Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Pre-sessional working group

List of issues in relation to the second periodic report of the Islamic Republic of Iran (E/C.12/IRN/2), adopted by the pre-sessional working group at its forty-ninth session (21- 25 May 2012)

Addendum

Replies of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the list of issues*

[25 January 2013]

Contents

Paragraphs Page

I.General information1-23

II.Issues relating to the general provisions of the Covenant (arts.1-5)3-223

Article 2, paragraph 2- non-discrimination3-73

Article 3- Equal rights of men and women8-224

III.Issues relating to the specific provisions of the Covenant (arts. 6-15)23-11210

Article 6 – Right to work23-2810

Article 7 – Right to just and favourable conditions of work29-3512

Article 8 – Right to form and join trade unions and right to strike3616

Article 9 – Right to social security37-3816

Article 10 – Protection of the family, mothers and children39-4817

Article 11 – Right to an adequate standard of living49-6821

Article 12 – Right to physical and mental health69-8226

Articles 13 and 14 – Right to education83-10730

Article 15 – Cultural rights108-11234

Annex.Tables 1-2436

I.General information

Reply to the issues raised in paragraph 1 of the list of issues (E/C.12/IRN/Q/2)

1.To create conducive environment for invoking provisions of the Covenant in the national courts, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been making plans and drafting training programmes for quite some time. In this connection, the High Council for Human Rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran has organized a number of experts meetings on human rights by inviting judges and members of academia from all over the country to share their views and attend training programmes. This continues to be part of the agenda of the Council. As part of its training programme, the High Council for Human Rights prepares syllabus and training material to raise the awareness and general understanding of the judges on subjects relating to international law, and human rights, under such themes as prison sentencing and alternative non-incarceration sentences, and other pertinent subjects. These training courses are offered in many provinces of the country. As a result of these training plans there is now greater application of the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the two Covenants by our courts.

2.On the basis of article 9 of the Civil Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran, treaties which have been concluded, in accordance with the Constitutional Law, shall have the force of law. Nevertheless, lawyers and jurists usually invoke domestic law for the enforcement of rights, and invoking rules of international law and treaties is not very common. However, judges on the basis of their right to interpret the laws (art. 73 of the Constitution) invoke domestic laws and international rules, especially those that have found the force of law as a result of treaty ratification by national legislative body. The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran does not believe that there is a contradiction between article 4 of the Constitution and the Covenant since the covenant is applicable in the country on the basis of the law on accession of Iran to the Covenant (1979) concluded according to article 9 of the Civil Code. The reason is that the permission given to the Government to accede to the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights can be exercised on the basis of article 9 of the Civil Code.

II.Issues relating to general provisions of the Covenant (arts. 1–5)

Article 2, paragraph 2- non-discrimination

Reply to the issues raised in paragraph 2 of the list of issues

3.According to article 19 of the Constitution all people of Iran, whatever the ethnic group or tribe to which they belong, enjoy equal rights; colour, race, language, and the like, do not bestow any privilege. Moreover, various provisions of the Constitution accord fundamental rights and basic freedoms to all citizens of Iran, and they are entitled to enjoy these rights equally regardless of their ethnic, national, language affiliations.

4.According to the Constitution, all people of Iran, whatever the ethnic group or tribe to which they belong, enjoy fundamental rights and freedoms such as protection of life and property, employment, housing, freedom of belief, choosing occupation, benefiting from social security, recourse to court, education, fair trial, citizenship and participation in managing the affairs of the country and other rights of citizens.

5.In light of the above explanation, the phrase "the most discriminated and marginalized individuals and groups" in this question is a fictitious and irrelevant claim.

Reply to the issues raised in paragraph 3 of the list of issues

6.Article 19 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran clearly statesthat all people of Iran, whatever the ethnic group or tribe to which they belong, enjoy equal rights; colour, race, language, and the like, do not bestow any privilege. Moreover, article 20 of the Constitution states that "All citizens of the country, both men and women, equally enjoy the protection of the law and enjoy all human, political, economic, social, and cultural rights, in conformity with Islamic criteria." Members of the Baha'i sect, enjoy like other citizens these basic rights because of then belief. To this day, no member of Baha'i sect has been denied access to higher education. The corroborative evidence is the large number of Baha'i citizens presently studying in the institutions of higher education.

Reply to the issues raised in paragraph 4 of the list of issues

7.Article 2, paragraph 2, has nothing to do with sexual orientation and the word "sex" in this paragraph is limited to male and female. We believe question 4 goes beyond the content of the Covenant, and are amazed to see this question. It is in contradiction with the meaning of article 2 and suggests an interpretation that is irrelevant to our international obligations.

Article 3: Equal rights of men and women

Reply to the issues raised in paragraph 5 of the list of issues

8.One of the legislative measures on enjoyment of women of all economic, social and cultural right is the adoption of the Law on Rights and Responsibilities of Women (2006) by the Islamic Republic of Iran. This law underscores the following rights for women:

Right to self-determination

Right of ownership

Right to work

Right to establish trade associations

Freedom of expression and assembly in accordance with the norms.

Right to establish parties and other political associations and right to participate in their activities by observing independence of the country, national unity and overall interests of the Islamic system of government.

Right to participate in elections and to be elected to the Islamic Consultative Assembly, to various legislative councils, to participate in government planning and to assume high management positions by observing the norms.

Right to benefit from social security

Right to benefit from food, clothing and housing.

Right to physical and mental health.

Right to education

Right to participate in cultural life.

9.In the area of policy making, one of the fundamental measures by the Islamic Republic of Iran to elevate the status of women is the drafting and adoption of the strategic document by the Center for Women and Family Affairs of president’s Office in 2010. This document includes goals and strategies that generally relate to all activities by government agencies in relation to women and family. Article 21 of the Constitution obliges the government to create a favourable environment for the enhancement of woman's personality and the restoration of her rights, both the material and intellectual; for the protection of mothers, particularly during pregnancy and child-rearing years, and the establishing competent courts to protect and preserve the family; and for the provision of special insurance for widows, the aged women, and women without support.

10.The Twenty-Year Vision of the country, adopted in 2005, takes into its full view the need for elevating the status of women and family in all social arenas, restoration of all Sharia and legal rights of women in all fields of human endeavours and according greater attention to their constructive role. Article 158 of the Third Development Plan underscores measures to strengthen the institution of family by following means:

Identifying educational, cultural and sports needs of women in accordance with Islamic principles, and strengthening their role in the development of the country.

Promoting employment opportunities.

Facilitating access to courts and judicial recourse.

Supporting the formation of NGO's that support women heads of households and women without legal support in the less developed parts of the country.

11.Article 111 of the Fourth Development Plan obliges the government to take measures such as those listed below for the purpose of elevating the role of women in the society, promoting opportunities and increasing the level of women participation in the affairs of the country:

Adoption and implementation of comprehensive programmes for women participation, including review of legislations and regulations, especially the Civil Code, strengthening the skills of women that are appropriate for the needs of the society and technological developments, identifying and elevating quality of life of women and strengthening their religious beliefs.

Taking all necessary measures, including preventive programmes to end violence against women.

Presenting bills on supporting creation and expansion of NGO's, community-based organizations and women organizations to the parliament for the purpose of implementing article 111 of the Fourth Development Plan. Special line item has been set aside for this purpose in the budget.

Drafting and adoption of "Comprehensive Development Plan for the Center for Women and Family Affairs" on the basis of Article 230 of the Fifth Five-year Development Plan of the Islamic Republic of Iran that includes provisions concerning ways to strengthen the institution of family, review of laws and regulations, prevention of social harms, developing and managing economic and livelihood affairs and enhancing the capabilities of women with leadership qualities and promotion of health.

12.The Center for Women and Family Affairs has drafted a bill on safety and security of women. One of the purposes of this bill is to prevent violence against women and to support victims and those likely to be targets of violence. According to this bill, violence against women is defined and criminalized under different circumstances.

13.The constitutional and civil law of the Islamic Republic of Iran do not place any barrier for ownership by women of housing, land, movable and immovable property. Women possess 28,652,912 deeds of property.

14.It is noteworthy that numerous bodies and institutions have been set up to elevate status of women in the country:

Special Committee on Women and Youth in the State Expediency Council.

Socio-Cultural Council of women affiliated to The High Council for Cultural Revolution.

The Center for women and family affairs affiliated to presidential office.

Women Caucus in the Islamic Consultative Assembly.

Women and Youth Working Group in the High Council for Planning and Development in Provincial Administrations.

Offices for Women and Family Affairs in the ministries and all agencies and instrumentalities of government.

The Commission for the Protection of the Rights of Women and Children in the Judiciary.

Center for Strategic Studies in the Judiciary with the mission to prepare mechanisms for the advancement of the rights of women.

15.Among other important steps for the advancement of women mention can be made of the following achievements:

Increasing the level of health, culture and literacy of women nationwide; this has led to reduction of maternal mortality and improvement of other indicators.

Promotion of women members of Scientific Boards of universities and Educational institutes.

Increasing the quota in institutions of higher learning for medical assistants for neurosurgeons, urologists, orthopaedists, ear, throat and nose specialist, ophthalmologists and other medical professions form 25 per cent to 50 per cent.

Growing trend of women participation on medical education and in higher specialist levels in faculties of medical sciences and health services.

Elevation of the level of womenorganizations in the structure of government by allocating 31 seniordirector-general women affairs posts at provincial administration levels .

16.The Council of Ministers has adopted a number of directives and taken many steps in relation to elevating the status of women. The decisions of the Council of Ministers for the purpose of promoting women's cultural activities and strengthening the foundation of family life in their third round of provincial visits are as follows:

Supporting the implementation of programmes for the consolidation of the foundation of family and teaching ways of clean and moral living in cooperation with the religious seminaries.

Helping with the preparation and implementation of plans and programmes for the promotion of culture of hijab and chastity by emphasizing on public culture, traditions, customs and local clothing (men and women), and supporting apparel industries that produce clothing that are consistent with Islamic norms.

Supporting establishment of sports and recreational centres for women at provincial levels.

Supporting the development and strengthening of family guidance and counselling units in provinces with a view to promote good morals in the family on the basis of Islamic teachings and values.

Helping with the empowerment of women for occupations at home, launching workshops and indigenous handicraft markets in provinces.

Helping to establish special guarantee funds for rural and tribal women homemakers with respect to religious and health issues.

Assisting to promote cultural and social programmes for women in provinces by launching, activating community-based organizations, networks and centres for dealing with women affairs.

Supporting the development of technical and vocational centres for girls by concentrating on local handicraft and carpet weaving.

Supporting the implementation of supportive programmes that intend to elevate the status of exemplary, talented and virtuous girls by presenting them as good examples and introducing them via the local provincial media.

Helping with the preparation and implementation of plans and programmes for respecting the elderly in the family.

Helping to rejuvenate and bring greater safety to girls' schools.

Adoption of article 227 of the Fifth Development Plan concerning the preparation and drafting of National Document for Safety and security of women and Children in the society.

Establishment of National Women and Family Headquarters chaired by President with the participation of the President.

17.After the adoption of the Charter of Rights and Responsibilities of Women in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution discussed specifically the policies relating to participation of women in higher education in its meeting of 18 October 2005. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss ways of elevating the participation of women in higher education for the purpose of eliminating discrimination in benefiting from their capabilities.

18.One of the important areas in planning and policy measures for higher education is to know the number of entrants to higher education system. Those enrolled in the institutions of higher learning are in fact the entrants to this system. The number of women enrolees increased from 40,169 in 1989 to 513,535 in 2010 academic year which is equivalent to 20.3 per cent increase in the number of women enrolment.

Table 1 shows the growing trend of women enrolled in the higher education system.

Table number 2 shows that the number of women university students has surged from 12,187 in 1989 to 2,038,089 in 2010, equivalent to 15.4 times increase.

Table 3 shows that in 1989, 12,846 women graduated from universities and institutions of higher education. With a sharp increase this number jumped to 243,970 in 2009. In addition, table 3 shows that women graduates grew by an annual average of 2 per cent.

Table 4 shows that in 1998 from total number 35,193 for the members of faculty of universities, full time and part time, 6,562 were women which were 18.7 per cent of the total number of the teaching staff of the universities. In 2010 the number of women members of the faculty was 23.1 per cent or 27,646. These numbers are only those full-time or pat-time members of faculty (men and women) and other members of faculty who teach on the basis of fee for teaching service are not included.

Table 5 shows total number of women enrolled at state universities and institutions of higher education. Total number of women enrolees in universities and institutions of higher education was 313,725 which constitute 54 per cent of the total. The largest number of enrolled students, 166,413 (53 per cent), in universities and institutions of higher education belongs to humanities, and the lowest number, 18,851 (6 per cent) to arts.

