is only 5%
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higher than the rate of 14.6 for urban males, but it is to those in the neighbouring countries. The driving
212% higher than the rate of 4.9 for rural females and force of the epidemic is injecting drug users (IDU).
264% higher than the rate of 4.2 for urban females. 65% of the HIV transmission in Lithuania occurs via
sharing of injecting equipment among IDUs.
Homicide: In the first quarter of 2001, the number of According to the Lithuanian AIDS Centre, since begin-
homicides has increased by 14.3% over the first quarter ning of the epidemic, there were a total number of 266
of 2000. For all of 2000 the rate of homicide for urban notified cases of HIV by the end of 2000. In 1999 the
males was the highest at 14.4 deaths per 100,000 pop- Ministry of Health estimated drug abuse prevalence at
ulation. This rate was only 1% higher than the rate of the rate of 83,3 per 100,000.
14.2 for rural males, but 109% higher than the rate of
6.9 for rural females and 260% higher than the rate of The epicentres of the epidemic are the city port
4.0 for urban females. Klaipeda, where the epidemic began in 1994 among the
Lithuanian sailors infected with HIV overseas, and cap-
6.5. Tuberculosis ital city Vilnius, where since 1997 the main transmis-
sion way is needle haring among the IDUs. Therefore,
IDUs are the most important focus group for HIV pre-
vention activities.
Lithuania has been experiencing a fast growing sex
industry during the last couple of years, hence, the sec-
ond focus group is female sex workers. Geographically,
the country is located between Byelorussia and the
Kaliningrad oblast of Russian Federation, therefore, it
houses the main transit routes from Russia and
Byelorussia to Russian enclave. There is an enormous
traffic of goods and people from these neighbours that
experience a bursting HIV epidemic. As there is no visa
requirement between Kaliningrad and Lithuania, a
considerable number of commercial sex workers and
The overall incidence of tuberculosis during the past 7 drug users make the passage to Lithuania.
years has risen from a rate of 50.8 new cases per
100,000 average population to a peak of 81.4 new cases
in 1998, and since then it has decreased to 72.2 new
cases in 2000. Figure E-11 shows the pattern of tuber-
culosis incidence from 1993 to 2000 by residential
area. We see that the incidence of tuberculosis is con-
siderably higher in rural areas than in urban areas
throughout the 7-year period.
6.6. HIV/AIDS
Although HIV infection in Lithuania has not yet
reached epidemic proportions and remains low com-
pared to many European countries, the number of HIV
carriers is growing. The need for continued vigilance is
especially significant considering that CEE and the CIS Men having sex with men are relatively vulnerable
region together with South-east Asia, has the fastest group too. Hence, although the epidemic in Lithuania
growth of new HIV infections in the world according is still in its beginning stage, concentrated mainly
to UNAIDS. The patterns of transmission are similar among IDUs, the sexual transmission has the strongest
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In Lithuania, low HIV prevalence rate is due, among
other things, to the existence and activities, since 1989,
of the National AIDS Centre, which is a reflection of
the political will existing at the highest levels of the
Government; as well as the strong partnership between
the authorities, civil society, private sector and the
media to tackle the epidemic at all fronts. However,
the level of awareness may not necessarily translate in
the same manner to all the decision-makers or to all
parts of the country. Therefore, advocacy work, the
efforts towards building working coalitions will have to
continue. The experience gained in Lithuania is valu-
potential of increase. This projection is supported by able, and may be useful for other countries. Although
the fact that the majority of HIV positive persons are national action is a must, HIV/AIDS and drugs are
younger than 30 and the major share of new infections cross-border issues and will have to be treated that way.
occur mostly among young people under 25. UN system has played a significant role in dealing with
Therefore, the youth as the most sexually active group the governance dimensions of the epidemic and will
are seen as a whole in need of special consideration. continue to do so.
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Along with the economic difficulties caused by the
EDUCATION recession in recent years, and advocacy for the stronger
role of the family has contributed to a decreasing num-
An investment in the intellectual development of the ber of nurseries and day care centres in the country.
nation is the foundation for sustainable human devel- The number of seats in those establishments was
opment. The increasing figures of GDP spent on edu- reduced in urban areas from 169,000 in 1990 to
cation in Lithuania indicate that it is a priority area for 68,000 in 1995 (in rural areas from 40,500 to 9,300
the nation. The reforms within the education system respectively). The number of children in pre-school
have adhered to the principles of democratisation, lib- institutions decreased from 163,000 in 1990 to 90,000
eralisation and integration into the European education in 1995, but increased to 96,000 in 1999.
system. The principles of humanism, national identity
and openness are permanently being developed as well.
The educational reforms are expected to speed up the
formation of free, independently thinking and acting
individuals and a civil, open and democratic society.
The data indicates that the pre-reform enrolment rates
for this age group are already achieved in urban areas,
but they are still quite low in rural areas. The number
of the available pre-school facilities is the restrictive fac-
tor in this type of education. There were 116 children
The Constitution guarantees free state education irre- in pre-school establishments per 100 available seats in
spective of gender, nationality, social background, belief 1999, and waiting lists are common.
or place of residence. According to the household surveys
carried out by the Department of Statistics, private 7.2. Compulsory education, as set by the Law on
spending in 1999 covered only 4% of total education Education, is 10 years (to the age of 16). Compulsory
budget. However free education of foreigners having per- education is free of charge, apart from partial payments
manent residence in the country on protection grounds for the textbooks. Free lunches are served for children
remains to be rather a declaration than a daily reality. from socially vulnerable families (e.g. families receiving
social assistance or unemployment benefits, having
7.1. Increased enrolment, one of the most impor- three or more children and single-parent families).
tant indicators of how an education system functions is
the involvement of the population in the learning From 7 to 10 years old children attend primary school
process. The increasing percent of GDP allocated to and from 11 to 16 years old basic or lower secondary
public education, from 4.8 % of GDP in 1993 to school. According to the data from the Department of
6.5 % in 1999, corresponds to the recovery and even Statistics, there were 4.1% of children aged 7-15
increase of children enrolment ratio. The net primary (21,000) out of school in 1998. Compulsory education
enrolment ratio of children between 7-10 of age of children from socially deprived families is among the
increased from 91.1 % in 1996 to 94.8 % in 2000. biggest concerns. Local municipalities and NGOs are
Similarly, the ratio for net secondary enrolment for the active in assuring the basic education for children from
age group 11-18 increased from 83.9 % in 1996 to poor or dysfunctional families. Constant monitoring of
88.4 % in 2000. In addition, there has been a decrease enrolment by age, regions and social groups is very
in the number of drop-outs not reaching grade 5 (10 important in order to develop and implement more tar-
years), from 1.98 in 1993 to only 0,41 in 2000. geted educational policies.
