SOCIAL MONITOR 2003. Economic growth and poverty External public debt Refugees and displaced persons Intercountry adoption HIV/AIDS. Special feature: Infant mortality

"Social Monitor 2003" reviews recent socio-economic trends in the 27 countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. It contains six articles: Economic Growth, Poverty, and Long-Term Disadvantage examines recent trends in national income, poverty and public expenditure. Debt Service: An Emerging Problem looks at the growth of external debt in the poorest countries in the region. Refugees and Displaced Persons: Still Large Numbers reviews trends in the numbers of refugees and displaced persons and their living conditions. Intercountry Adoption: Trends and Consequences analyses factors behind the increasing number of children who are internationally adopted from the region. Confronting HIV? considers recent developments in HIV/AIDS in the region and the care and treatment of people with HIV/AIDS. The special feature article, Counting Infant Mortality and Accounting for It, draws on recent survey data to question official infant mortality rates in several  countries in the region. It also seeks to explain factors associated with high infant mortality rates in these countries. In addition, the Statistical Annex covers a broad range of indicators for the years 1989 to 2000-2002, including population trends, births and fertility, mortality, family formation, health, education, child protection, crime, and income, as well as comprehensive statistical profiles on each country in the region. "Social Monitor 2003" is the second in the Innocenti Social Monitor series. It builds on the analysis of eight Regional Monitoring Reports produced by the MONEE project at the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre between 1993 and 2001. The text of the Social Monitor and the Statistical Annex can be found on the Innocenti Research Centre website, at <www.unicef-icdc.org>. The website also contains TransMONEE Database, a menu-driven download-able database, which includes in electronic format more than 100 indicators that are relevant to human welfare in the 27 countries.