Table 6 shows that in school year 2010-2011 there were 1,288,376 women students in state universities and institutions of higher education which is 57.1 per cent of the total number of state university students. The largest number of students is in human sciences (747,235), or 57.1 per cent, the smallest number in arts (68,479) or 5.3 per cent. In 2002 in Iran the share of women in tertiary education exceeded 50 per cent for the first time. For the next subsequent two years the share of women in universities also exceeded 50 per cent. The level of participation of women students in higher education is an important indicator of women's share in university graduates. It is noteworthy that the highest growth of women students is at the post-graduate level.

Reply to the issues raised in paragraph 6 of the list of issues

19.Various steps and measures have been taken to address gender imbalance in the labour market including comprehensive plan for the development of women's participation and the evaluation of its measured impact. These steps and measures are listed in table 7.

20.The Centre for Women and Family Affairs of the President's Office has taken a number of steps and has adopted policies to develop participation of women in the labour market and to support the advancement and promotion of women's capabilities at all occupational, management and educational levels. The most important measures in this connection are as follows:

With regard to elevating women's participation in the labour market, The High Administrative Council adopted on 14 March 2003 the criteria for selection, appointment and change of management posts in the government. The Council decided that "for the purpose of promoting women participation in management positions, the government agencies and instrumentalities are required to take all necessary steps to identify, elevate women's capabilities and to increase their appointments in management positions. For this purpose, positions at national level have been created that are solely for women, including the Advisor to the President on Women and Family Affairs, special advisors to Ministers on women issues, membership in Women Social and Cultural Council, director-general positions in all provincial administrations, deputy ministerial position for elementary education in the Ministry of Education and ranking positions in all General Departments of the Ministry and in research institutes dedicated to women's issues.

It is to be noted that in addition to the positions listed above, women in the Islamic Republic of Iran have managed to acquire four cabinet positions on the basis of their merits and in a clean competition, serving as a minister and deputy ministers and vice president and advisors to the president. There are also women parliamentarians, members of cultural and social commissions in the government, deputy ministers, heads of organizations and agencies, directors general in ministries, members of the Supreme council for Cultural Revolution, High Council for Employment, High Council for Health, High Council for Youth, members of Planning and Development of Provinces, and in the High Council for Iranians Abroad. There are also advisory posts for Women's affairs in all ministries and government agencies which have been one of the successful experiences of the Islamic Republic of Iran. These positions clearly show the presence of women in high and decision-making places in the nation. It should also be informed that allocation of advisors for in all government administrations is among the best practices.

Over the period extending from the first election of parliament to the ninth round of election, the number of parliamentary seats occupied by women has increased 265 per cent and the share of women in the parliament has gone up from 0.86 per cent in the first parliament to 3.14 per cent in the ninth parliament.

The number of women candidates for parliamentary elections over the nine rounds of elections has risen from 66 to 432 which indicate 550 per cent increase.

The number of women representatives in city and village councils has increased by 8.4 per cent over the past three rounds of elections. In the most recent election 1,490 council members were women.

There has been considerable growth in the number of management positions held by women. Percentage of women in managerial poisons, as legislators and senior officials in 1996 was 0.11 per cent, and 0.525 per cent for men. Presently this number for men is 2.9 per cent and 3.36 per cent for women.

At present time 60,365 women are working as legislators and high-ranking officials.

The Ministry of Education ranks first among government ministries and agencies in terms of high positions held by women. One-fourth of members of the Council of Deputy Ministers, comprising deputy ministers and, heads of agencies and advisors to the ministers, are women. There are presently more than 99,839 women in the Ministry of Education holding senior positions,

There are 980 women in charge of the position of women affairs in ministries and government agencies. There are also 880 women serving as village managers (dehyar). In total, 162,064 women are gainfully engaged as decision-makers and mangers in various arenas of human endeavours.

In the arena of decision-making in judicial poisons, there are 18 women serving as deputies to the highest judicial authorities, 10 serving as counsellor-in-chief and 7 as assistant prosecutors. There are also 560 women judges which are a major and important development in believing in empowerment of women and providing them opportunities and laying the ground for meritocracy.

21.Presence of women in the power structure and political participation in the Islamic Republic of Iran:

Appointment of women as a Minster (Minster of health)

Appointment of women as deputy head of Department of Environment and vice-President for Legal Affairs.

Appointment of women as advisors to the president for women and family affairs.

Preparing the ground for the active presence of women in the decisive and political elections such as the election for the Islamic Consultative Assembly.

Appointment of women as members of Cultural and Social Council for Women.

Appointment of women and as judicial counsellor and judges.

Appointment of women as advisors to the ministers on women affairs.

Appointment of women as directors, directors-general and deputy ministers in government agencies.

Appointment of women as directors –general for women's affairs in provincial and other local administrations.

Supporting village councils in their efforts to elect women mayors.

Appointment of women as mayors and president of local councils.

Election of women as village mangers.

Creating conducive conditions for candidacy of women in elections by supporting the efforts of High Provincial Councils.

Supporting the effective and quality presence of women in international interactions and sending women experts to international meetings and forums.

Supporting active participation of women in their efforts to form political parties.

Supporting establishment and participation of women NGO's.

Reply to the issues raised in paragraph 7 of the list of issues

22.It is not the question of obedience in relations of matrimony. In the Civil Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran, article 1102 in this code clearly states: "As soon as marriage takes place in due form, relations of matrimony will automatically exist between the marrying parties and rights and reciprocal duties of husband and wife will be established between them". In light of the best interest of the child and the need to preserve the foundation of family life, the responsibility for the financial maintenance of the household is on the husband which is practically the result of agreement between the couple and in reality the role of the wife is greater and more serious than husband. Preventing one of the couple to enter employment is the power that is given equally to both husband and wife. Article 18 of the Family Protection Law states: "The husband can prevent upon receiving a court order his wife from occupations which is incompatible with the family interests or the dignity of himself or his wife. The wife can also ask the court for the same permission. The court can prevent the husband from the occupation if it does not disrupt family livelihood ". Therefore, this is a right given equally to both sides and it is not only the right of the husband. It is noteworthy that the right to employment is among those rights that can be agreed and stipulated in the marriage contract. By agreeing to this stipulation, the husband cannot prevent his wife from entering employment.

III.Issues relating to the specific provisions of the Covenant (arts. 6-15)

Article 6 - Right to work

Reply to the issues raised in paragraph 8 of the list of issues

23.Programmes and policies that aim to generate full-time, gainful and long-term employment opportunities for the unemployed and workers with employment problems in different parts of the country are as follows:

24.In 2011, the policies adopted by the "High Council for Employment", which is one of the principal policy-making bodies in the Government, primarily concentrated on imparting greater momentum than the job market, especially by offering incentives for the generation of employment. The resources from the banking network were mobilized to finance employment-generating plans, self-employment schemes, small businesses and household occupations. Stimulus and supportive credits were also allocated from the annual budget. Altogether, the actual resources allocated for these plans and schemes were Rials 12,647 billion, and the total sum of Rials 201,282 billion for financing unfinished projects and working capital. The “High Council for Employment” has also included in its agenda a number of labour market adjustment plans and has adopted numerous other policies for the fulfilment of its mission.

25.Procedures, mechanisms and institutions that are used to review and assess the performance of employment generation policies are as follows:

Deputy for Strategic Planning and Supervision of the President's office monitors the good performance of all plans, projects and macro policy measures of the government at provincial and national levels.

Provincial Employment Committees: In light of the decentralization of responsibilities and activities of the government, a major part of development projects and plans have been devolved to the provinces. Provincial governors have established relevant technical and development committees to oversee the performance of approved projects.

General Inspection Organization: This organization was constituted on the basis of article 174 of the Constitution and in accordance with the right of the judiciary to supervise the proper conducting of affairs and the correct implementation of laws by the administrative organs of the government. The powers and duties of this organization are determined by law.

Comprehensive Information System for Employment Market, Measures and Achievements: The website on the employment market in Iran was launched in the winter of 2008 (www.amarkar.ir). Users and stakeholders of this website are government, Islamic Consultative Assembly, all policy-making, planning and observatory sectors, job seekers, employers, researchers and others. This website intends to present a transparent picture of developments in the job market by providing correct and timely information.

Another important website for employment opportunities that was launched in 2009 is the National Job Placement Site. This was a positive measure for job seekers, employment opportunities and statistics on applicants for jobs and placements from job placement centres nationwide.

26.Measures taken by the Fund for Support of Unemployed Workers are listed in table 8:

According to article 29 of the Constitution and Note to article 30 of the Labour Law and provisions in the Unemployment Insurance Law of 1990, adopted by the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the involuntarily unemployed workers or those unemployed after termination of their contract are supported by the Fund for Unemployed Workers. This fund pays unemployment allowance during the unemployment period from 6 to 50 months, provides health insurance, pays for skills improvement training to enable their recruitment, provides pension and disability and other short-term benefits granted under the Social Security Law. The statistical data concerning supports provided with unemployed workers over the past decade are listed in Table 9.

In 2011, the Fund provided 142,000 payments facilities. These facilities have created 162,920 new jobs in the country. More than 37,000 home employment were also created by supporting women to produce goods in their homes and to receive credit from banks.

27.Measures taken to reconstruct and help vulnerable industries by the High Council for Employment and the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade:

Based on the decision taken by the “High Council for Employment”, the Government concentrated its efforts on unfinished projects in 2011.

With regard to businesses facing difficulties and got credit facilities from credit resources of previous years, and special working group” was established under the “High Council for Employment. This working group met 14 times in 2011 to reduce or write off delay payment penalties in arrears of the said businesses. One of the important and effective measures in putting the industrial sector in better order and increasing investments in the development of this sector and mitigating their financial difficulties was to increase the rate of growth of the added-value in the industrial and mining sectors. Provided that private sector contribute to making investments and enter into partnership with industry, we can be hopeful that the risks in this sector, are reduced. According to article 150 of the Fifth Development Plan, the Ministry of Industry and Mines is committed to taking all necessary steps and policies to increase the rate of added-value in the mining and industrial sectors. This will in line with the goals envisioned in the Twenty-Year Vision and the strategy for the development of industrial and mining sector of the country. These measures will be carried out in coordination with the Office of the Vice-President for selected industrial and mining sectors for the purpose of achieving growth in these sectors and removing existing barriers.

Reply to the issues raised in paragraph 9 of the list of issues

28.According to the Government directive issued in 2002 by the High Council of Gozinesh, (employment) there is no limitation for other religious and ethnic minorities with regard to taking official posts. That directive stipulates that equal conditions should be applied to all persons seeking employment and employment opportunities are the same for Muslims and people of other faiths. According to article 19 of the Constitution all people of Iran, whatever the ethnic group or tribe to which they belong, enjoy equal rights; colour, race, language, and the like, do not bestow any privilege.

Article 7 - Right to just and favourable conditions of work

Reply to the issues raised in paragraph 10 of the list of issues

29.According to Single Article Act on Exemption of Workplaces and Businesses with 5 or Less Than 5 Workers, these workplaces and businesses are exempted from provisions of the Labour law until the end of the Third Development Plan. This plan was adopted in 1999 by the Islamic Consultative Assembly. Its implementation and validity ended in 2004. Therefore, the exemption ended with the termination of the validity of the law. Since the law was not renewed, workplaces and businesses with 5 or less employees are presently covered under the provisions of the Labour Law of The Islamic Republic of Iran that was approved in 1990 by the State Expediency Council. It is noteworthy that the demands of workers from workplaces with fiveor less workers during the Third Development Plan (2000 to 2004) are presently being addressed by the General Courts upon filing of lawsuits by the workers. Therefore, application of the Single Article Act on Exemption of Workplaces and Businesses with 5 or Less Than 5 Workers does not mean cancellation of priority debts of workers by the Judiciary. The workers have the right to resort to the courts to seek redress.

30.With regard to the second part of the question, considering the lack of clarity in the terminology used in the question (export processing zones), if this phrase means "Free Economic and Industrial Zones", or "Special Economic Zones", economic and social rights of workers in these two zones are covered under theregulations relating to employment of human resources, insurance and social security of the free economic and industrial zones of the Islamic Republic of Iran that were ratified in 1994. It is noteworthy that all workers and employers disputes fall within the jurisdiction of the Dispute Settlement Board under article 3 of these regulations.