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Chapter 7
EDUCATION
A unique feature of the education system in Lithuania The majority of young people (more than 95%) in
is the right of Lithuanian residents speaking Slavic lan- Lithuania continue education after compulsory school.
guages to use mother tongue as a main language in About 70% of this age group enter general secondary
compulsory education. 7.7% of pupils in basic schools schools and about 30% join vocational schools to get
used Russian and 3.8% Polish language for studying professional training. The percentage of girls studying
main subjects during year 1999-2000. Such percentage in secondary schools is higher than boys (57% of pupils
is rather high taking into account that there were only are females), while boys make up for higher percentage
8.1% Russians and 6.9% Poles in Lithuania in 1999. in vocational schools (60% of pupils are males). The
percentage of children seeking higher education is
Among the positive changes in the education system, lower in less developed or distant regions and among
increasing demand for studying foreign languages children from poor families. Social differences are
should be noted. Training in western languages has becoming even more important, when college or uni-
increased since Lithuania regained independence. More versity education is concerned.
and more students acknowledge the importance of
being able to use foreign languages. The most popular Primary and secondary schools are funded from local
languages are English and Russian, followed by government and district budgets. The school budgets of
German and French. many local governments are at a deficit and are sup-
ported by grants from the state budget. Deficit financ-
7.3. ICT in schools, some secondary schools have ing does not guarantee that teachers' salaries are paid on
computer classes but it is not the case in the majority of time, nor does it guarantee the means for acquiring and
them. As it was stated in the Lithuanian Human maintaining equipment and facilities. The largest part
Development Report 2000, between 1998 and 1999, of school financing goes towards paying salaries and
there was one computer for every 55 pupils in grades 5 utilities. The fact that local governments have unequal
to 12. Information technology classes were given in financial resources also means that they finance teaching
84% of urban schools and just 16% of rural secondary aids and facilities differently, despite the fact that basic
schools and gymnasiums (15 to 18 years). The figures and secondary schools are required to guarantee a uni-
for basic schools are 21% and 5% respectively. Scarcity form, state-designed standard of education.
of financing and lack of qualified teachers is usually
blamed for inadequate computer literacy. Insufficient 7.4. Students in higher education, the dynam-
investment in education, as far as computer instalment ics of higher education follow the same pattern as the
in schools is concerned, does not allow the younger majority of social-economic indicators of the country.
generation to fully benefit from the advances in new Admissions to higher schools increased by 4,700 in
technology. Technical assistance from international 1999. About 85% of graduates from secondary school
donors may significantly shorten the distance to the e- continued their studies in higher schools in 1998 com-
world. pared to only 65% in 1992.
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Apart from quantitative changes there are qualitative financial situation of many educational institutions is
improvements in the educational system as well. aggravated by the delays and partial fulfilment of gov-
International academic degrees of Bachelor, Master and ernment financial obligations along with increase in the
Doctorate have been introduced. Lithuania joined the price of goods and services. Furthermore, educational
UNESCO Convention acknowledging higher educa- reforms were readjusted because of cutbacks in funding
tion diplomas from other European countries in 1994. for the education sector due to the economic recession.
Students' rights are being protected by an independent The government did not start to finance the pro-
NGO, the Lithuanian Students' Union. The Students' gramme on the modernization of the curriculum, the
Union works along the principle that "education is a pace of school computerization was slowed down, and
right, not a privilege". there were no funds for the government programme on
the training of social teachers. Also, state funds for
summer recreation programmes and the prevention of
juvenile crime have been cut.
7.5. Educational reform, the following priority
goals have been formulated for the second stage of the
education reform: the modernization of teaching and
the curriculum and improvement in the quality of
education; improvement in the social and pedagogical
conditions for education; and the harmonization of
the education system. Application in practice of the
The majority of students in higher schools study free of principle of equal opportunities is among the priori-
charge and receive small stipends. On the other hand, ties of the country as well. The integration of disabled
the number of students receiving stipends is decreasing, children into the education system has to be contin-
while the number of students paying tuition fees is ued. Districts differ essentially in providing educa-
increasing. For example, 87% of students received tional opportunities. Furthermore, the data indicates
stipends in 1993, 68% in 1996 and only 59% in 1999. that rural-urban differences in education are most
Number of students paying tuition was increasing from noticeable even at the pre-school level. Balanced
3,500 in 1995 to 7,100 in 1997 and to 19,800 (about regional education development should be stimulated
24% of all students) in 1999. Thus study at higher and supported by financial reforms. The establish-
schools is becoming increasingly dependent on a stu- ment of the National Forum on Education, which
dent's standard of living, given that access to loans for brings together the major stake-holders, convened
education is limited. with assistance from UNESCO and UNDP in 2001,
is a step in the right direction for Lithuania towards
Thus, in spite of obvious achievements in educational the implementation of the recommendations of the
reform, there are some areas of concern. In practice, the Dakar Plan of Action.
education system has been short of funds. The difficult
The UN organizations that are present in Lithuania,
according to their specific mandates could offer policy
advice and international expertise in the educational
sector to the Lithuanian government and to help build-
ing partnerships with possible donors. Furthermore,
problem areas in education, those as indicated in the
CCA, are regarded as crosscutting issues, therefore pos-
sible help and proposals for their solution could be
incorporated into various other programmes (for exam-
ple within health, human rights, poverty eradication
and other programmes) that the UN agencies develop
or implement in Lithuania.
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Chapter 8
ENVIRONMENT
protection management; analyses the direction and pace
ENVIRONMENT of economic growth; formulates long-term goals, sets out
priorities; develops a short and middle term action pro-
Environmental protection is a highly important factor gramme; suggests financing sources. The overriding goal
in determining the extent of human development and of Lithuania's environmental protection strategy is to
the sustainability of economic growth. The principal guarantee the country's balanced and sustainable devel-
guarantor of ecological safety in Lithuania is the state, opment, which will maintain a healthy natural environ-
working together with NGOs and the rest of society. ment and protect biological and scenic diversity, ensur-
The main body responsible for the formulation and ing the beneficial utilisation of natural resources. Air and
implementation of environmental protection policy is water quality are highlighted as priority issues of con-
the Ministry of Environment. cern, as well as hazardous waste management, protection
from physical pollution, prevention of natural landscape
8.1. Environmental policy. The standards and degradation, protection of ecologically sensitive and nat-
norms adopted in Lithuania are conditioned by nation- ural areas, optimisation of land use and forest structure.
al policy as well as by obligations under international
conventions and agreements. Lithuania has approved 8.3. Environmental quality indicators remained
the principles of sustainable development encapsulated stable in the past years. Since 1991, atmospheric pollu-
in the resolution of the UN Conference on tion in Lithuania has decreased. Problems, however,
Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro such as acid rain, ozone layer depletion, climate change,
(UNCED). which are typical for most countries are characteristic
for Lithuania, too. Like in most other countries, trans-
The country has joined key international agreement and port, energy and industry are major air pollution
conventions on environment policy development: sources in Lithuania. The biggest source of air pollution
· The Convention on Biological Diversity,
are transport emissions: around 70 percent in 1995, an
· The Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment
of the Baltic Sea Area (Helsinki Convention), increase by 11 thousand tons as compared with 1992.
· The Convention on the Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution,
· The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,
· The Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and
Montreal Protocol.
The Law on Environmental Protection was passed in
1992 laying down the basic principles of environmen-
tal protection in Lithuania. The Law determines the
responsibility of State institution, foresees environmen-
tal impact assessment and prescribes the polluter-pays
principle. There are many other laws, governmental
decrees, and regulatory measures aimed at protecting
environment and natural resources. The majority of
environment standards and norms applied in Lithuania
fully satisfy international requirements, and a number
of them are even more stringent.
8.2. Environmental management is based on the
formulation and implementation of programs and strate-
gies. The first National Environmental Protection
Programme was drawn up in 1992. Lithuanian State
Strategy for Environmental Protection together with the
Action Plan was approved by the Parliament in 1996.
