The UN's most prestigious annual publication, the Human Development Report, is to be launched globally in Dublin for the first time next week.
The report, which measures quality of life in the world's nations, is expected to show a significant improvement in Ireland's ranking. This will come as welcome news for the Government, which has faced criticism for presiding over the high levels of poverty and inequality shown in the report in previous years.
The Human Development Report, commissioned by UNDP, is written by an independent team of experts who explore major issues of global concern each year. This year's report concentrates on the millennium development goals, the UN's targets for reducing poverty, illiteracy and AIDS rates by 2015.
In last year's report, Ireland ranked 18th out of 173 countries on the report's main measure of quality of life, the Human Development Index.
The report also showed that Ireland had the highest levels of poverty among Western countries apart from the US and had higher levels of inequality than almost any other Western state.
This was in spite of the fact that Ireland ranked as the fourth-wealthiest nation in the world, with a per-capita gross national product exceeded only by Luxembourg, the US and Norway.
One of the reasons Ireland was chosen for the unveiling was because it is regarded as "an example of a good donor", having pledged to increase overseas aid to 0.7 per cent of GNP, according to Ms Christelle Chapoy, a UNDP spokeswoman in London.
"Ireland, as one of the most open economies in the world, has gained significantly from globalisation and in the long-term perspective can only gain by working to ensure that the poorest escape from their poverty," she said.