Reply to the issues raised in paragraph 11 of the list of issues

31.The main purpose for setting minimum wage is to support workers that receive the lowest wages. Given the importance of minimum wage, article 41 of the Labour Law of the Islamic Republic of Iran requires the High Labour Council to set every year the minimum wages of workers in a way that should include the rise in inflation as announced by the Central Bank and to enable the workers to pay for the cost of living of an average family as clearly stipulated in the Minimum Wage Law.Review of minimum wage changes in the period between 1980 to 1988 shows that the rate of inflation grew faster than the minimum wage. This was basically due to the war that was imposed on Iran, and its impacts on social and economic conditions and the circumstances in the factories and manufacturing units. In Addition, part of the revenues was dedicated to the sacred defence against the imposed war. This situation caused the reduction of the real purchasing power of workers. With the termination of the war and the start of the implementation of development policies, greater attention was paid to workers and the need to increase productivity. Changes were made in the composition of the High Labour Council and wage policies. Over the recent years the High Labour Council has begun to have more interactions with social stakeholders. The Council conducts research and studies on the situation and requirements of enterprises and businesses. In deciding on the minimum wage, the Council analyzes the prevailing conditions and by taking into its full view the imperative of maintaining employment level and protecting the labour force sets the minimum wage that is sometimes even higher than the inflation rate. The intention of the Council is to reduce the income gap that had resulted from past wage policies and to meet the needs of workers in keeping with the justice and to enable workers to have a decent life. During this period, the average rate of growth of minimum wage has consistently been more than the inflation rate. Over the past five years the minimum wage has increased 2.5 folds. This shows the serious intention of the Government to bridge the gap in the cost of living for workers, to optimize the minimum wage formula and to extend it to other levels of wages. In this effort number of measures have been considered including: the fair distribution of wages, maintaining balance between different occupational groups, maintaining and attracting skilled workers and elevating their skills that paves the way to achieve a higher position in the hierarchy of their occupations.

32.Decisions by the High Labour Council have not only brought about higher minimum wages in 2012 ,but alsohave increased the allowance received to supplement the cost of consumer goods for workers from rials 280,000 to rials 350,000 in the same year. When other supplementary payments to workers are added to the minimum wage, such as housingand child allowance, the minimum wage for workers exceeds rials 5,100,000.

Reply to the issues raised in paragraph 12 of the list of issues

33.Considering the powers defined in Chapter 9 of the Labour Law of the Islamic Republic of Iran, follow-up on the payment of unpaid wages of workers, including wages in arrears is the responsibility of “Disputes Settlement Boards” (established based on the said Chapter). The payment is made after issuance of binding ruling. According to the data collected from the “Disputes Settlement Boards”, the number of complaints received, concerning non-payment of wages in 2011 was 103,660 cases. 59,213 cases were settled and a ruling was handed down on payment of overdue wages. Of the total number of rulings issued by dispute settlement authorities, 24,875 cases were appealed and reviewed by the Disputes Settlement Board. The Board issued 18,777 rulings for payment of unpaid wages to 22,021 workers. Efforts are being made to resolve and manage the problem of outstanding unpaid wages of workers through allocation of social assistance budgets.Table 10 shows the amounts allocated from social assistance budgets to workers covered by the Labor Law. The table shows a comparison of these payments in 2009 and 2010. As shown in the table, the amount in 2009 is rials16171000000, for the unpaid wages of 147 enterprises, covering 3,018 workers. This number in 2010 is rials 18,350,000 for the payment of unpaid wages of 210 companies, covering 4,182 workers. In addition to these sums, other forms of assistance were provided with the involuntary unemployed workers. This social assistance is in keeping with article 29 of the Constitution, Note 30 of the Labor Law and the provisions of the Unemployment Insurance Law of 1990. Much of this assistance is by the payment of unemployment benefits from 6 to 50 months, health insurance, cost of education and skill improvement training to enable them to return to the labour market.

34.The issue of overdue wages in some companies is primarily the result of traditional methods of production, weakness of management by the owners and the need for the industries to modernize their production line and to use modern technologies. Consequently, the Government pursues policy measures in the public and private sector enterprises along the following lines and in light of the economic imperatives and the need to improve productivity:

The Islamic Republic of Iran has made valuable efforts in countering the consequences of the global economic crisis. There has been a tangible movement in figures relating to private sector investments over the past six months of 1390 (2011), registering 31.1 per cent increase. For this reason, the economy has begun to show signs of improvement. For example, the housing sector has seen growth of 47.3 per cent; petrochemical production, steel production and automotive industries have jumped 3.1, 10.4 and 3.7 per cent respectively.Therefore, with economic momentum and the correct circulation of working capital in basic industries and sectors, the indicators of the labour market have also improved and the unemployment rate in the third quarter of 2011 has fallen to 11.8 per cent which shows 0.30 per cent reduction in comparison to the third quarter of the previous year. Given the positive results for the current year (2012), the Government is also supporting the improvement of business environment, issuance of industrial and production permits for downstream industries, renovation of traditional non-profitable workshops, and directs the banking resources to meet the needs of the real sector of the economy for the relevant services.

According to the World Bank report on convenience of business in 2011, Iran's overall score improved two ranks compared to 2010. In the Middle East region Islamic Republic of Iran ranks 8. Ministry of Cooperatives, Labour, and Social Welfare is also taking steps parallel to above-mentioned actions to deal with the unpaid wages of workers in small, medium and large enterprises by granting social assistance facilities. Table 11 shows the number of workers covered by financial assistance in the Labour Law. The table compares 2010 to 2011.

The Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade has taken drastic supportive measures in helping industries. In addition to the above-mentioned measures and those by the Ministry of Cooperative, Labour and Social Welfare, the Government has also carried out a series of different coordinated measures to counter the problem of overdue wages of workers.Some of these measures are as follows:

In accordance with the directive of the Council of Ministers, for the purpose of supporting manufacturing units, a board chaired by the Minister of industry, Mines and Trade, with participation of the relevant deputy ministers and directors of the same ministry as well and fully-authorized representatives of Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Power, Ministry of Cooperative, Labor and Social Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture, Central Bank and agent banks was established. This Board has met numerous times in the capital and provinces to examine every complaint and cases relating to manufacturing and production units. Considering delegation of powers by the Council of Ministers on the basis of article 127 of the Constitution, the Board makes pertinent decisions to resolve the issue of outstanding unpaid wages of workers.

Establishment of the Board for supporting industries has been one of the successful policies. According to the Implementing Regulations of the Law concerning Supporting of Industries, ratified in 1964, this board was established to help national industries and prevent closure of factories in exceptional conditions. After carrying out reforms in these units, and the return of their normal conditions the Board hands over them to their owners.

Project for Management Improvement System (SAM) has also been launched to secure the rights of the workers. For the purpose of helping to elevate the level of capability of industrial and mining enterprises and to improve their sustainability, the project has hired experts to detect and diagnose the problems facing these enterprises and to prepare and implement required remedies and solutions. For the purpose of getting more businesses from the private sector involved in this project, special companies that serve as general contractors have been set up to accompany the project from the beginning to the end.

The issue of overdue wages has been one of the important questions before disputes settlement authorities. Considering the powers granted under Chapter 9 of the Labor Law of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the settlement of overdue wages of workers is the responsibility of Dispute Settlement Authorities as envisaged under this chapter. The Dispute Settlement Authorities issues binding rulings to recover overdue wages. According to the data collected from the Dispute Settlement Authorities, the number of complaints received concerning non-payment of wages in 2011 was 103,660 cases. 59,213(Containing of 6790 persons) cases were settled and ruling was issued on payment of outstanding wages. Of the total number of rulings issued by dispute settlement authorities 24,875 cases were appealed and reviewed again by the Disputes Settlement Board. Eventually the Board issued 18,777 rulings for payment of unpaid wages to 22,021 workers. With regard to the enforcement of these rulings and other laws relating to dealing with problems arising from delay or non-payment of wage liabilities to workers and the financial assistance granted to employers and workers, efforts have been made to resolve the problem of wages in arrear from the social assistance budget.In 2009, rials 16,171,000,000 were paid to help resolve the outstanding wages of 147 enterprises, covering 3,018 workers. This number in 2010 (1389 of Iranian year) is rials 18,350,000 for the payment of unpaid wages of 210 companies, covering 4,182 workers. In addition to these sums, other forms of assistance were provided. This social assistance is in keeping with article 29 of the Constitution, Note 30 of the Labour Law and provisions of Unemployment Insurance Law of 1990. Much of this assistance is by the payment of unemployment benefits from 6 to 50 months, health insurance, cost of education and skill improvement training to enable workers get back to work in the labour market. Considering the more recent cases, information relating to workers that have been supported through this programme is provided in the following table:

35.Demanding workers guild rights by protestations is among the fundamental rights of workers duly recognized in the Constitution (arts.26 and 27). This right is also mentioned in the Labour law of the Islamic Republic of Iran (arts.142 and 143).It is noteworthy that the Fifth Development Plan Law in paragraph “h” of article 73 explains about ways to support workers unions and employers' associations by ensuring the right of protest. In this connection and for the purpose of guaranteeing the right of collective protest, the Implementing Regulations concerning management of workers demands were approved by the National Security Council in 25 June 2011 upon serious efforts by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. Parallel to this important measure, The Ministry has tried to update laws and regulations relating to workers and employers associations with a view to providing the highest level of independence for Islamic Workers Council and other workers grouping, including guilds and unions.

Article 8 – Right to form and join trade unions and right to strike

Reply to the issues raised in paragraph 13 of the list of issues

36.Chapter 3 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran is on the rights of people, and article 26 relates to the formation of parties, societies, political or professional associations, and article 27 and article 131 of the labour Law of The Islamic Republic of Iran recognize the right to establish professional associations and trade unions. Accordingly, trade unions and workers' associations, including those mentioned in this question, can enjoy these rights, provided they are consistent with the Regulations stipulated in Note to this article.Note 5 to article 131 of the Labour Law covers regulations pertaining to the establishment, scope of duties and powers, and the functions of trade societies and unions. It is noteworthy that the Fifth Development Plan Law in paragraph “5” of article 73 explains about ways to enhancement of workers unions and employers' associations by ensuring the right of protest. In this connection and for the purpose of guaranteeing the right of collective protest, the “Rules of Procedure on Management of Workers’ Demands” were approved by the National Security Council in 25 June 2011 upon serious efforts by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. Parallel to this important measure, the Ministry has updated laws and regulations relating to workers' and employers associations with a view to providing the highest level of independence for Islamic Workers Council and other worker guilds and unions. Over the recent years, various trade associations and segments of population, including workers and teachers, have organized meetings and gatherings in front of government buildings without having to face any confrontation. This is the principal policy and approach of the Government with regard to such assemblies.

Article 9 - Right to social security

Reply to the issues raised in paragraph 14 of the list of issues

37.Approval of the Law on Fifth Development Plan and its promulgation for implementation in 2010 and continuation of the implementation of the universal insurance law of 2001 is the most important step in providing insurance coverage in the country. In keeping with providing universal health insurance coverage, paragraph A of article 38 of the Law on Fifth Development Plan was drafted. This paragraph states:

38.In line with article 38 and with a view to quantitative and qualitative development of health insurance, access to universal and fair health services and reducing contributions by the insured to 30 per cent by applying various mechanisms, including the reforming of funds, better management of resources, affordable tariffs, use of internal resources of funds and if needed by using government funds from annual budgets. The government is required to prepare the mechanisms for universal and mandatory basic insurance that is partly financed by annual budgets. Contribution from government should be able to cover the total cost of the insurance premium for the indigent segments of the population from the overall budget of the Government. The government is also required to create the necessary requirements for converge of all groups and individuals in the society who apply for health insurance. Coverage of health insurance for all eligible groups shall be completed within 5 years from the ratification of this law by according priority to the needy and rural population in accordance with the provisions of this law.

Article 10 - Protection of the family, mothers and children

Reply to the issues raised in paragraph 15 of the list of issues

39.“Marital rape” is a concept that goes beyond commitments of the State party to the Covenant. Moreover, there is no international agreement or consensus on the wording of this concept and the 'marital rape" is beyond the scope of the Covenant.Nevertheless, the Islamic Republic of Iran in accordance with Chapter 19 of the Islamic Penal Code, under the title of offences against family rights and duties, has adopted adequate regulations for the courts to invoke in cases of violence and abuse of members of family. In Article 619 of the Islamic Penal Code, the legislator recognizes the mistreatment of children and women in public places as punishable offence. Moreover, infringement of the rights of women is addressed in article 622 of the Penal Code and punishment is envisaged in the law for harming a pregnant woman. It should be noted that these provisions in the law are general and cover assault, battery and verbal abuse by husband against wife.Furthermore, in accordance with article 1130 of the Civil Code when it is proved to the Court that the continuation of the marriage causes difficult and undesirable conditions, the judge can for the sake of avoiding harm and difficulty compel the husband to divorce his wife. If this cannot be done, then the divorce will be made on the permission of the Islamic judge.According to the Civil Code, beating or other forms of continuous abuse by the husband that is not normally tolerable by the wife are examples of undesirable conditions. Moe over, according to article 1127 of the Civil Code if the husband contracts a venereal disease after the performance of the marriage act, the wife have the right to refuse to have any sexual relations with him and this refusal will not debar her from the right to alimony. .

40.Given the importance of the rights of women victims of violence in the Islamic Republic of Iran, there are presently 520 female judges serving as investigating judges and counselling judges in the courts of appeal. There are women judicial officials serving as Deputy Head of Judicial Complex and advisors to the Minister of Justice on women issues. According to the regulations of the Single Article law concerning allocation of courts to subjects covered by article 21 of the Constitution (Family Court), presence of woman legal counsellor is strongly advised and the legislator has stated all rulings by these depends upon their views. With regard to supporting women victims of domestic violence, the following measures are noteworthy:

Establishment of an intervention and rehabilitation office in the Welfare Organization and implementation of a programme for intervention in individual, family and social crises (137 Social Emergency Centers).