The Strategy evaluates environmental conditions and
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Ground water pollution has been detected in almost Although in the EU reports Lithuania is listed as one of
one third of the country's area. Around 800 thousand the countries that has achieved noticeable results in
inhabitants consume water from dug wells where environmental protection, good evaluation does not
nitrates exceed permitted limits. In some localities, always reflect the real situation, and especially in the
such as the site of Jonava Achema Company, or oil regions and localities. There is still no adequate district
storage facilities in Vilnius, Alytus, Marijampole, level partner to participate in decision-making on
Svencionys as well as the former Soviet military sites' development issues. It is the national structures which
ground water is heavily polluted with nitrates 30 to are most developed, while regional structures are just
120 times exceeding the Highest Permissible barely beginning to materialize. The same could be said
Concentrations (HPC); and oil products. about broad public and NGO involvement into envi-
ronmental problem solving and decision-making. No
In 1995, approximately 300 million m3 of untreated strong working relations between NGOs and national
waste water were discharged to surface water bodies - government has been established yet.
26 percent of this amount were treated to reach the
requirements of discharge standards, 56 percent were In particular, close co-operation between decision-mak-
insufficiently treated and 18 percent were discharged ers and the civil society is needed in order to achieve
untreated. The main cause of surface and ground water sustainable development as well as multisectoral
contamination is insufficient treatment of municipal approach to development processes. A good sign of the
and industrial waste waters as well as non-point source integration of the environment protection into other
pollution. policies is the establishment of a National Commission
on Sustainable Development (CSD) in 2000, headed
Domestic wastes stream is noticeably growing due to an by the Prime Minister.
increasing use of food products' and household goods'
packaging, particularly disposable packaging. Domestic Nevertheless, steps towards sustainable development in
wastes are practically not sorted out, thus nearly all are some environmental areas are still insufficient and will
dumped. need additional government and public attention in
order for conceptual decisions to be made and changes
In 1995, in Lithuania 153 000 t of hazardous wastes in action plans to occur. Implementation of some pro-
were generated. Prohibited and old pesticides represent grams in environment protection is a concern in sectors
a specific problem. Today 954 storage facilities contain requiring heavy investments.
around 4000 t of pesticides of which nearly 2200 t have
been attributed to either prohibited, old or unidenti- In this respect, UN assistance is of major relevance.
fied ones. During 1989-1995, 26 pesticide storage UNDP, together with GEF and its Small Grants
facilities were on fire. 1700 t of hospital waste after dis- Program for NGOs, provide a solid basis for institu-
infection are taken to domestic waste dumping sites tional capacity building and facilitate bringing invest-
together with other domestic wastes. ments into the country's environment.
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Conclusion:
Prioritiesfor the UN System in Lithuania
· In the implementation of the obligations in relation
CONCLUSION: to goals set by the UN global conferences,
PRIORITIES FOR THE UN · In areas where the UN has and/or mobilize com
parative advantage and expertise, and;
SYSTEM IN LITHUANIA · In areas of concern for the country's sustainable
development that are identified in the Common
The UN system agencies in Lithuania are recognized as Country Assessment and in line with national
significant development partners despite the limited priorities.
number of agencies represented and global resource
constraints that has characterized overseas development On the implementation of results with respect to the
assistance during recent years. Technical co-operation Global Conferences, UN support can be offered in the
from the UN system has contributed to the realization provision of methodological advice, policy guidance
of national priorities in several key areas of economic and the promotion of the widest possible NGO
and social development since the establishment of the involvement and public participation both through
UNDP and UN Resident Coordinator's office in 1992. advocacy and action at the ground. The UN assistance
The UN has been most successful in supporting capac- can facilitate the process of adherence by the country to
ity building and institutional strengthening both at the International Conventions and Action Plans agreed
national and decentralized levels, including the civil upon at these international forums and, inter alia, it
society; and has played a catalytic role in bringing will enable Lithuania to have better access to interna-
together different partners around common objectives. tional funding mechanisms created for these purposes.
The UN has maintained a pro-active profile in raising
public awareness on issues of sustainable human devel- The support and assistance provided by the UN where
opment ranging from environmental protection to the comparative advantage and expertise exist, or where UN
prevention of HIV/AIDS and engaged in wide-ranging can identify and make available such knowledge, will
advocacy activities, as well as collaborating with others allow the decision-makers for a more systematic consid-
in relevant areas. In all such interventions, co-ordina- eration of the various dimensions of the articulation of
tion between the UN entities has been emphasized with national policy measures. This could be especially rele-
a view to unleash maximum synergies and to undertake vant in respect to the National Development Plan
more efficient and cost-effective operations. The UN in (NDP) for the period 2002-2004. The internal coher-
Lithuania enjoys political support at the highest levels ence and consistency of the NDP can be enhanced
of the State and Government. Co-operation has been through a consultative process that would bring together
particularly satisfying in advisory services related to the different sectoral ministries as well as other national
promotion and formulation of social-economic poli- stakeholders. The financial mechanisms for the imple-
cies, reforms of the judicial system and support to the mentation of the NDP could also benefit from leverag-
follow-up of the Global Conferences of the nineties, ing national, multinational and bilateral funds that may
culminating with the Millennium Summit. Today, ten be available. This linkage between multi-dimensional
years after the reinstitution of independence and the policies and the integration of development plans into
acknowledged progress in adapting to a market econo- parliamentary and budgetary processes is essential for
my, whereas the overall framework of co-operation achieving the desirable results.
remains the same in terms of priorities, the context is
quite different. There are some areas of concern for sustainable human
development in Lithuania as identified in this Common
All UN agencies active in Lithuania have been Country Assessment. The UN agencies that are present
focussing their interventions in accordance with their in Lithuania often have available expertise and knowl-
specific mandates. Within the framework of the edge of dealing with similar issues relevant for countries
Resident Co-ordinator System, this has also translated going through transition from a regional or internation-
into sponsoring joint activities in overlapping areas. In al perspective. The CCA identifying the key areas of
relation to these specific mandates and their strengths, concern in development, provides a foundation in
the UN system assistance will continue to be: ensuring that Lithuania benefits to the maximum extent
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from the interventions of the UN agencies. Poverty mitments undertaken at the Millennium Summit.
eradication measures, promotion of human rights and Poverty in Lithuania is not engrained - the point is to
good governance, mainstreaming gender, support to prevent it from becoming a structural issue. In relation
economic reforms and social security policies, environ- to the other goals of the Declaration, Lithuania is also
mental protection are among the areas where assistance quite ahead. The established quantitative targets have
from UN system can be further used by Lithuania fol- already been achieved. Therefore, the emphasis is on
lowing the successful co-operation that has character- quality rather than quantity when it comes to equal
ized the relationship from the very beginning. access to education, health services and so on. National
strategies on poverty eradication, sustainable develop-
Due to the limited amount of resources available for a ment and education will have to be integrated and for-
medium-income country such as Lithuania, the UN mulated through participatory processes. Capacity
agencies need to focus their attention in certain priori- building at the national/central level must go hand in
ties areas where they have proven comparative advan- hand with capacity building at the municipal level and
tages. This would involve support to pilot activities and on the part of the civil society. Media and the private
policy advice in the areas that are identified in the CCA sector must be brought in to the development debate as
and the respective co-operation frameworks and proj- advocates, supporters and funders together with other
ects of the UN agencies, funds and programmes in the elements of the civil society. The needs of the ageing
implementation of follow-up to global UN confer- population must be met while taking care that the
ences. Successful future co-operation of the UN System expectations of the youth are met. In all of this, UN is
implies building partnership with other donors, with there as a partner, advisor, advocate and facilitator.
