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Bulgaria

A man displaying a fragment of a mortar shell. Despite the horrific legacies left by the Balkan wars of the 1990s, citizens in three out of four Western Balkans countries today perceive socio-economic factors as the chief threats to social cohesion. © OSCE/Marko Georgiev
09 March 2010

Measuring quality of life and social exclusion in the Western Balkans

This article describes how methodology from the European ‘Quality of Life’ survey has been used to measure social exclusion in the new EU member states and the candidate countries. These results indicate that, in most of the...

Topics: Poverty, Social inclusion, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria , Croatia , Hungary , Montenegro , The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia , Poverty Reduction , Employment, Global economic crisis, Data, Social policies, Income inequality, Policy development, Western Balkans, Quality of life, EU accession

Officials have made efforts to fight corruption, but much remains to be done. © UNDP Romania

Designing anticorruption institutions in Central and Eastern Europe

Governance problems in Eastern Europe will not be resolved by more institutional innovation in the anticorruption field

Topics: State reform, Democratic governance, Bulgaria , Latvia , Reform of the State, Governance, EU accession, Corruption, Baltic states, Anticorruption institutions, Eastern Europe

Think tanks help to foster political pluralism, which ensures that people maintain the right to vote. © UNDP Macedonia

Think tanks and state reform in Central Europe

This article argues that think tanks have a critically important role to play in developing fresh ideas in the face of democratic decline and economic crisis

Topics: State reform, Democratic governance, Bulgaria , Romania , Slovak Republic , Reform of the State, Policy development, EU accession, Civil society, Think tanks

Bulgaria’s irrigation infrastructure was built under socialism for large-scale agriculture, but now many small producers have formed water user groups in reaction to this problem. © Ilia Goranov

Civic Initiatives and Rural Development

Civic engagement plays a critical role in rural development. It can make important contributions given there are suitable investments in civil society.

Topics: Rural development, Food security, Albania , Bulgaria , Rural Development and Food Security, Poverty Reduction , Civil society, Agriculture, Rural poverty, Citizen engagement, Czech Republic, NGOs

Smoke bellowing from factory chimneys in Estonia is a harsh reminder of the country’s high emissions of greenhouse gases. © Curt Carnemark/The World Bank

Hot Air? Carbon Markets and Sustainable Development

Have climate change mitigation projects in the region generated compelling environmental and development benefits? Not always.

Topics: Climate change, Bulgaria , Hungary , Russian Federation , Ukraine , Environment & Energy, Greenhouse gas, New EU member states, Kyoto Protocol, Carbon finance, Joint implementation, Climate change

Economic migrants seem increasingly likely to commute rather than settle permanently. © UNDP Kosovo

Seeking The Virtuous Circle: Migration and Development in South Eastern Europe

After 1989, many observers expected a mass migration from Eastern to Western Europe. In fact, immigration from the eight New EU Member States, Bulgaria, and Romania is estimated at only 1.1 million people.

Topics: Migration, Minorities, Bulgaria , Romania , The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia , Minorities and Migration, Poverty Reduction , Employment, Economic growth, Data, Kosovo, Southeastern Europe