Establishing social emergency call centre (123) with the overall aim of controlling and reducing social harms.

Providing social emergency mobile services by 200 special vehicles.

Establishment of 24 centres for rehabilitation of battered women and girls. These centres are located in 22 provinces of the county. In Tehran and Khorasan provinces, there are two centres, and in other provinces one center that are established to prevent recurrence of violence and for social and psychological rehabilitation.

There are also 31 Health Houses for the empowerment of individuals at risk of harm and battered women, and to prevent girls from being victims of social harm there are 31 of these health houses in the country.

Reply to the issues raised in paragraph 16 of the list of issues

41.According to article 77 of the Implementing Regulations concerning schools that was adopted in 11 August 2000, and promulgated on 29 August 2000, applying any kind of punishment in the form of verbal abuse, corporal beating and punitive homework are forbidden. Fortunately, with these new laws and regulations different forms of corporal punishments in Iran have been eradicated.

Reply to the issues raised in paragraph 17 of the list of issues

42.Considering the importance of the family, especially the observance of the rights of children in view of the legislator in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the cases of sexual abuse of children are unfortunately very rare. The perpetrators of these crimes against children are dealt with in accordance with the Islamic Penal Code. Despite being rare and infrequent, protection of the victim of child abuse is provided by the parents, Prosecutor's office, Welfare Organization and NGO’s. The Family Protection Law of 1974, the law on protection of children without guardian (1974), the law on granting custody of the minor child to mothers (1985), the law concerning the right of guardianship (1986) provide adequate protection to these children. Moreover, article 2 of the Children and Adolescent Protection Law explicitly states any harm and abuse of children and adolescent that cause bodily, mental and moral harm and jeopardizes their physical and mental health is forbidden and punishments are envisaged in article the 3 of the law. Article 5 of the same law clearly states that child abuse is a public offence and does not need private complainant.

43.Moreover, article 6 clearly states the preventive measures envisaged by the legislator are as follows: "All individuals, institutions and centres that have the responsibility of caring and keeping children must report immediately cases of child abuse to the relevant authorities for appropriate decisions. Violation of this responsibility is punishable by up to 6 months in prison or pecuniary penalty".

Reply to the issues raised in paragraph 18 of the list of issues

44.Measures taken by the Islamic Republic of Iran to combat trafficking of women:

The law concerning punishment of smugglers who engage in illegal border crossing, ratified by the Islamic Consultative Assembly in 1987.

The Children and Adolescent Protection Law ratified by the Islamic Consultative Assembly in 2002.

Besides, the Islamic Consultative Assembly ratified the law on combating human trafficking in 2002 to protect human dignity. To prevent this phenomenon the Government has also adopted policies to promote greater justice in income distribution and creating conducive conditions for advancement and empowerment of women and men regardless of their gender.

Another important measure by the Islamic Republic of Iran is the adoption of anti-poverty strategies, especially for women by providing financial support, entrepreneurship training and supporting women cooperatives to combat poverty as one of the causes for human trafficking.

For the purpose of supporting rights of children, in accordance with articles 18 and 19 of the Bill on Protection of Children and Adolescents that have been approved by the Council of Ministers and is presently going through legal processes, prison sentence of 10 years is envisaged for the offence of buying, selling, trafficking and transferring body organs of children. The Bill states that these offences are unpardonable, and not subject to suspension, and if carried out by parents, guardians and experts, including physicians, the perpetrators will receive maximum punishment. Article 26 also envisages criminal liability for legal persons.

It is noteworthy that according to article 1173, if the physical health or moral education of the child is endangered as a result of carelessness or moral degradation of the father or mother who are in charge of the custody, the court can take any decision appropriate for the custody of the child on the request of its relatives or its guardian or the Public Prosecutor.

Accession of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography in 2007 is noteworthy. According to the law concerning punishment of persons involved in illegal audio-visual activities (2007) and articles 13, 14, 15, and 16 of the Bill on Protection of Children and Adolescents, the offences mentioned in the Optional Protocol are incorporated in the domestic law.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has carried out extensive legal measures in combating human trafficking. In addition, public awareness programmes have been carried out to aware families in rural areas to prevent this nefarious phenomenon.

Reply to the issues raised in paragraph 19 of the list of issues

45.The measures taken in this connection are as follows:

Enforcement of the law concerning street children (2005)

Identification and reception of street children and providing them with 24/7 shelters since 1999 in centres that offer social and psychological services with the aim of supporting children and their families rehabilitation and independence.

Such activities are performed with the participation of 40 government and non-government centres in all provinces and cities above 200,000 population with contribution from trained expert staff in the fields of children and adolescents. They undergo annual retraining programmes.

The plan for providing shelter for street children in provinces with the aim of supporting those at risk of harm, and empowering them with education, vocational and life skills training.

Implementing study and research plans at regional and provincial levels on subjects relating to street and working children.

Writing a manual for ambulatory treatment of street children last year and promulgation of this guideline in the first half of this year which are family-based, preventive, empowering and supportive.

Reception and providing support to 6,000 street children along with their families by the Welfare Organization during the past three years.

The Municipality of Tehran in cooperation with community-based organizations have implemented since 2008 the plan for management of child workers and street children. Moreover, from 2005, on the basis of a directive by the Council of Ministers, it has worked constantly with the Welfare Organization to manage the problem of street children and child workers. Presently, there are more than 49 centres nationwide caring for these children and in recent years they have placed 10,414 children under their support.

For the purpose of addressing the plight of street child workers and their rehabilitation within street children rehabilitation programme, shelters for child workers were established in 7 provinces, with the highest number of child workers and also the potential to carry out these activities. These shelters were launched in four regions in Tehran and 6 in Mashhad, Shiraz, Isfahan, Qom, Sari and Rasht. However, some have changed their function and currently these activities are being carried out with some modifications in Tehran, Bandar Abbas, Kermanshah, Mashhad, Uremia, Gorgan, and Sananndaj. The purpose of this plan is to provide a proper shelter and a place for leisure time to children and providing the basic needs for accommodation and health, providing the necessary schooling to children covered by this plan and to oversee their condition of work and prevent social, physical and psychological harm as a result of working. Last year, 3500 children were covered by this plan. The specialist services offered by these shelters include counselling, psychological advice, social services, health and medical services (such as vaccination). Nutrition, clothing, filling leisure times through using recreational facilities of Cultural Centres, going to movies, camps, and general education are provided in cooperation with social workers of the Centres.

Reply to the issues raised inparagraph 20 of the list of issues

46.The following regulations of Labour Law of the Islamic Republic of Iran are on minimum age of employment:

Article 79: It shall be prohibited to employ any person less than 15 years of age.

Article. 80: A worker between 15 and 18 years of age, hereinafter referred to as a "young worker", shall undergo a medical examination by the Social Security Organization prior to commencing employment.

Article 81: Young workers should undergo medical checks at least once a year. Medical reports should be kept in the worker’s employment records. The physician expresses his views on compatibility of the job with the physical capabilities of the worker. Should the doctor consider the job inappropriate, the employer, to the extent possible, has to change the job.

Article 82: Daily working time for young workers shall be half­ an hour shorter than ordinary hours of work. Arrangements for this purpose shall be made by agreement between the worker and the employer.

Article 83: It shall be prohibited to assign overtime work, shift work, or arduous, harmful or dangerous work to young workers or to require them to carry loads heavier than the authorized maximum weight without using mechanical means.

Article 84: In occupations and jobs which, on account of their nature or of the conditions in which they are performed, may be prejudicial to the health or morals of trainees or young workers, the minimum working age shall be 18 years. Such cases shall be determined at the discretion of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

It should be mentioned that in one Chapter of the Labor Law which deals with "offences and penalties", violating articles 79, 83, and 84 by employers are considered punishable - as stated in article 176.

Article 176: Any person who commits an offence under a provision of sections 52, 61, 75, 77, 79, 83, 84 or 91 shall, for every offence and as the case may be, remedy the offence or pay any amounts due to workers, or both, within such time ­limit as may be set by the court in consultation with the representative of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. In addition, the offender shall be subject to the fines prescribed hereunder in respect of each worker:

(1) For up to 10 workers, 200 to 500 times the minimum daily wage of a worker;

(2) For up to 100 persons, in excess of the first 10, 20 to 50 times the minimum daily wage of a worker;

(3) For more than 100 persons, in excess of the first 100, 10 to 20 time the minimum daily wage of a worker. In the event of a second offence, the offender shall be subject to a term of imprisonment ranging from 91 to 180 days.

47.It is noteworthy that given the law on Iran's accession to The Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour and its supplementary recommendations, ratified by the Islamic Consultative Assembly in 2001 and the bylaws 1 and 2 to this law that was approved by the Council of Ministers on 17 May 2004, which lists harmful occupations for workers under 18, the office of the Deputy Minister for Labor Relations conducts regular inspections to enforce the provisions of this law and to ensure observance of the regulations relating to minimum age for employment.

48.The performance of the General Inspection Department of the Ministry with regard to combating employment of children under the age 15 is shown in table 12.

Article 11 - Right to an adequate standard of living

Reply to the issues raised in paragraph 21 of the list of issues

49.Income poverty is the most tangible dimension of poverty. In an income-poverty based approach, the poor are identified on the basis of the level of their income and actual purchasing power in the market. On the other hand, hunger as the most extreme and the most brutal form of poverty is the first target of attention in poverty alleviation. Accordingly, the first purpose of the Millennium Development Goals was based on income poverty and hunger. To evaluate this situation, the following quantitative indices are being examined:

Indicator 1: the ratio of population with income under $1.25 per day.

Indicator 2: Ratio of poverty gap on the basis of $1.25 per day.

Indicator3: Share of the poorest 20 per cent from total consumption.

Indicator 4: Ratio of population receiving minimum dietary energy requirement.

Indictor 5: Ration of poverty gap on the basis of minimum dietary requirement.

50.The first indicator to be examined is the ratio of population with income under $1.25 per day according to purchasing power parity. This ratio has decreased considerably, from 1.8 per cent in 2001 to 0.37 per cent of the population in 2009. Over the years of the Third Development Plan (2000-2004), and the Fourth Development Plan (2005-2009), this indicator improved. Continuation of such trend would mean achievement of the first Millennium Development Goal. The indicator based on $1.25 per day is the minimum indicator that is used for international comparisons. However, minimum standards of living in Iran are higher than this indicator. Although the ratio of population under the income line of $1.25 has decreased, the protection agencies have placed more people under their coverage. These numbers tell us that still a part of the population live under poverty line and need special attention of policy makers. There are always special groups in vulnerable situations such as addicts, the homeless and other special segments who constitute a major part of these statistics. In other words, it can be concluded that the number of people with less than $1.25 daily income mostly include those suffering more serious vulnerabilities and do not have the ability of living as normal individuals. These statistics have a certain special thresholds that have little relations to the structure of wealth distribution in the society.

51.The indicator of poverty gap on the basis of $1.25 per day describes in relative terms the gap of income between the poor and poverty line; and indeed deals with situation among those living in poverty. Table 13 shows the ratio of poverty gap on $1.25 per day has decreased from 0.37 per cent in 2001 to 0.12 per cent in 2008. In other words, average income of individuals with less than $1.25 income per day has increased considerably. This shows that the policies of the Government to promote social justice, income equality have had gradual positive impact for the lower deciles of the population and the gap between the poorest portions of the population with low-income segments has narrowed. This has accelerated in recent years with the implementation of Subsidy Reform Plan. This reform plan has narrowed the gap between the lower deciles of the population and the higher deciles, especially between the lowest and the median deciles. Therefore, it can be claimed that the inequalities among the lower deciles has narrowed the most in the last ten years when measured with other equality indicators such as Gini coefficient. Accordingly, the security of minimum livelihood is provided for many of the poorest portions of the population during the past 10 years. There is now an opportunity for these segments of the population to be culturally and socially more active and to achieve greater equality with other segments of the population.

52.In order to have a better understanding of the poverty situation, we examine the indicator for share of the poorest 20 per cent from total consumption. Table 14 shows this indicator was 5.7 per cent in 2001 and with gradual change it reached 6.19 per cent in 2010. This indicates that several factors contribute to higher share of consumption by low-income portion of the population and implementation of social protection policies could lead to this situation. There are also other factors that lead to higher share of consumption of the poorer portions of the population, such as the overall economic conditions, fluctuation in foreign currency exchange rates, changes in prices of oil and other macroeconomic indicators. In light of economic consequences of dropouts, a sharp rise in the share of this segment of the population will realize.

