Albania ranks 70th out of 182 in UN well-being index

TIRANA, Dec. 20 – A report released this week ranks Albania in 70th place among 182 countries in the Human Development Index (HDI), the summary indicator of people’s well-being, education and GDP per capita.
The rating was released by UNDP and IOM as part of UNDP’s Human Development Report 2009 with the participation of Albania’s Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. The report also highlights the benefits of and barriers to migration at the global level.
According to this year’s Human Development Report “Overcoming barriers: Human mobility and development”, migration is a process to be managed, not a problem to be solved. “Migration – both across and within national borders – has the potential to greatly improve human welfare. The 2009 HDR explores how better policies towards human mobility can enhance human development – by maximizing the benefits of migration and supporting the very human desire to move in pursuit of a better life and minimizing the downsides,” highlighted Gulden Turkoz-Cosslett, UNDP Resident Representative and United Nations Resident Coordinator in Albania.
“We live in a highly mobile world, where migration is an important dimension of human development,” said Nicoletta Giordano, Chief of Mission, IOM Albania. “Nearly one billion – or one out of seven people are migrants; in the case of Albania, one third of its total population is estimated to live abroad at any one time.”
To make migration work for development, common misconceptions about migration need to be demystified, argues the Human Development Report, and countries should consider the positive effects of migration in combination with social and economic policies.
The package of reforms proposed by the Report revolves around six major pillars ranging from opening existing entry channels to more workers, especially those with low skills, to adding migration as a component of origin countries’ development strategies.
A number of countries have successfully linked migration policies to their poverty reduction strategies. Others such as Albania encourage the positive contribution of their diaspora towards the development of their home country and acknowledge the important role of remittances.
This year’s HDI has been calculated for 182 countries and territories – the widest coverage ever. It refers to 2007 data, highlights the very large gaps in well-being and life chances that continue to divide our increasingly interconnected world. The HDI for Albania is 0.818.