the Government and civil society, as well as the private
sector and the media. Taking into account Lithuania's The other dimension of Lithuania's human develop-
goal to become full member of the EU with the first ment standing among the nations of the world is that is
wave of candidate countries, among priorities in co- has a lot to contribute to the global progress. UN organ-
operation may be capacity building and enhancing isations must make an effort that the knowledge existing
national execution of the initiatives that were success- and experiences gained in Lithuania is used elsewhere;
fully undertaken or implemented with the assistance of and Lithuania must be supported in its development as
the UN, inter alia, to accompany Lithuania through an emerging donor and in the context of East-east co-
the accession process and beyond. These three aspects operation. Lithuania is already a member of the WTO,
of UN assistance are promoted and applied to ensure and is expected to join NATO and the EU shortly as
ownership of the activities being undertaken, and mentioned previously. Therefore, UN technical co-
their future sustainability. operation in Lithuania should be even more focused in
sustainable human development and calibrated to meet
With Lithuania's classification among the High Human the specific, sophisticated needs of the country while
Development category of countries in UNDP's Human supporting it to be prepared as a donor itself in the not-
Development Report 2001, and the country's imminent so-distant future. Being a donor should not be seen only
entry into the European Union, the UN/Lithuania rela- in terms of finances and expertise either - it is also sup-
tionship has entered a new era. It is clear that there is port for the implementation of international goals
still work to be done, especially at a time when major world-wide. In the era of globalization, the enormous
European donors to Lithuania are directing their sup- potential that this represents for improving living stan-
port through the EU mechanisms and others are pulling dards must be balanced with universally recognized val-
out, for the UN System. It is commendable that ues. The United Nations can help the process by work-
Lithuania, together with other European nations, has ing with the Lithuanian authorities and the public,
decided to prepare a National Action Plan for the together with other partners of Lithuania, to advocate a
Eradication of Poverty with a view to sustainable and better world for all as Lithuania strengthens its effec-
equitable growth for current and future generations. tiveness and presence as a dynamic member of the com-
This is very much in line with the international com- munity of nations.
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Annex
KEY STATISTICAL INDICATORS
ANNEX: KEY STATISTICAL INDICATORS
Contextual data
INCOME POVERTY:
Poorest fifth's share of national consumption. 7.9%
NUTRITION:
% of household income spent on food for the poorest quintile. The poorest quintile spent on food 60.8% of total
consumption expenditure or 54.8 of disposable income.
HEALTH:
Maternal mortality rate. 8.8 (per 100.000 births)
Contraceptive prevalence rate. 11%
GENDER EQUALITY:
Ratio of girls to boys in secondary education. 0.98
HOUSING:
No. of persons per room, or average floor area per person. Average useful floor space
per capita 22,1 m2.
ENVIRONMENT:
GDP per unit of energy use. -
Arable land per capita. 0.79 ha
2000:
GDP 44929.8 mill. litas
Gross domestic savings as % of GDP. 14.7%
Share of exports in GDP. 45.5%
Share of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows in GDP. 3.4%
% of public expenditure on social services in GDP. 24.0%
Public expenditure on social service 10787.2 mill. litas
Public expenditure includes: expenditure of central and local government,
expenditure of Health insurance fund,
expenditure of Social security fund.
Social services covers: education affairs and services;
health care affairs and services,
social security and welfare affairs and services,
recreational, cultural and religious affairs and services.
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Government budget
Indicators 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
General government expenditure % GDP 1
30,7 29,1 29,8 33,7 34,7
General government revenues % GDP 2
30 28,1 30,8 32,2 31,8
Total tax burden % GDP 28,6 26,8 29,5 30,6 30
1
Excluding capital expenditure and privatisation revenue.
2
Excluding capital revenue.
Economic development
Indicators 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
GDP at current prices, mill.litas 11590* 16904 24103 31569 38340 42990 42655 44930
GDP at current prices, mill.USD 2662* 4227 6026 7892 9585 10747 10664 11232
change, over previous year, at constant prices 1995, % -16,2 -9,8 3,3 4,7 7,3 5,1 -3,9 3,3
GDP at current prices,by county, mill.litas
Alytus 1459 1753 1884 1886
Kaunas 6163 7744 8526 8369
Klaipëda 3916 4556 5189 5262
Marijampolë 1333 1635 1812 1536
Panevëþys 2792 3359 3532 3143
Ðiauliai 3064 3636 3654 3545
Tauragë 824 871 928 909
Telðiai 1410 1658 1863 1829
Utena 1611 1882 2109 2064
Vilnius 8997 11246 13492 14113
GDP by county, mill.USD
Alytus 365 438 471 471
Kaunas 1541 1936 2131 2092
Klaipëda 979 1139 1297 1315
Marijampolë 333 409 453 384
Panevëþys 698 840 883 786
Ðiauliai 766 909 914 886
Tauragë 206 218 232 227
Telðiai 352 414 466 457