53.The fourth indicator relates to the portion of the population who do not have access to the minimum dietary energy requirement. This is the segment of the population that lives under the food poverty line (2100 calories per day). According to available information, the ratio of households who are deprived of receiving minimum dietary requirement has decreased from 1.44 per cent in 2001 to 1.15 per cent in 2009. Moreover, the nutrition gap has fluctuated over this period and reached to zero in 2009 (table 15).

54.Considering the increase in food variety over years under consideration and better culture of nutrition among middle and lower deciles of the population, the relevance of this indicator as a poverty indicator has decreased. This indicator by itself cannot be anymore a good measure of poverty. Today, for many middle and low income families, consumption of carbohydrate, as principal source of energy, has been replaced by richer sources (proteins and vitamins). In fact families are more focusing on body cell enrichment than filling their stomach. However, in recent years the ratio of people who do not have access to a food basket that guarantees minimum dietary requirement has exceeded the number of people with daily income of less than $1.25. This shows that $1.25 per day income cannot guarantee access to minimum diet and we need to be cautious in using this indicator to assess the level of deprivation (table 16).

55.To achieve the goal of poverty eradication, for the first time, sectoral and cross-sectoral documents have been drafted as strategic documents for Fourth Development Plan. The titles of the most important documents and sectoral and cross-sectoral programmes that partly or totally deal with poverty alleviation are as follows:

Drought management executive plans

Agricultural development plan

Housing master plan

Comprehensive plan on empowerment of women and protection of their rights

The plan on employment generation and reduction of unemployment

Cross - Sectoral Document for Poverty alleviation and rationalization of subsidies

Regulations for social safety net.

National plan for social-based empowerment

The fund for social insurance of rural population

Reply to the issues raised in paragraph 22 of the list of issues

56.First, the phrase "irregular property acquisition" is not mentioned in article 49 of the Constitution. Therefore, it does not seem relevant to question its meaning. Second, to help understanding the article and for the sake of interaction and explanation, it should be mentioned that the article in question refers to the wealth generated by usury and other sources that are enumerated in the article. There seems no ambiguity in the law to be clarified. Third, based on the law on execution of article 49 passed in 1984 the lawmaker provides definitions, order of execution and general rules. Subsequently, a relevant law was passed in 1989 on dealing with the wealth emanated from smuggling, hoarding and price gouging.

57.On registration of deeds and property, the applicable law that requires deeds of property to be registered in the Organization for Registration of Deeds and Property is the one which was ratified in 1931.

Reply to the issues raised inparagraph 23 of the list of issues

58.According to article 30 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, providing appropriate housing for all people is one of the primary responsibilities of the government. Accordingly, policies and programmes in the housing sector in the urban and rural areas are intended to provide housing for all segments of the population, regardless of their ethnic background. It is noteworthy that in recent years, housing programmes have been implemented with a view to improve the access of low-income portions of urban population to housing and to improve and renovate housing in rural areas. In the following parts we will explain about the level of completion of housing projects in the provinces mentioned in the question.

59.Mehr housing Project is the largest construction work that has been carried out in Iran in recent years. The primary purpose of this scheme is to increase access of low-income families to affordable housing in all provinces of the country. The provinces of Kermanshah, Sistan va Baluchistan, Khuzestan and Ilam are within the operational scope of this housing plan. Subsidized rural housing project is also underway under the title of Rural Housing Improvement. Needless to say, this programme has also been implemented in Kermanshah, Sistan va Baluchistan, Khuzestan and Ilam. These housing projects have improved the concentration of number of occupants in a residential unit in these provinces as a result of the increase in availability of residential homes. In paragraph "d" of Note 6 to the Budget Law of 2007 great emphasis was put on provision of housing for all, especially for the low-income segment of the population. To realize this goal through supporting the supply of housing and regulating the sector, the Government presented a bill to the parliament in 2007 for its approval. This bill became a law in 2008. The purpose of the law is to support construction activities in the housing sector.

60.Special attention is also paid to improving the situation of housing in the ethnic regions of Iran. Steps have been taken for this purpose within the Mehr Housing Project and Rural Housing Improvement Scheme for low-income groups between 2009and 2012 (tables 17and 18).

Khuzetan Province

Mehr Housing Project: Of the total of 105.374 housing units planned, 101.064 units have reached the completion of foundation works, 79.823 units have finished the superstructure and roofs, 68.965 units have finished all superstructure, walls and piping, and 33.983 units are done with the finishing touches. Also, 5171 units have been renovated.

Rural housing: in the province of Khuzestan there are plans for construction of 60.991 residential units, of which 53.679 are in the stage of foundation work, 48.961 in stage of superstructure and roofing, and 44.366 are ready for handover.

Kermanshah Province

Mehr Housing Project: Of the total of 61.400 housing units planned, 53.634 units have reached the completion of foundation works, 47.262 units have finished the superstructure and roofs, 44.660 units have finished all superstructure, walls and piping, and 31.835 are in the stage finishing works and 3.570 units have been renovated.

Rural housing: in the province of Kermanshah there are plans for the construction of 34.035 residential units, of which 31.715 are in the stage of foundation work, 30.021 in stage of superstructure and roofing, and 28.834 are ready for handover .

Sistanvan va Baluchistan

Mehr Housing Project: Of the total of 19.000 housing units planned, 18.359 units have reached the completion of foundation works, 15.181 units have finished the superstructure and roofs, 13.862units have finished all superstructure, walls and piping, and 11193 units are done with finishing touches. Also, 3.483 units have been renovated.

Rural housing: in the province of Sistan va Baluchistan there are plans for the construction of 52,482 residential units, of which 46960 units are in the stage of foundation work, 41.062 units are in the stage of superstructure and roofing, and 37.535 units are ready for handover .

Ilam province

Mehr Housing Project: Of the total of 19,368 housing units planned, 15513 units have reached the completion of foundation works, 14.695 units have finished the superstructure and roofs, 13.425 units have finished all superstructure, walls and piping, and 9,633 are ready for handover. 1608 units have been renovated.

Rural housing: in the province of Ilam there are plans for the construction of 18,316residential units, of which 17,174 are in the stage of foundation work, 16,651 in stage of superstructure and roofing, and 16,208are ready for handover.

61.With the implementation of the Subsidy Reform Plan and payment of monthly sum of cash to citizens, the residents of the areas mentioned in the question are also covered by the plan and their livelihood has improved.

Reply to the issues raised in paragraph 24 of the list of issues

62.The constitutional and civil law of Iran do not place any restriction to ownership of women on housing, real estate, movable and immovable properties. According to Article 20 of the Constitution all citizens of the country, both men and women, equally enjoy the protection of the law and enjoy all human, political, economic, social, and cultural rights, in conformity with Islamic law. According to article 958 of the Civil Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran every human being is entitled to civil rights. And according to article 959, "nobody can alienate himself entirely from the entitlement or enjoyment of the whole or part of his civil rights". Considering that ownership of movable and immovable property is acquired by purchase, inheritance, and gift and other ways, it is part of the civil rights of people. Nobody can deprive a person of the right to own and exercise his/her right with regard to the property. There is no difference between men and women with regard to the right of ownership and anyone has the right to make use and benefit of his/her properties unless otherwise was expressed by law. According to the law on promotion of rental house construction, the women headed households are one of the beneficiary groups of the facilities of this law (young married couples and low-income persons are the other two groups). About 20 per cent to 25 per cent of the housing units covered by this law were rented to women headed households.

63.Besides, based on article 1 of the executive order of the law on promotion and regulating housing sector women headed households and unmarried women above the age of 35 are among the groups who are covered by Mehr Housing Facilities.

64.Moreover, in light of Note 1 of paragraph 2, of the same article, scientific elites and persons with physical disabilities with an introduction letter from Welfare Organization can benefit from the facilities provided by Mehr Housing Project regardless of being man or woman. These cases explain observance of the rights of women to eliminate gender-based discrimination in policies pertaining to housing sector.

65.With regard to inheritance cases, there are differences between men and women. The rulings on inheritance are made in light of duties, responsibilities and social and family status of men and women. Meanwhile, not in all cases the share of men form inheritance is more than women. Examples where the share of women from inheritance is more than men will be provided later. Moreover, taking a more profound look at the economic system of Islam indicates that women have no economic obligation in the family, and alimony and cost of living are the responsibility of father or husband. Alimony covers costs of housing, food, clothing, health and medical treatment from the time of marriage to the end of life, and even during the Eddeh period (4 months and 10 days of restraint during which a divorced or widowed woman shall not remarry) is the responsibility of husband. The cost of child support from birth to self-reliance is the responsibility of father. Besides, getting inheritance is once in a lifetime event, and a person may not even receive any inheritance in his lifetime. Moreover, whatever owned as the result of buying, personal efforts, gift, and inheritance by women belong to them and no one has the right to interfere in their ownership. Women are not required to pay for the financial needs of their husband or children. While, men given their responsibilities for the economic life of the family, should spend what they own and even part of their inheritance to meet the needs and costs of living. Therefore, the economic system of the Islamic Republic of Iran which is based on Islamic system is designed to support women.

66.In addition to above-mentioned cases, according to article 1200 of the Civil Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the expenses occur to take care of parents must be bear by the male child or grandsons in the order of kinship. Girls do not have any responsibility for such costs. It is to be noted that there is no restriction for a father to transfer all his wealth to his daughter before death.

67.There are cases where women take more from inheritance than men:

When deceased has a father and a daughter, then the daughter of the deceased inherits 1/2 of the inheritance, the father of the deceased receives 1/6 of the inheritance (art. 908 Civil Code).

Where the decease has no heir but grandchildren, if the grandchild from his son is a girl, the girl receives two times more than the grandchild from the daughter who is a boy.

If a man dies and his inheritors are his wife and four brothers, then the wife takes 4/16, and each brother takes 3/16 from the estate left by the deceased.

68.There are also cases where men and women take equal inheritance:

When a person dies and the inheritors are father and mother in addition to children, then father and mother take equal share of 1/16 from the inheritance.

When the deceased has a number of brothers and sisters from the maternal side, they all take equally from the inheritance.

Paternal and maternal grandfather and grandmother receive equally from the inheritance.

Where the mother and father are the sole inheritors of the deceased, they take equal inheritance.

If the sole inheritor of the deceased is a boy or a girl, he or she would receive equal inheritance.

If the sole inheritors are uncle and aunt (from the father side or mother side), they take equal share.

Article 12 - Right to physical and mental health

Reply to the issues raised in paragraph 25 of the list of issues

69.Since the past two decades distribution of milk and one hot meal for students of elementary and secondary schools in disadvantaged regions of the country has been part of the annual programmes of Ministry of Education. According to directive issued by the Council of Ministers all new entrants to pre-elementary schools, students of elementary and guidance schools as well as their staff receive two or three times 200 to 300cc milk during a week. This plan has been implemented since 2000 in all provinces. The plan to provide one hot meal to day-care centres in rural areas has helped improve nutrition of children under the age of 6 in rural areas of the country. In this plan a hot meal is given to children 2-6 years in 5000 rural day-care centres, covering more than 140,000 children.

70.The results of three surveys in 1995, 1998 and 2010 on stunting and low-weight of children under age 5 show a substantial reduction especially between 1998 and 2010. Prevalence of nutritional stunting declined from close to 19 per cent in 1995 to 15.4 per cent in 1998 and 6.08 per cent in 2010. The prevalence of low-weight in children under 5 has decreased from 16.6 per cent in 1995 to 10.9 per cent in 1998 and to 4.08 per cent in 2010. The prevalence of underweight among children under 5 has also decreased from 6.9 per cent in 1995, to 4.9 per cent in 1998 and to 4 per cent in 2010 (table 19).

71.Several institutions in Iran are involved in mitigating the consequence of malnutrition. The Ministry of Health plays the leading role. One of the primary objectives of nutrition improvement programmes is to prevent, control, and reduce malnutrition among children, especially in the deprived regions of the country. Therefore, for the purpose of achieving this goal, the Ministry of Health has consistently tried to have close cross-sectoral cooperation with other sectors that are relevant to food and nutrition.

72.Ministry of Health, Ministry of Cooperative, Labor, and Social Welfare and other agencies and stakeholders involved in improvement of nutrition of children and poor families have all worked together for this purpose. Given the multi-dimensional aspect of nutrition, the Ministry of Health has implemented a joint project on malnutrition in cooperation with other stakeholders in three cities of Ilam, Bardsir, and Borazjan. Evaluation of this project after three years of intervention indicates that malnutrition of children has decreased by 50 per cent. This project included theoretical and practical education of mothers on child nutrition, teaching women with poor literacy on subjects relating to health and nutrition, creating gardens for vegetable cultivation at homes and schools, strengthening monitoring services for the growth of children, etc.

