Azerbaijan’s Poor UN Development Rating Due to ‘Use of Old Figures’

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Sept 13 2005

Azerbaijan ranked 101st in the annual UN report on human development
due to the use of statistics released a few years ago in the
evaluations, the UN Development Program representative in Azerbaijan
Marco Borsotti has told journalists.

Borsotti said that statistical data released 2-3 years ago are usually
taken as a basis during the preparation of annual global reports. There
is no need for comparing the human development indices observed in
2004 and 2005, as application of a new method started this year to
determine the figures on CIS countries, he said.

Borsotti said that according to the new method, living standards in
CIS countries, except Armenia, have declined. Azerbaijan’s slipping
rating is due to the statistics covering life expectancy of people,
the UNDP representative said.

“As the United Nations, we have been citing problems in certain fields
for about 4 years.”

Borsotti added that Azerbaijan has been developing in recent years.