Utena 403 471 527 516
Vilnius 2249 2811 3373 3528
GDP per capita by PPP US $ 4600 4900 5300 5900 6300 6200
change, % 6,5 8,2 11,3 6,8 -1,6
GDP per capita, litas (at current prices) 3107* 4543 6488 8510 10347 11611 11529 12157
GDP per capita, USD 714* 1136 1622 2128 2587 2903 2882 3039
change, over previous year, % -16 -9,5 3,5 4,9 7,4 5,2 -3,8 3,4
GDP per capita, by county, thous.litas
Alytus 7,2 8,7 9,3 9,3
Kaunas 8,2 10,3 11,3 11,1
Klaipëda 9,4 11 12,5 12,7
Marijampolë 6,7 8,2 9,1 7,7
Panevëþys 8,6 10,4 11 9,8
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KEY STATISTICAL INDICATORS
Indicators 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Ðiauliai 7,6 9 9,1 8,8
Tauragë 6,3 6,7 7,1 7
Telðiai 7,7 9,1 10,2 10
Utena 8 9,3 10,5 10,3
Vilnius 10 12,6 15,1 15,8
GROSS VALUE ADDED by sector, %
Agriculture, hunting and forestry, fishing (A+B) 14,2 10,7 11,7 12,2 11,7 10,3 8,4 7,6
Industry (C+D+E) 34,2 27 26,1 25,8 25,2 23,9 22,9 26,2
Construction (F) 5,1 7,2 7,1 7,1 7,7 8,6 7,9 6,2
Services 46,5 55,1 55,1 54,9 55,4 57,2 60,8 60
Employed by sector, %
Agriculture, hunting and forestry, fishing (A+B) 22,5 23,4 23,8 24,2 21,8 21,5 20,2 19,6
Industry (C+D+E) 25,7 22,4 21,2 20,1 20 20 19,8 20,1
Construction (F) 7,1 6,6 7 7,2 7,1 7,1 6,6 6,1
Services 44,7 47,6 48 48,5 51,1 51,4 53,4 54,2
Inflation:
December compared to December of previous year 188,7 45,1 35,7 13,1 8,4 2,4 0,3 1,4
Annual inflation (year on year) 410,2 72,2 39,6 24,6 8,9 5,1 0,8 1,0
Current account deficit % to GDP -3,1 -2,1 -10,2 -9,2 -10,2 -12,1 -11,2 -6,0
Exports, mill.litas 8707 8077 10820 13420 15441 14842 12015 15238
by country, %
Russian Federation 33,1 28,2 20,4 24 24,5 16,5 7 7,1
Germany 6,8 11,5 14,4 12,8 11,4 13,1 16 14,3
Belarus 7,4 6,5 10,8 10,2 10,3 8,8 5,9 2,9
Latvia 7,3 8,4 7,1 9,2 8,6 11,1 12,8 15,0
Ukraine 11,2 6,1 7,5 7,7 8,8 7,8 3,7 4,4
Netherlands 2,8 5,2 4,9 3,3 2,8 2,5 3,5 4,8
Poland 7 5 3,9 3,2 2,3 3 4,5 5,5
United Kingdom 1,6 2,3 3,1 2,8 3,2 3,5 5,1 7,8
Italy 2,2 1,9 1,9 2,7 3,1 4,1 4,2 2,3
Denmark 1,5 1,7 2,7 2,6 3,4 4,1 6,2 4,9
Estonia 2,5 2,5 2,2 2,5 2,5 2,6 2,4 2,3
Sweden 1,8 3,1 2,5 1,7 1,9 2,6 4,2 4,4
France 0,8 1,2 1,7 1,6 2,2 3,5 4,7 4,4
USA 0,3 0,6 0,7 0,8 1,6 2,8 4,4 4,9
Others 13,7 15,8 16,2 14,9 13,4 14 15,4 15,1
Imports, mill.litas ** 9798 9356 14594 18235 22577 23174 19338 21826
by country, %
Russian Federation 29,0 25,3 21,2 20,1 27,4
Germany 15,4 17,5 18,2 16,5 15,1
Belarus 2,4 2,3 2,2 2,2 1,8
Latvia 1,7 1,7 1,8 2,0 1,6
Ukraine 3,3 2,1 1,9 1,5 1,5
Netherlands 2,0 2,2 2,2 2,3 2,3
Poland 4,4 4,9 5,5 5,7 4,9
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Indicators 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
United Kingdom 3,3 3,4 3,7 4,2 4,5
Italy 3,8 4,1 4,4 4,1 3,6
Denmark 3,6 3,8 3,8 3,9 3,1
Estonia 1,3 1,3 1,5 1,5 1,2
Sweden 3,1 3,3 3,7 3,4 3,4
France 2,1 2,8 3,4 3,6 4,2
USA 2,6 2,9 2,9 3,8 2,4
Others 22,0 22,4 23,6 25,2 23,0
Foreign direct investment, mill.litas 136 125 290 610 1418 3702 1946 1516
Stock of direct investment capital at the end of year, mill.litas 1406 2801 4162 6501 8252 9337
Foreign debt end of year, mill.USD 496,2 839,8 1203,0 1401,8 1684,4 2428,8 2474,3
* 1 litas = 0.25 USD From 25 June 1993.
** Imported goods by country are broken up according to the county of origin of goods.
Employment
Indicators 1997 1998 1999 2000
Employment, by Labour force survey
Labour force participation, % 61,5 61,7 61,9 60,4
urban 63 63,6 64,5 62,8
rural 58,3 58,2 57 55,9
age group
14-19 21,4 17,8 16,2 12,3
20-24 70,9 69,4 69,2 63,8
25-29 85,5 89,1 89,7 88,4
30-34 87,3 90,6 92,7 88,1
35-39 91,5 92,4 93,7 88,7
40-44 94,7 94,3 95,1 91,3
45-49 93,7 93,4 91,8 89,1
50-54 84 86,5 90,2 87
55-59 58,7 60,6 62,7 62,8
60-64 25 24,1 26 27
65-69 9,2 10 9,5 12,9
70+ 5,5 4,3 3,3 5,2
males 70,3 69,6 69,2 67,1
females 53,9 54,9 55,7 54,8
Employment rate,% 52,8 53,5 53,2 51,2
urban 52,9 54,4 53,9 52,3
rural 52,6 51,8 51,9 48,8
age group
14-19 13,9 12,9 11,2 7,2
20-24 55,4 55,1 51,7 47
25-29 73,5 76,9 77,7 76,8
30-34 76 76,6 78,8 73,2
35-39 81,1 81,1 81,5 77,9
40-44 81,3 83,7 81,3 78,4
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Annex
KEY STATISTICAL INDICATORS
Indicators 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
45-49 80,7 81,8 82,3 76,9
50-54 73,5 76,8 78,8 72,2
55-59 52,8 55,4 56,9 54,7
60-64 25 23,5 25,4 25,2
65-69 9,2 10 9,5 12,6
70+ 5,5 4,3 3,3 5
males 60,3 59,6 58,4 55,5
females 46,4 48,2 48,7 47,5
Unemployment rate (official),
by Labour Exchange data, % 4,4 3,8 6,1 7,1 5,9 6,4 8,4 11,5
males 5 3,8 5,7 6,6 5,6 6,2 8,5 12,3
females 3,7 3,8 6,6 7,7 6,3 6,6 8,2 10,8
Unemployment rate (Labour force survey), % 14,1 13,3 14,1 15,4
urban 15,9 14,4 16,5 16,7
rural 9,8 11,1 9 12,8
age group
14-19 34,9 27,4 30,9 43
20-24 21,8 20,6 25,2 26,4
25-29 14,1 13,7 13,3 13,1
30-34 12,9 15,4 15 17
35-39 11,4 12,2 13 12,1
40-44 14,1 11,2 14,5 14,1
45-49 13,9 12,4 10,4 13,7
50-54 12,4 11,2 12,6 17
55-59 10,1 8,6 9,2 13
60-64 0,2 2,5 2,3 6,6
65-69 0,5 2,5
70+ 4,1
males 14,2 14,3 15,6 17,3
females 13,9 12,2 12,6 13,3
Youth unemployment rate, % 25,2 22,2 26,5 29
urban 28,3 24,9 31,1 28,5
rural 19,9 18,4 19,7 29,9
males 27,4 23,5 27,9 30,8
females 21,9 20,3 24,6 26,3
Duration of unemployment, % 100 100 100 100
1-6 months 26,9 37,7 48,1 38,5
7-12 months 23 32,6 31,7 27,7
13 months and more 50,1 29,7 20,2 33,8
urban 100 100 100 100
1-6 months 27,6 36,4 49 39,7
7-12 months 21,5 33 32,4 27,9