73.In light of the good results from this project, the plan has been carried out in all universities from year 2000. Nutrition Support Programme for children under 6 suffering from malnutrition who live in poor families have also been covered in this plan under Imam Khomeini Relief Committee. Within a short period of time this plan has been extended to 14 provinces. In this programme children suffering from malnutrition are identified and then are provided with food basket by the health sector. The mothers also attend training classes and the growth of their children is regularly monitored. In keeping with article 4 of the Implementing Regulations relating to the law on social safety net, the programme for supporting groups in vulnerable situations, nutritional support plans have been extended nationwide by the Ministry of Health, and in cooperation with Ministry of Welfares and Social Security and Imam Khomeini Relief Committee.

74.This collaborative protection programme began in 2009 and has produced substantial results until 2012. The number of children covered by the food basket programme has gone up from 47,000 in 2009 to 60,000 in early part of 2012. The progress report of this programme, based on its indicators shows improvement in nutrition of children (national average is more than 40 per cent) through offering food basket, nutritional counselling and educating mothers on child nutrition; over 70 per cent improvements after implementing the food basket programme. In this project, other development and welfare agencies, including Literacy Movement, Ministry of Agriculture, Welfare Organization and Ministry of Education played important role.

75.Some of the measures taken in this connection are as follows:

Over the years extending from 2009 to 2012, Health Houses were equipped with kitchens to offer practical training to mothers on supplementary diets. The number of these kitchens was 1400 in 2009, and has now reached 2200.

Considering the role of nutrition education and counseling in raising awareness and its impact on attitudes of mothers on nutrition and improvement of nutrition of children, the number of nutrition counseling units has increased from 80 in 2009 to 150 in 2012. This will facilitate providing counseling services on child nutrition for children suffering from malnutrition.

To promote the culture of consumption of vegetables in households as a source of vitamins and minerals, in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Education, the number of vegetable plantation gardens in Health Houses, schools and homes has increased from 14,000 to 63,000 between 2009 and 2012.

Education on nutrition, growth monitoring and provision of one hot meal in rural daycare centers have been among major programmes to help improve nutrition of needy children under 6 in deprived and rural regions of the country. Provision of one hot meal for children 3- years old in rural daycare centers began from September 2007. This programme has been carried out by Welfare Organization, with the cooperation of Ministry of Cooperative, Labour and Social Security in more than 5000 rural daycare centers. In this programme, in addition to providing one hot meal, instructors and parents of children are taught about subjects relating to health and nutrition of children.

76.Programmes on nutrition education, growth monitoring and provision of one hot meal in rural day-care centres from 2009 to 2012 have been consistent:

In 2009, this programme was implemented in more than 6000 rural daycare centers, covering 160,000 children. In 2010 this programme was implemented for six months for 140,000 children. In 2011, this programme covered 154,321 children 3-6 years in 7,360 rural daycare centers. The result of monitoring shows improvement of nutrition in some regions has been more than 50 per cent.

The programme to promote breast-feeding with a view to increasing feeding solely mother's milk in the first 6 months of life, and continuing breast-feeding with supplementary diet until the age of 2 is among important programmes of the national health network. Moreover, the programme for feeding supplementary diet from age of 6 months is taught to mothers and child care personnel during face-to-face programs.

One of the ways to prevent and control shortage of micronutrients is by drops and multivitamins 15 days after birth up to 24 months, as well as iron supplements through iron drops and syrup from the age of 6 to 24 months. Distribution of free supplements is carried out by health and medical networks. In this programme, there are guidelines which are used for training and counseling services on nutrition by the health and nutrition experts. According to country programmes in 2011, the coverage for supplements of iron drops and multivitamins is 98 per cent.

One of the important steps in determining the situation of growth and nutrition of children and fast identification of children suffering from stunting and malnutrition, is by carrying out monitoring of the growth of children, measuring their height and weight, measuring the circumference of the head by health, school and counseling staff within regular periods and on the basis of the approved guideline. In case of any abnormality in the growth of the child, the physician and the health personnel will monitor the situation, and if needed, refer the child to a specialist.

77.According to the results of country surveys, from 1998 to 2010, and pursuant to programmes and interventions, the prevalence of malnutrition of children under 5 on the basis of low-weight which was recorded 10.9 per cent in 1998, decreased to 4.08 per cent in 2010.

78.To improve the nutrition of pregnant and lactating mothers suffering from malnutrition in the poor families, in cooperation with social protection agencies, food baskets are provided to them in addition to nutrition counselling, and increase in mother's weight is monitored.

79.In 2009, 10.000 pregnant and lactating mothers suffering from malnutrition were covered at 14 universities of medical sciences by the programme. This programme has expanded since 2011 and 19 universities of medical sciences (in 124 cities) are covering 15,000 qualified to receive free food baskets. Moreover, micronutrient supplements that include free distribution of iron supplements, folic acid and multivitamins are provided during pregnancy and the breast feeding period. This programme is carried out to prevent shortage of micronutrients and to improve the health of the mother. According to the latest research, percentage of coverage of iron supplements, folic acid and multivitamins among pregnant mothers is respectively82 per cent, 92 per cent and 82 per cent. Assessment of this programme shows that with the provision of food baskets, 85 per cent of mothers covered have shown desired weight increase during the pregnancy period.

Reply to the issues raised in paragraph 26 of the list of issues

80.The first two years of life is the vital period for desirable growth, development and overall health of human beings. In this period, the prevalent diseases of childhood and shortage of micronutrients can leave long-term and irreparable impact on later years of life. Malnutrition during these years cause diseases and increases the chance of death and impairs mental and physical development. In the long run, it will have negative impact on mental performance and physical ability, and impairs productivity and health during adolescent and adult years. The improper dietary regime during breast feeding time is the direct and basic cause of malnutrition in the first year of life. This is the reason for 49 per cent of deaths of children under 5 and suffering of children of infectious diseases. In Iran, promotion of breast- feeding began in 1986 after the establishment of the Commission on Milk and Children Diet. Meanwhile, three state distribution companies took charge of distribution of formula milk. The cans containing the formula milk used similar cans without any labels and a directive was issued concerning shared room for mother and her infant. In 1988 and 1991 coinciding with the global movement on breast-feeding, a dynamic movement and relentless efforts were started to raise awareness on breast-feeding and its health, immunological mental, emotional, social and economic benefits in preventing chronic respiratory diseases and diseases of the digestive tract, especially dysentery. Since these programmes were implemented from time to time, it was felt there needs to be a comprehensive national plan to preserve the achievements of these programmes, for this reason, a national plan on nutrition with mother's milk was drafted and its implementation began in 1991.

81.Among activities in the early years of the implementation of this programme mention can be made of the following cases:

Assessment of the existing situation, establishment of national center on promotion of breast-feeding, establishment of mother's milk committees in universities, organizing more than 1,250 training workshops in all provinces that taught doctors, in cooperation with the national Committee on Mother's Milk, in order to train teachers groups in universities, establishing four training centres on breast feeding in four major provinces to cover neighbouring provinces, review of general medicine syllabus, approval of the Board of Children for one-week course in nutrition workshop for all those in third year of paediatrics studies before taking the Board Exam in 1993. The establishment of the Society for Promoting of Breast-Feeding as the legislation under the title of the Law on Mother's Milk which was ratified by the Islamic Consultative Assembly, preparing teaching material for breastfeeding and launching child friendly hospitals.

It should be noted that in 1997, National Center for Breastfeeding was merged with Children Health Department and its activities continue under new arrangements.

82.Islamic Republic of Iran has made substantial progress in promoting breast feeding. According to survey in 2005 (IMES) the situation of nutrition with mother’s milk is as follows:

Presently in the Islamic Republic of Iran exclusive breastfeeding for children under 6 months is 23.1 per cent, continuation of breastfeeding until one year is 90 per cent and until 2 years of age is 57.5 per cent. These findings show reduction in exclusive breast feeding in the first 6 months as compared to previous years. Fortunately, in the latter part of 2005 some measures were taken to revive the work of the National Center for Breastfeeding and the university breastfeeding committees were activated to do more intervention works.

Recent surveys by MIDHS in 2010 show that exclusive breastfeeding for children under 6 months have risen to 53.1 per cent. Continuation of breastfeeding until one year has increased to 84.1 per cent and to 51.1 per cent to two years of age. Given the superior role of mother's milk in reducing incidence of diseases the implementation of this programme continues to be of high priority.

Articles 13 and 14 - Right to education

Reply to the issues raised in paragraph 27 of the list of issues

83.According to article 3 of the Constitution, the government must provide all citizens with free-education in all levels, and must facilitate expansion of higher education throughout the country. Following this principle the education system in the Islamic Republic of Iran is making serious efforts to lay the ground for education of the entire population in Iran. In the Islamic Republic of Iran the census on the number of students is done on the basis of gender, rural and urban areas, and provinces. The ethnic indicator is irrelevant in these statistics.

84.The number of elementary girl students in rural areas in the school year 2011-2012 was 877,271, constituting 48.3 per cent of rural elementary students. This number shows there is not a significant difference between girl and boy elementary students in rural areas. It should be noted that the total number of rural students last year was 3,071,164, of which 1,443,843 were girls (47 per cent).

85.The Ministry of Education is applying its utmost effort to send women teachers to rural areas. Incentives and encouragements are provided for female teachers to go to these areas, presently there is substantial presence of women in rural areas. The reason for shortage of women teachers in rural areas is basically due to lack of interest by women teachers. The Ministry of Education has on its agenda hiring of local women for this purpose.

86.Of the total number of 948.223 employees of the Ministry of Education in school year 2011-2012, 52.3 per cent were women.

87.Of the total number of 133.536 employees of the Ministry in the elementary period of the rural areas 55,892 were women (42 per cent).

88.Of the total number of teachers in rural and urban areas, 94.3 per cent have university degrees. Of the total number of teachers in rural areas 93.3 per cent have university education. It should be noted that the same number for urban areas is 94.7 per cent, therefore, there is not a significant difference in the capability of teachers in urban and rural areas. With regard to material and equipment in rural areas and cities, the following numbers deserve attention. Of the total of 57,619 elementary schools fin 2011-2012 school year, 39.687 schools (more than 69 per cent) are located in rural areas.

Reply to the issues raised in paragraph 28 of the list of issues

89.To answer this question we would like to refer the esteemed Committee to the 2012 Education for All Global Monitoring Report by UNESCO, which is the most important source for statistics and information on global education. According to this report the Islamic Republic of Iran is among those countries that has made substantial progress in education. For example, in one part of this monitoring report it is stated that for 2012 among 38 countries for which gender inequality in deduction was less than 0.9 per cent, the Islamic Republic of Iran was among 25 countries that passed this threshold in 2010. Iran is now among 6 countries that has achieved gender equality in education.

90.Moreover, according to the Annual Education Publication, for 2011 Iran was among the countries of the region that has been able to increase enrolment for secondary schools form 1 million to 8 million from 1970 to 2009. This same source states that the Islamic Republic of Iran in 2009 registered the highest rate of secondary schools graduates in south and west of Asia. This rate for graduates of secondary schools was 81 per cent. Also the Annual Statistical Publication in 2012 states that the rate of repeating elementary classes had a substantial drop in the region of south and west Asia, Iran was able to lower this rate of repetition from 5 per cent to 2 per cent.

91.Article 30 of the Constitution states that the government shall provide all citizens with free-education up to secondary school. Article 52 of the Law on Fourth Development Plan requires the government to make education until the end of the 10th grade compulsory. According to this law, Iranian citizens should attend school up to age 15. This same article requires the government to ensure access to equal education opportunities especially for less developed parts of the country, to expand learning opportunities, skills training, and enhancing human resources productivity for girls and qualitative and quantitative development of public education of this group, and take the following steps:

Development of the required conditions for compulsory education for all.

Making education compulsory until the end of secondary school, commensurate with possibilities and gradually in regions that will be announced by the Ministry of Education.

92.Measures and steps that have been taken to combat illiteracy from 2009 are as following:

Programmes and local textbooks for every province and poor persons and holding of literacy festival in rural and urban areas in which literacy rate has reached 97 per cent which resulted in calling those regions as illiteracy-free regions.

The plan literacy teaching of 10-49 years age group up to fourth and fifth grade. To this day more than 12,000 cities and rural areas have become free of illiteracy. Production of literacy teaching programmes for national and provincial television networks, establishment of 3500 learning centers nationwide, in which skill and vocational training is also offered in addition to literacy teachings that are geared to meet the daily needs of people and to enable entrance to job market.

Reply to the issues raised in paragraph 29 of the list of issues

93.Implementation of the plan to increase coverage of students at school age with emphasis on girls, vulnerable children (children in difficult families and child workers) has been one of the primary tasks of the education system in Iran. Implementation of this plan to attract and keep children who have been left out of school in school yeas 2010 and 2011 has resulted in admission of 28,000 of these children to the education system. In the school year 2006-2007 the ratio of girls to the total number of students was 48.3 per cent. This ratio has gone up to 48.5 in 2010-2011 school year. The ratio of female teachers in 2007 was 55 per cent, while the same number in 2010-20011 school year was 63.4 per cent. One of the reasons for this increase was the use of female teachers for elementary schools, especially for first to third grades. The number of female teachers in rural areas has increased from 35.9 per cent in school year 2006-2007 to 46.5 per cent in school year 2010-2011. In school year 2011-2012 concentration of students in a rural area class room is 16.4. The ratio of teacher to students in 2010-2011 school year was 22.4. Rate of net absorption in first grade of elementary schools in school year 2006-2007 was 95.3 per cent, while the same number in 2010-2011 reached 97.6 per cent. Moreover, the rate of net enrolment for elementary schools increased from 97.4 per cent in school year 2006-2007 to 98.4 per cent for 2010-2012.

