An increase in development aid since 2002 has raised health and education standards and hastened gender equality among the world's poorest nations, but overall poverty conditions are not improving, a new United Nations report said Monday.

The 2006 annual progress report of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the implementation of the Program of Action for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) said that domestic reforms and a revival of commodity prices have underpinned strong economic growth in many of those States. A number of them also benefited from a steep rise in oil prices.

But despite signs of progress, extreme poverty has deepened, and overall social indicators remain cause for concern, the report warned.

Chronic poverty continues to be aggravated by diseases such as HIV/AIDS and by environmental degradation, said the report, which Annan submitted to the Economic and Social Council.

In addition, the positive impact of growth in many cases is mitigated by high birth rates and an unequal distribution of resources. Climate change is already taking a toll on many low-lying or island LDCs, and is likely to pose a growing challenge to development in upcoming years, the report noted.

Of the 50 LDCs, of which 34 are in sub-Saharan Africa, 15 in Asia and the Pacific and one -- Haiti -- in the Western hemisphere, more than half recorded average annual growth rates of 4 percent or better during 2000-2004, according to the report.

Foreign direct investment has generally been on the rise in these countries in general, it added.

(Xinhua News Agency June 20, 2006)