13 months and more 50,9 30,6 18,6 32,3
rural 100 100 100 100
1-6 months 24,2 41 46,8 34,9
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Pro g re s s Fo r A l l
COMMON COUNTRY ASSESSMENT FOR LITHUANIA
Indicators 1997 1998 1999 2000
7-12 months 28,7 31,5 25,8 27,1
13 months and more 47,1 27,5 27,4 37,9
Males 100 100 100 100
1-6 months 28,2 39,3 47,5 36,9
7-12 months 24,8 31 30,5 29,2
13 months and more 47 29,7 22 33,9
Females 100 100 100 100
1-6 months 25,4 35,8 48,9 40,6
7-12 months 21 34,5 33,2 25,6
13 months and more 53,6 29,7 17,9 33,8
Percentage of employment with a second job 7,9 6,6 8,6 7
Wages and salaries
Indicators 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Average gross wages and salaries, litas 166 325 481 618 778 930 987 1008*
change over previous period 95,9 47,8 28,6 25,9 19,5 6,2 2,1
Average gross wages and salaries by county, litas
Alytus 448 545 701 844 888
Kaunas 456 590 738 865 915
Klaipëda 500 654 801 950 993
Marijampolë 379 498 625 755 771
Paneveþys 436 558 721 851 880
Ðiauliai 421 531 676 807 812
Tauragë 380 475 607 724 793
Telðiai 449 615 782 936 1008
Utena 550 692 832 982 1031
Vilnius 543 695 877 1061 1138
change over previous period, %
Alytus 21,7 28,6 20,4 5,2
Kaunas 29,4 25,1 17,2 5,8
Klaipëda 30,8 22,5 18,6 4,5
Marijampolë 31,4 25,5 20,8 2,1
Paneveþys 28 29,2 18 3,4
Ðiauliai 26,1 27,3 19,4 0,6
Tauragë 25 27,8 19,3 9,5
Telðiai 37 27,2 19,7 7,7
Utena 25,8 20,2 18 5,0
Vilnius 28 26,2 21 7,3
Average net wages and salaries, litas 128 251 363 467 577 684 722 716*
change over previous period, % 96,6 44,5 28,7 23,5 18,6 5,7 -0,9
Average net wages and salaries by county, litas
Alytus 341 418 526 627 657
Kaunas 346 448 550 641 675
Klaipëda 375 490 592 697 726
Marijampolë 295 387 476 568 580
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Annex
KEY STATISTICAL INDICATORS
Indicators 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Paneveþys 333 427 539 632 651
Ðiauliai 323 409 509 603 607
Tauragë 296 372 464 548 594
Telðiai 342 465 579 688 736
Utena 408 515 612 718 751
Vilnius 404 517 642 770 822
change over previous period, %
Alytus 22,7 25,6 19,3 4,8
Kaunas 29,4 22,8 16,5 5,3
Klaipëda 30,7 20,7 17,8 4,2
Marijampolë 31,2 22,8 19,5 2,1
Paneveþys 28,2 26,2 17,2 3
Ðiauliai 26,6 24,4 18,3 0,7
Tauragë 25,7 24,6 18,2 8,4
Telðiai 36 24,7 18,8 7
Utena 26,3 18,8 17,3 4,6
Vilnius 28,2 24,1 20 6,8
Labour costs (for employer), litas 216 423 625 804 1012 1209 1283 1320*
Tax wedge, % 40,9 40,7 42 41,9 43 43,4 43,7 45,8*
Official minimum standard of living, litas 29,7 50,1 69,2 90,8 110,8 123,3 125 125
change over previous period, % 130,8 68,7 38,1 31,2 22 11,3 1,4 0
Official minimum monthly earning, litas 32,7 56,5 134,6 240 374,2 417,5 430 430
change over previous period, % 141 72,8 138,2 78,3 55,9 11,6 3 0
* Provisional data.
Income
Indicators 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Average disposable income
Level (per capita per month, litas) 326,7 368,9 422,5 428 415,4
Change over previous year 12,9 14,5 1,3 -2,9
Household head men 342,2 375,5 435,3 442 425
Household head women 302,8 358,5 403,7 406,4 403,2
Urban 352,7 403,1 463,5 475,2 464,9
Rural 268,9 298,4 336,3 327,1 311
Average household consumption expenditures
Level 348,1 382,6 426,8 425,4 404,4
Change over previous year 9,9 11,6 -0,3 -4,9
Household head men 359,9 388,8 435 431,8 407,5
Household head women 330 372,7 414,8 415,5 400,4
Urban 373,3 413,9 466,7 469,5 443
Rural 292 317,8 343 331,1 322,9
Food share in household consumption expenditures (percentages) 55,2 52,2 48,1 45,7 44,4
Poverty head count ratio (poverty line 50% of the consumer spending)
Level 18 16,6 16 15,8 16
Man 17,2 15,6 15 14,6 15,2
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Pro g re s s Fo r A l l
COMMON COUNTRY ASSESSMENT FOR LITHUANIA
Indicators 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Women 17,4 15,5 15,2 14,5 14,9
Children 20,4 20 18,9 19,8 19,6
Urban 14,7 12,1 10,9 9,9 10,5
Rural 26 25,9 26,5 28,2 27,6
Type of household
Single person 17,6 13,4 13,1 13,1 12,8
Single adult with children under 18 22,2 21,6 22 25,7 14,9
Couple with children under 18 15,9 15 13,9 15,5 15,3
Other household with children under 18 24,8 24 24,8 21,9 24,1
Couple without children 11,1 11,2 8,7 8,6 9,9
Other household without children 17,8 14,2 15,3 14,7 15,2
Socio - economic group
Self employers in agriculture 26,3 30,2 32 39,9 35,3
Hired workers 13,8 12,8 12,1 11,5 11
Self employers 8,1 7,7 5,7 7,5 7,7
Pensioners 25,2 22,1 20,9 19,1 20,4
Others 42,8 39,6 40,8 40,4 41,1
Poverty gap* 25 24 23 23 23
Composition of the poor population
Type of household
Single person 7,3 6,3 6,8 7,1 7,4
Single adult with children under 18 5,2 5,3 7 7,4 5,1
Couple with children under 18 31,9 31,5 31,9 36,1 33,7
Other household with children under 18 31,7 33,3 31,4 25,3 29,4
Couple without children 7,9 9,3 7,4 8 8,6
Other household without children 16 14,4 15,5 16,1 15,9
Socio - economic group
Self employers in agriculture 9,8 12,5 12,5 15,1 15,4
Hired workers 48 50,5 49,3 46,6 41,9
Self employers 2,3 1,6 1,4 2,1 2,2
Pensioners 29,4 29 27,6 27 29,9
Others 10,6 6,4 9,1 9,1 10,6
Expenditure inequality
D10/d1 8,7 8,5 8 8,1 7,9
D5/d1 5,5 5,3 5,1 5,1 5,1
Gini - coefficient 0,32 0,32 0,31 0,31 0,32
z - poverty line; yi - consumer expenditure of poor persons; q - number of poor.
1993 - 1995 data, data by country, average income shortfall, human poverty index 2 are not available.