94.According to estimations, in 2011 of the total population of 15 years and over, 84.3 per cent are literate. Of this number, the number of literacy among women is 49.6 per cent, and 50.4 per cent among men. In the same year of the total population of 15-24 years 73 per cent were literate.

95.The Islamic Consultative Assembly ratified the law on protection of children and adolescents in 2002 which regards as an offence preventing a child from going to school and the offender is sentenced to pecuniary fine.

96.According to the single article law concerning facilitating the conditions for education of Afghan and Iraqi nationals living in Iran that was approved by the 78th meeting of the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution in 2010, students and literacy learners who are nationals of Afghanistan and Iraq who are living in Iran, regardless of their status, can enrol at public schools.

97.The Seven-Point Guideline on Consolidated and Universal Education of Children was promulgated to meet the requirements of students with special needs. The objective of this guideline was to gradually prepare those children to be able to learn in public schools. This guideline started to be implemented in 2006-2007 school year on a trial basis for 120 units, the guideline is currently being implemented throughout the country.

98.All students have now access to official education and teaching programmes in public schools. Expulsion of students for whatever the reason, especially during the elementary years is forbidden. Efforts are being made to increase coverage and prevent dropouts by various programmes, including attracting girls to schools. In addition, with regard to children who have been deprived of the right to education as a result of expulsion, dropping out, sickness and other reasons, they can benefit from distant learning and being present in classes on the basis of regulations of the Distant Learning Institute. This includes those lessons that are part of the approved syllabus of the Ministry of Education and part or the entire syllabus of secondary levels. The emphasis is on learning lessons by visual and audio means and reduction of the hours for physical presence. According to statistics, 75,215 children have been covered by the Institute of Distant Learning. In addition, the Literacy Movement which is affiliated to the Ministry of Education has the following responsibility for the eradication of illiteracy:

Teaching adults up to the ability to read and write and do simple arithmetic.

Elevation of the cultural level of literacy learners within the limits of the Literacy Movement.

Presence in areas where the Ministry of Education has not been able to be present.

Use of all facilities and human resources in order to eradicate illiteracy by implementing appropriate projects especially in the deprived areas of the country in concentrated action and by mobilizing the public and using other available means.

99.Refugees from Afghanistan, Iraq and refugees from other countries can continue their schooling in Iranian schools. Religious minorities in Iran have their own schools (article 43 of the executive regulations on schools). Religious minorities can enrol at public schools as well and participate, if they wish, in Islamic courses. Therefore, in the Islamic Republic of Iran all members of religious and ethnic minorities and refugees enjoy the right to education.

100.One of the implementing mechanisms of the Fifth Development Plan concerns expansion of one-month preparatory classes in bilingual regions of the country, giving priority to rural areas with the help of the Ministry of Education. Moreover, a one-year preparatory course, before elementary school, is also offered by the non-governmental sector under the supervision of the Ministry of Education.

101.At the present time the Department of Foreign Nationals of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in cooperation with the Ministry of Education has taken the following steps for the access of undocumented and migrant children to education:

This department covers one million documented refugees. Afghan children covered by the education system of Iran are 288,000. These refugee children are received in 850 educational units of 12 classes. The UNHCR has provided 12 schools to the Ministry of Education.

It should be noted that according to the statute of the Ministry of Education, Afghan students can enroll and every year close to 300,000 Afghan students enroll from the first grade in the elementary to the end of secondary education.

Reply to the issues raised in paragraph 30 of the list of issues

102.In the education system of the Islamic Republic of Iran there is no barrier or limitation for the enrolment of children with disability in the regular school system. These students receive support from teachers. Seeing children with impaired vision, low hearing ability or with speech and motor difficulties is not very unusual.

103.The Organization for Special Children was established in 1968. It is charged with the task of dealing with children and adolescents whose parents wish them to be taken car by this organization. Therefore, the statistics that published on the number of children with disability are those that in schools covered by this organization.

104.The Organization for Special Children supports children in following ways:

The child experts introduced to the Organization are examined and tested.

If needed and upon the request of parents the child is sent to proper Special School.

Rehabilitation and education material and equipment are made available to the child.

If the parents of the child desire, the child can go to regular school where he/she will receive additional support. This support includes teachers with specialist training for special and disabled children going to regular school, and provision of the required material.

105.The seven-point guideline for universal and consolidate education for children and students with special needs are prepared with the need for special school buildings and teaching material in mind for those who go to regular schools. In 2007, the first trial year for this programme, 723 students from 28 schools were covered in 2010 (ending year for trial) 1.819 students benefitted from this programme in seven provinces.

Reply to the issues raised in paragraph 31 of the list of issues

106.There is no difference between the enrolment of Baha'i children and adolescents in elementary schools and other children with different belief and faith, including the Muslims. All of them enjoy equal and similar conditions for enrolment. It should be noted that educational centres In Iran, like other countries, are required to abide by their own internal regulations. If individuals regardless of their religion and beliefs observe the laws, no one has the right to bother them. There are punitive measures for those who infringe upon the rights of others.

107.Article 19 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran clearly states that all people of Iran, whatever the ethnic group or tribe to which they belong, enjoy equal rights; and colour, race, language, and the like, do not bestow any privilege. Also, article 20 of the Constitution states that all citizens of the country, both men and women, equally enjoy the protection of the law and enjoy all human, political, economic, social, and cultural rights, in conformity with Islamic criteria. It should be mentioned that no Baha'i individual has been deprived from higher education because of their belief and as long as they abide by the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran and rules of educational institutions there will be no problem for their employment and education. The evidence is the large number of Baha'is who are presently studying at different levels of higher education.

Article 15 - Cultural rights

Reply to the issues raised in paragraph 32 of the list of issues

108.According to article 15 of the Constitution the official language and script of Iran is Persian. Official documents, correspondence, and texts, as well as text-books, must be in this language and script. However, the use of regional and tribal languages in the press and mass media, as well as for teaching of their literature in schools, is allowed in addition to Persian. According to article 72 of the regulations concerning the three-year secondary daytime education, students from that religious minorities recognized in the Constitution can take their examination on their own religious subjects.

109.According to the directive issued by the 216th meeting of the Supreme Council of Education on 15 November 1981 under Number 4707 of 30 November, the Council agreed on the school holidays for religious minorities up to 11 days.

110.In Iran, followers of different religions and ethnic groups live side by side in peace and in view of the Islamic Republic of Iran; the country is a successful example of peaceful coexistence. By taking an overall view on Iran, we can see there are many places of worship and religious places for different ethnic groups, and with regard to mosques and schools for Sunnis, there are more than 10,000 mosques, one mosque for every 600 persons, while there is one mosque for every 1300 Shiites who are the overwhelming majority in the country. In addition, there are 3,000 religious schools for Sunnis in Iran. Various government positions are held by Sunnis, including members of the local councils and provincial officials, presently, 19 members of the parliament are Sunnis which show the importance of this population for the Islamic Republic of Iran.

111.Over the recent years, members of religious minorities have received licenses and permits to publish magazines and other periodicals to disseminate new and subjects relating to their followers. These publications benefit from government subsidies, like other publications, and participate actively in different exhibitions and fairs, like the International Press Fair (tables 20,21 and 22).

112.Local publications that mostly relate views and tastes of ethnic and minorities such as Azeri, Kurds, Lors, Baluchis, and others are published. Granting licenses and permits to these types of publications are among the priorities of the Government (tables 23 and 24).It is the intention of the Government to elevate the position of these publications and there are presently local papers in every province.

Annex

Tables

Table 1 T he growing trend of women enrollment in the higher education system

Year	Women	Total	Ratio per cent
1989	40.169	125.668	32.0
1990	47.718	148.996	32.0
1991	51.264	146.018	35.1
1992	66.013	186.820	35.3
1993	78.887	231.018	34.1
1994	98.588	260.424	37.9
1995	111.575	280.619	39.8
1996	133.243	306.706	43.4
1997	142.274	321.581	44.2
1998	165.218	347.725	47.5
1999	160.454	324.059	49.5
2000	184.734	363.485	50.8
2001	192.992	377.802	51.1
2002	213.243	405.838	52.5
2003	272.714	519.612	52.5
2004	279.220	564.418	49.5
2005	318.393	614.748	51.8
2006	386.456	747.204	51.7
2007	454.125	843.229	53.9
2008	287116	525316	54.7
2009	414291	822852	50.3
2010	513535	1054110	48.7

Table 2 Number of female students to total (1989 – 2010)

Year	Women	Total	Ratio
1989	132.187	426.096	31.02
1990	160.565	514.474	31.21
1991	191.517	588.422	32.55
1992	227.721	683.847	33.30
1993	276.152	826.893	33.40
1994	327.024	949.661	34.44
1995	374.221	1.046.254	35.77
1996	441.986	1.168.559	37.82
1997	501.945	1.284.718	39.07
1998	566.636	1.305.603	43.40
1999	636.031	1.405.066	45.27
2000	747.286	1.577.386	47.37
2001	768.597	1.566.963	49.05
2002	870.164	1.714.771	50.75
2003	975.451	1.892.976	51.53
2004	1.080.159	2.118.543	50.99
2005	1.231.565	2.390.863	51.51
2006	1.482.237	2.828.511	52.40
2007	1.795.836	3.391.852	52.95
2008	1708553	3349741	51
2009	1874966	3790859	49.5
2010	2038089	4116593	49.5

Table 3 Number of students graduated, female to total (1989-2009)

Year	Women	Total	Ratio
1989	12.846	45.341	3/28
1990	16.084	57.052	2/28
1991	23.483	72.660	3/32
1992	29.051	88.134	0/33
1993	32.767	96.229	1/34
1994	39.287	113.957	5/34
1995	45.866	128.701	6/35
1996	57.043	149.185	2/38
1997	73.023	174.582	8/41
1998	93.065	207.695	8/44
1999	113.195	262.955	0/43
2000	144.274	326.509	44.2
2001	103.968	230.295	45.1
2002	129.680	278.544	46.6
2003	179.004	364.224	49.1
2004	179.484	358.699	50
2005	173.981	345.732	50.3
2006	189.965	366.202	51.9
2007	237825	457574	52
2008	371401	769171	48.3
2009	243970	607121	40.2

Table 4 W omen members of universities teaching staff

Year	Women	Total	Ratio of women
1998	6562	35193	7/18
1999	6327	34256	5/18
2000	7370	36308	20.3
2001	7062	38523	18.3
2002	9625	42170	22.8
2003	8585	39489	21.7
2004	9297	45145	20.6
2005	9798	43579	22.5
2006	10098	47758	21.1
2007	9790	50847	19.3
2008	20430	103055	19.9
2009	22483	107470	21
2010	27646	119950	23.1

Table 5 Total number of women enrolled in state universities and institutions of higher education 2010 – 2011

ّ field of study	Associate degree	Undergraduate	Graduate degree	Professional Doctorate Degree	Specialist Doctorate Degree	Total
Women	Total	Women	Total	Women	Total		Women	Total	Women	Total	Women	Total
Humanities	28,709	56,553	127,181	194,325	10,056	18,871		0	0	467	1,353	166,413	271,102
Basic sciences	157	315	25,285	36,481	6,759	10,587		0	0	580	1,096	32,781	48,479
Medical sciences	1,901	3,656	13,771	19,227	1,633	2,558		4,345	7,122	2,074	4,404	23,724	36,967
Technology and engineering	18,098	66,408	25,138	66,520	3,525	13,598		0	0	366	1,469	47,127	147,995
Agriculture and Veterinary	3,256	11,456	18,184	31,087	2,767	5,198		372	616	250	597	24,829	48,954
Arts	11,187	16,192	6,549	9,118	1,076	1,646		0	0	39	68	18,851	27,024
Total	63,308	154,580	216,108	356,758	25,816	52,458		4,717	7,738	3,776	8,987	313,725	580,521

Table 6 Number of female students of universities and institutions of higher education for academic year 2010-2011