Population
Indicators 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Population, beginning
of year, thous. 3736.5 3746,9 3736,5 3724 3717,7 3711,9 3707,2 3704 3700,8 3698,5 3692,6
change over previous year, % 0,8 0,3 -0,3 -0,3 -0,2 -0,2 -0,1 -0,1 -0,1 -0,1 -0,2
urban, % 68,4 68,5 68,2 68 68 67,8 68,4 68,2 68,2 68,2 68,1
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Annex
KEY STATISTICAL INDICATORS
Indicators 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
rural, % 31,6 31,5 31,8 32 32 32,2 31,6 31,8 31,8 31,8 31,9
Dependency ratio 77 77 77 76 75 73 72 70
Divorces, per 100 marriages 59 47 46 55 60 64 64 64
urban 65 54 53 60 60 63 72 73
rural 44 33 32 46 61 65 45 46
Suicides, rate per 100.000 inhabitants 42,1 45,8 45,6 46,4 44 42 41,9 44,1
urban 34 37 37,1 36 34 32,7 31,1 33,7
rural 59,6 64,4 63,5 68,7 65,7 61,8 65,3 66,4
males 73,5 81,9 79,1 79,3 77,1 73,6 73,8 75,6
females 13,9 13,4 15,6 17,1 14,5 13,7 13,6 16,1
Immigration 14744 11828 6640 2850 1664 2020 3025 2536 2706 2679 1510
change over previous period, % -57 -42 21 50 -16 7 -1 -44
Emigration 23592 20703 28855 15990 4246 3773 3940 2457 2130 1369 2616
change over previous period, % -45 -73 -11 4 -38 -13 -36 91
Refugees number (officially recognised) - - - - 6 28 11 15
Crimes
Indicators 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Prisoners rate per 100.000 278 344 358 329 368 389 390 258
change, % 4.9 23.7 4.1 -8.1 11.9 5.7 0.26 -33.8
Juvenile prisoners (percentage as of total prisoners) 4.2 4.3 3.9 3.6 4 3.1 2.7 2.1
change, % -8.7 2.4 -9.3 -7.7 11.1 -22.5 -12.9 -22.2
Homocides and attempt rate per 100.000 inhabitants 12.9 14.1 13.5 10.9 10.6 9.6 9.3 10.8
change, % 59.3 9.3 -4.3 -19.3 -2.8 -9.4 -3.1 16.1
Drug crimes per 100.000 inhabitants 8.1 9 10.6 13.8 17 16.7 18.8 25.1
change, % 26.6 11.1 17.8 30.2 23.2 -1.8 12.6 33.5
Reported rape rate per 100.000 inhabitants 5.3 4.4 5.4 4.5 4.5 4.5 6.1 5
change, % 3.9 -17 22.7 -16.7 0 0 35.6 -18
Crime rate rate per 100.000 inhabitants 1619 1576 1637 1835 2046 2111 2084 2229
Registered crimes rate per 100.000, change 7 -2.7 3.9 12.1 11.5 3.2 -1.3 7
Social security
Indicators 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Average old age pension (per month), litas 55,7 108,3 147 189 239,9 286,2 309,1 311,9
change over previous period, % 176,6 94,4 35,8 28,5 26,9 19,3 8 0,9
Number of old age pension recipients, thous. 656,8 658,4 656,8 655,3 651 648 644,6 644,5
change over previous period, % -4,9 0,3 -0,2 -0,2 -0,7 -0,5 -0,5 -0,02
Total expenditures old age pension % of GDP 3,8 5,1 4,7 4,7 4,9 5,3 5,7 5,4*
Average disability pension, litas 53,8 104,3 139,3 176,8 221,9 261 278,9 279,6
change over previous period, % 194 94 33,6 26,9 25,5 17,6 6,9 0,2
Number of disability pension recipients, thous. 129,1 131,3 139,2 147 152,2 158,8 165,9 173,6
change over previous period, % 5,3 1,7 6 5,7 3,5 4,3 4,5 4,6
Total expenditures disability benefits % of GDP 0,7 1 1 1 1,1 1,2 1,3 1,3*
Average social assistance benefit, litas 21,9 40 47 56,8 57,5 60,4 64,1
change over previous period, % 82,7 17,5 20,9 1,2 5,1 6,1
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Pro g re s s Fo r A l l
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Indicators 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Number of social assistance benefit recipients, thous. 115,3 131,2 135,9 111,7 99 101,8 115,2
change over previous period, % 13,8 3,6 -17,8 -11,4 2,8 13,2
Total expenditures social assistance benefits of GDP, % 0,3 0,3 0,2 0,2 0,2 0,2 0,2*
Average uneployment benefit, litas 51,2 79,3 122,1 173,1 187,6 191,4 186,9
change, % 55 54 42 8,4 2 -2,3
Number of unemployment benefit recepients, thous. 20,9 18,2 34,1 35,6 21,9 19,5 24,7 32,3
change, % 260 -13 87 4,4 -38 -11 27 31
Total expenditures unemployment benefit % of GDP 0,06 0,06 0,13 0,16 0,12 0,11 0,14 0,18*
Total expenditures social security % of GDP 8,1 9,7 9,5 9,9 10 11,2 12,2 11,9
* Provisional data.
Health
Indicators 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Life expectancy at birth, total 69,06 68,71 69,29 70,5 71,41 71,78 72,33 72,87
males 65,28 64,92 63,26 62,73 63,53 64,97 65,9 66,5 67,07 67,62
females 76,07 76,02 75,01 74,89 75,15 76 76,82 76,87 77,41 77,93
urban 71,78 71,69 70,32 69,76 70,37 71,83 72,82 73,26 74,09 74,37
rural 68,49 68,15 66.59 66,41 67,03 67,85 68,63 68,94 69,15 70,08
Mortality rate, total (per 1000 population) 12,3 12,5 12,2 11,6 11,1 11 10,8 10,5
by cause (per 100.000 population)
diseases of circulatory sistem 671,5 654,4 654,3 633,2 613,9 602 592 566,4
accidents, poisoning, trauma 167,5 185,9 176 157,6 146,9 144,7 142,4 138,1
neoplasms 202,6 202,3 204,9 204,3 201,4 207,4 211,9 211,4
Mortality rate, urban (per 1000 population) 9,7 10,1 9,9 9,3 8,9 8,9 8,7 8,7
by cause (per 100.000 population)
diseases of circuliatory system 501,9 509,3 497 477 466,9 461,9 459,7 447,6
accidents, poisoning, trauma 149,5 162,3 152,7 132,5 122,5 119,9 113,9 115,6
neoplasms 176,5 180,9 184,1 183 180,7 184,6 187,6 190,2
Mortality rate, rural (per 1000 population) 18 17,5 17 16,4 15,8 15,6 15,3 14,4
by cause (per 100.000 population)
diseases of circuliatory system 1034 962,5 987 966,5 930,2 902,2 875,5 820,6
accidents, poisoning, trauma 206,1 236 225,4 211,3 199,5 197,9 203,5 186,1
neoplasms 258,5 247,9 249 249,8 246 256,1 264,1 256,9
Infant mortality rate (per 1000 live births) 15,4 14,0 12,4 10,0 10,3 9,2 8,6 8,5
change over previous period, % -7 -9 -11 -19 3 -11 -7 -1
urban 13,6 13 11,8 9,4 8,8 8,1 7,6 8
rural 18,7 15,7 13,6 11,1 12,8 11,1 10,3 9,2
Child (under five) mortality rate ( per 1000 live births) 19 18,4 16,2 13,2 13,2 12 11,2 11,6
change over previous period, % -5 -3 -12 -19 - -9 -7 4
urban 16,4 16,6 14,7 12,2 11 10,3 9,2 10,6
rural 23,9 21,5 19 14,9 17 14,8 14,7 13,2
Tuberculosis (per 100.000 people) newly registered patients 50,8 63,0 63,6 70,3 79,0 81,4 76,9 72,2
urban 50,7 61,7 61,3 67,5 75,0 78,7 70,4 58,4
rural 51,1 65,7 68,4 76,3 85,8 87,4 91,0 72,9
Total fertility rate 1,28
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Annex
KEY STATISTICAL INDICATORS
Indicators 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Pysicians(per 100.000 population) 393,4 403,0 397,0 398,2 398,4 395,1 394,2 380,0
Dentists (per 100.000 population) 53,0 50,4 46,9 46,1 58,1 61,0 62,3 66,2
Paramedical personnel (per 100.000 population) 1071,3 1077,4 1070,6 1067,8 1039,0 1025,9 1043,7 999,7
Prevalence of drug abuse 83,3
Contraceptive prevalence rate (hormonal contraception)* 4,1
Contraceptive prevalence rate (IUDs)* 17
Visits to physicians (thous.) 30323 28899 26356,8 25314 26743,4 24506,5 24466,1 22155,5
change,% -6 -5 -9 -4 6 -8 -0,2 -9
Visitis to dentists, (thous.) 4810,2 4481 4346,6 5224,1 4438,3 4274,4 4052,6
change,% -7 -3 20 -15 -4 -5
Notified cases of HIV 4 9 11 12 31 52 66 65
Abortion rate (per 1000 live births)** 743,4 718,5 763,8 711,5 601,1 568,7 521,2 481,1
change, % -2 -3 6 -7 -15 -5 -8 -8
Maternal Mortality rate (per 100.000 births) 8,8
* % of all women in reproductive age according to the Family and Fertility Survey 1994-1995
** Legaly induced abortations rate. Spontaneous miscarriage excluded.
Education
Indicators 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Adult literacy rate, % 99,4
male 99,6
female 99,3
Net primary enrollment ratio % of 7-10 theoretical age group 91,9 91,8 91 93,1 94,8
Net secondary enrollment ratio % of 11-18 theoretical age group 83,9 85,4 86 87,2 88,4
Net past-secondary non tertiary enrollment ratio % of 19-20
theoretical age group 2,2 2,5 2,8 2,9 3,7
Net tertiary enrollment ratio % of 91-24 theoretical age group 17,9 20,9 23,6 26,1 28,4
Combined net enrrolment ratio % of 16-24 age group 37,7 42,6 46,8 51,6 55,7
Drop outs-children not reaching grade 5 1,98 0,46 0,74 0,5 0,43 0,35 0,24 0,41
Public education expenditure % of GDP 4,8 5,6 5,6 5,4 5,7 6,4 6,5 6
Environment
Indicators 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
CO2, mill.tonnes per year 25 25 18 19 19 19 18
SO2 - total, thous. tonnes per year 125 117 94 93 77 94 70
Major protected areas, % of national territory 11,1 11,1 11,1 11,2 11,4 11,4 11,5 11,5
Generation hazardous waste, tonnes 215382 130483 153129 101040 131643 131496 105593 89849*
* Since 2000 - new calculation of waste.
The missing data of year 2000 will be published in autumn.
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Pro g re s s Fo r A l l
COMMON COUNTRY ASSESSMENT FOR LITHUANIA
SELECTED REFERENCES
UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM:
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United nations : http://www.fao.org
International Atomic Energy Agency: http://www.iaea.org
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development : http://www.worldbank.org
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development in Lithuania : http://www.worldbank.lt
International Court of Justice : http://www.icj-cij.org
International Labour Organization : http://wwwilo.org
International Monetary Fund : http://www.imf.org
International Monetary Fund in Lithuania : http://www.un.lt/IMF/default.htm
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS : http://www.unaids.org
United Nations : http://www.un.org
United Nations Children's Fund : http://www.unicef.org
United Nations Development Programme : http://www.undp.org
United Nations Development Programme in Lithuania : http://www.undp.lt/index.htm
United Nations Development Fund for Women : http://www.unifem.undp.org
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Orgnization : http://www.unesco.org
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: http://www.unhchr.ch
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees : http://www.unhcr.ch
United Nations Industrial Development Organization: http://www.unido.org
United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention : http://www.undcp.org
United Nations Population Fund : http://www.unfpa.org
United Nations Research Institute for Social Development : http://www.unrisd.org
United Nations University : http://www.unu.edu
World Health Organization : http://www.who.int
World Trade Organization : http://www.wto.org
International Organization for Migration: http://www.iom.int
EUROPE:
Council of the Baltic Sea States : http://www.baltinfo.org
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development : http://www.ebrd.org
European Central Bank : http://www.ecb.int
European Commission : http://europa.eu.int/comm
European Council : http://ue.eu.int
European Parliament : http://www.europarl.eu.int
European Union : http://www.europa.eu.int
Development DG : http://www.europa.eu.int/pol/dev/index_en.htm
Economic and Monetary Affairs DG : http://www.europa.eu.int/pol/emu/index_en.htm
Employment and Social Affairs DG : http://www.europa.eu.int/pol/socio/index_en.htm
Enlargement DG : http://www.europa.eu.int/pol/enlarg/index_en.htm
External Relations DG : http://www.europa.eu.int/pol/ext/index_en.htm
European Commission Delegation to Lithuania: http://www.eudel.lt
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SELECTED REFERENCES
LITHUANIA :
Citizens Advice Bureau : http://www.lrs.lt
Lithuanian centre for Human Rights: http://www.lchr.lt
Lithuanian National Committee for UNICEF: http://www.un.lt/UNICEF/index.htm
Lithuanian UNESCO National Commission: http://www.un.lt/UNESCO
Lithuanian Parliament (Seimas) : http://www.seimas.lt
Ministry of Agriculture : http://www.zum.lt
Ministry of Education and Science : http://www.smm.lt
Ministry of Environment : http://www.gamta.lt
Ministry of Foreign Affairs : http://www.urm.lt
Ministry of Finance : http://www.finmin.lt
Ministry of Health : http://www.sam.lt
Ministry of Internal Affairs : http://www.vrm.lt
Ministry of Justice : http://www.tm.lt
Ministry of Social Security and Labour : http://www.socmin.lt
Non-governmental organization Information and Support Centre NISC : http://www.nisc.lt
Nordic Council of Ministers Information Office in Vilnius http://www.nmr.lt
Open Society Fund : http://www.osf.lt
Social Policy Unit : http://www.spg.lt
Women's Issues information Center : http://www.undp.lt/wiic
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Pro g re s s Fo r A l l
COMMON COUNTRY ASSESSMENT FOR LITHUANIA
LIST OF ACRONYMS
AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
CCA Common Country Assessment
CCF Country Co-operation Framework
CIS Commenwealth of Independent States
CSD Commission on Sustainable Development (in Lithuania)
EBRD European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
ECHR European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
EU European Union
FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GEF Global Environment Facility
GVA Gross value added
HDR Human Development Report
IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency
IBRD International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
ICT Information and Communication Technologies
IDU Injecting Drug Users
IMF International Monetary Funds
IOM International Organization for Migration
MSSL Ministry of Social Security and Labour (in Lithuania)
NGO Non-governemental Organization
PHARE Pologne Hongrie Assistance aux Réformes Economiques
PPP Purchasing power parity
SPU Social Policy Unit
UNAIDS Joint United Nations programme on HIV/AIDS
UNCED United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
UNDG United Nations Development Group
UNDP United Nations Development Programme
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Orgnaization
UNFPA United Nations Population Fund
UNICEF United Nations Children's Fund
UNIFEM United Nations Development Fund for Women
UNS United Nations System
WB World Bank
WIIC Women's Issues Information Center
WHO World Health Organization
WTO World Trade Organization
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