Level and discipline	Associate degree	Undergraduate	Master's programme	Professional Doctorate	Specialists Doctorate	Total
Women	Total	Women	Total	Women	Total	Women	Total	Women	Total	Women	Total
Humanities	105,926	205,233	608,942	880,395	30,643	59,351	0	0	1,724	6,030	747,235	1,151,009
basic sciences	295	596	118,589	168,549	16,595	26,369	0	0	2,124	4,600	137,603	200,114
Medical sciences	8,232	14,124	38,903	54,470	4,304	7,052	22,516	37,570	6,383	14,261	80,338	127,477
Technology and engineering	62,925	235,102	99,402	247,011	9,687	36,973	0	0	1,209	6,091	173,223	525,177
َTechnology and science	8,023	29,755	63,327	102,733	7,076	13,196	2,028	3,222	1,044	2,762	81,498	151,668
Arts	43,193	64,733	22,129	31,626	2,999	4,925	0	0	158	387	68,479	101,671
Total	228,594	549,543	951,292	1,484,784	71,304	147,866	24,544	40,792	12,642	34,131	1,288,376	2,257,116

Table 7 Programmes and plans to materialize the main areas of article 230 of the Fifth Development plan on the comprehensive development of women and family

Main areas	Policies relating to article 230 of the Fifth Development Plan	Operational Plan	Activities
Enhancement of capabilities of women with managerial and leadership talents Organizing economic and livelihood affairs and providing social security	Improvement of infrastructures and capabilities of elite and talented women and increasing their presence and influence in different arenas Proving continuous and appropriate education with emphasis on elite and talented women Providing for the livelihoods and social security for the purpose of helping the economy of he family by emphasizing on women heads of household and giving priority to empowerment programmes than protection policies Review f laws and preparing legal bills to address the shortcomings in legislations to prevent injustice in creating the conditions for observance of the rights of women	Improvements of conditions for the presence of elite and talented women in different arenas program for improvement of livelihood of women and family by emphasizing on women heads of household programme to enhance social security of women and family by giving priority to women heads of household and women with bad head of household. 1.1 elevating and restoring the righs of women and creating equal employment opportunities commensurate with capacities of implementing programmes.	Establishment of the Hose for the elite and talented women with leadership qualities in different provinces. Development of societies, networks of elite scholarly women and sing them in policy making and implementation 3. Drafting the system for evaluation, identification and ranking of elite women in different fields. Establishment of women management courses. Rewarding of special awards for elite women Supporting scholarly women with leadership and management qualities for organizing NGO's on women and family issues. Providing education and training to elite and talented women. Holding of courses for graduates of complementary education of women increasing their capabilities. Designing and holding executive management courses of one year for women managers. Preparing an appropriate model and strategic plan for women participation in economic arenas by balancing with family life, raising awareness of educated girls and women on broad range of occupations that can be done from hoe using university expertise, general skills and arts, industries. Supporting establishment of cooperatives and small industries to increase employment opportunities for women with professional and technical skills by giving priority to women heads of households. Strengthening foundation of cooperatives and development of entrepreneurship for women and establishing provincial branches. Supporting non-governmental sector to develop and expand business training, entrepreneurship, and vocational and practical education , giving priority to local occupations, home occupations, and cooperatives Establishing comprehensive system of skills training, educational standards, professional competence especially in home occupations with emphasis on organizing, supporting and implementing women empowerment programmes in knowledge and skills. Supporting creation of small markets in provinces for direct supply of products of cooperatives and home occupations (permanent, monthly or seasonal markets) Reforms of law to increase insurance coverage of women at home. Preparation and proposal of a bill for exemption or discount in the contribution of employer to insurance fund for women heads of household. Proposal for reforming article 167 of the Labour Law with a view to making mandatory the presence of one representatives of women workers in the Supreme Labour Council. Proposal for reforming article 86 of the Labour Law with a view to making mandatory the presence of one representatives of women workers in the Supreme Council for Technical Safety. Drafting and proposing early retirement bill for women without condition of age, priority to women head s of household Facilitating granting of credit facilities with minimum financial charges to women, priority to women heads of household and entrepreneurs. Proposal for addition of one article to Chapter Four of the Labour Code to reduce the working hours for women to correspond with their responsibilities at home, especially women with disabled child and heads of household. Proposal to revise the implementing regulations of Article 78 of the Labour Code 9clarifying the number of children and their ages in order to require the employer to set aside daycare center and pay the expenses) Proposal for revising article 73 of the Labour Code concerning prohibition of night work for women Proposal to revise article 7 of the Labour Code on prohibit f firing of women during pregnancy, Encouraging faster implementation of Remote Working for women

Economic and Employment generation
Making use of the capabilities of cooperative sector and promoting entrepreneurships for women	Establishment of and launching the foundation for cooperatives and promoting entrepreneurship for women in cooperation Ministry of Cooperative by giving priority to women heads of household and graduates of universities at the level of province Establishment and launching of 15 provincial branches.
Creation of employment by supporting cooperatives and micro credit funds	Plan for creating Mehr Development Fund in cooperation with the Center and Agricultural Bank is underway. In this plan 300 million rials facility is provided to girls university graduates (MOU is being signed. Plan to establish Micro Credit Fund for urban and rural areas between the Center and Imam Reza Mehr Fund This plan is implemented in cooperation with Welfare Organization to support home occupations for women and girls under the coverage of Welfare Organization in 31 provinces. The following plans are being implemented in cooperation with Cooperative Development Bank: Allocation of capital fro women cooperatives that have economically viable projects and business propositions. Allocation of cpital for creation of 5000 jobs directly. This paln ultimately led to creation of 20,000 jobs. Moreover, for the implementation of this plan for creating one job for one person, 3 will also benefit indirectly. Allocation of capital for protection f women cooperatives in different areas of economy.
Establishment of the headquarters for women empowerment	This headquarters is established to organize, empower and promote job creation and entrepreneurship girls and women graduated from schools with the approach of developing home occupations in the form of projects with fast rate of return, creating a virtual structure for entrepreneurship, skills training, Presently the Center for Women and Family Affairs is preparing the regulations for establishment of this headquarters and is following up its approval in the High Council for Employment.

Table 8 Unemployment rate (2007 to 2011)

Unemployment according to gender, urban and rural
Year	Men	Women	Urban	Rural
2007	9.3	15.8	12.5	6.6
2008	9.1	16.7	12.00	7.2
2009	10.8	16.8	13.5	8.3
2010	11.9	20.9	13.7	8.9
2011	10.5	20.9	13.7	8.9

Table 9 Unemployment Support during the past decade

Year	Number of workers receiving unemployment insurance	Benefit receivers that have received training	Amount paid
2002	91248	27633	669/404/1
2003	131842	27953	249/960/1
2004	133552	25840	779/960/1
2005	126178	22007	292/855/2
2006	150183	29710	877/885/3
2007	148914	25501	132/880/4
2008	153350	27853	985/822/5
2009	166802	25146	553/800/7
2010	183031	27122	404/610/9
2011	182995	31635	44/571/10

Table 10 Support for involuntary unemployed workers.

Year	Unemployment receivers "protected unemployed"	Benefit receivers with training	Amounts paid in million rials
2002	91248	27633	91248
2003	131842	27953	131842
2004	133552	25840	133552
2005	126178	22007	126178
2006	150183	29710	150183
2007	148914	25501	148914
2008	153350	27853	153350
2009	166802	25146	166802
2010	183031	27122	183031
2011	182995	31635	182995

Table 11 Number of workers covered by financial protection under the Labour Code, comparison of years 2010 and 2011

Year	Amounts paid	Number of companies	Number of workers	Total number of active workers
2010	000/000/171/16	147	3018	15000000
2011	000/000/350/18	210	4182	15000000

Table 12 Steps taken with regard to all forms of child workers

Province	Number on the worst form of child labor	Gender Male	Female	Number of employers referred to courts	Number of prison sentences	Pecuniary fines received
2010	515	506	9	45	0	32,871,000
2011	395	387	8	50	5	3,852,600

Table 13 Percentage of population with income less than $1.25 by purchasing power parity (PPP) -(2001-2009)

Title	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	200 9
Exchange rate	1727	1944	2214	2475	2715	2944	3355	3906	3 859
On the basis of $1.25 / day	1.80	1.28	0.90	0.45	0.29	0.22	0.34	0.43	0.7 3

Table 14 Share of the poorest 20 per cent of population from total consumption (1997-2010)

title	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
share of the poorest 20% from total consumption	5.68	5.51	5.51	5.60	5.65	5.69	5.97	5.87	5.91	5.67	5.75	6.17	6.10	6.19
share of the poorest 20% of urban population from total consumption	5.65	5.58	5.55	5.61	5.59	5.56	5.88	5.76	5.84	5.53	5.58	6.07	6.03	6.10
share of the poorest 20% of rural population from total consumption	5.74	5.40	5.45	5.58	5.76	5.94	6.15	6.11	6.07	5.96	6.12	6.40	6.27	6.40

Table 15 Population under minimum dietary requirement and the ratio of food poverty

Year	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Ratio of families under minimum dietary requirement	1.44	1.34	1.15	0.99	0.83	1.03	1.21	1.07	1.15
Ratio of population under food poverty line	0.32	0.29	0.26	0.22	0.17	0.16	0.21	0.26	0.27

Table16 The ratio of poverty gap on the basis of $1.25 per day (2001-2009)

Year	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	200 9
on the basis of $1.25 per day	0.37	0.25	0.19	0.08	0.054	0.038	0.07	0.12	0.1

Table 17 Mehr Urban Housing Project and its progress in some provinces until 2012

Province	Number of housing units by the end of 2011	Number of units with completion of foundation works	Units with super structure and roof	Number of units 90% completion	Number of units ready for handover
Kermanshah	61900	52,525	46,107	43,064	28,076
Sistan va Baluchistan	19000	18,238	14,911	13,393	10,274
Khuzestan	105374	98,712	75,464	63,813	31,609
Ilam	17867	15,150	14,268	12,077	8,438

Table 18 Progress report on rural renovation projects in some provinces by 2011

Province	Number of units with foundation works	ُ superstructure and roof completed	Completed units
Kermanshah	10839	9594	8723
Sistan va Baluchistan	19184	15417	12987
Khuzestan	22494	19290	15965
Ilam	6001	5660	5384

Table 19

Table 20 Armenian-Farsi publications

	Name	Proprietor	Manger in charge	License date	Last issue	Subject
1	APAGA	Edic Baghdaserian	15/09/1378	2012	2012	Cultural, social
2	ARAx	Hosbian souak	Esaeean khoonegi-Ana	1981	2010	Literature, stories. Cultural, social issues
3	ALEEK	Aleek Literature Society	Albert Ajamian	1942	2012	Cultural and social issues
4	PEIMAN	Davidian, Loan Being chaged	Vartan Vartanian	1998	2012	Cultural and social
5	Lewis	Edic Baghdasarian	Edic Baghdasarian	1999	2012	Literature, stories, cinema photography, caricature, general knowledge, visual arts, sports
6	Hands Gerakanotian yoaresti	Varooj Sourenian	Varooj Sourenia	2001	2009	Literature, stories, drama, theater, cinema and arts
7	Hayes	Leon Aharooyanl	Leon Aharooyanl	2006	2012	Economy, humour, social issues, general knowledge, sports, social issues.

Table 21 Zoroastrian publications

Number	Name	Proprietor	CHIEF EDITOR	License date	Last issue	Subject	Language	Periodic	Area covered
1	Amordad	Babak Salamati	Babak saalmati	2001	2012	Political, poetry, cultural social issues. Arts	Farsi	Weekly	Regional
2	Foroohar	Saman foroohar	Saman foroohar	1980	2012	Social issues, arts	Farsi	Monthly	Local

Table 22: Assyrian publications

Number	Name	Proprietor	CHIEF EDITOR	License date	Lst issue	Subject	Language	Periodic	Area covered
1	Message of Assyrians	Assyrian society	Bet Kalia	1994	2000	Cultural	Assyrian	Seasonal	International
2	Aan	I-Terhan	Yoonatan			Social issues	Farsi		Local

Table. 24 Azeri publications

No.	Name	Proprietor	Chief editor	License date	Last issue	Subject
1	Absahr	Nasiri Mastan Abad Saghi	Nasiri Mastan Abad Saghi	2001	2011	Economy, poetry. Culture, social issues
2	Akhsham	Moosavi Aloochi amir Hooshang	Moosavi Aloochi amir Hooshang	2012	2012	Economy, politics, social issues
3	Azaran dish	Karmervan farman	Karmervan faraman	2003	2012	Politics, cultural and social issues
4	Azerbaijan	Akbar Rezaeee Tabrizi	Akbar Rezaeee Tabrizi	1993	2012	Politics, cultural and social issues
5	Azar Payam	Sokhan negaran publishing	Masoomeh Sepehri Being changed	1999	2012	Politics, cultural and social issues
6	Azeri	HAFEZI	Hafezi	2003	2007	Literature, stories, cultural, social arts
7	Araz	Ali Nazari	Ali Nazari	2001	2012	Politics, cultural and social issues
8	Asan	Ramin Raghifar	Ramin Raghifar	2002	2012	Politics, cultural and social issues
9	Aghri	Hassan Abdollahi	Mirnazar Mousavi	2004	2012	Economy, politics social issues
10	Aftab Azerbaijan	Ali Teshneh Del	Ali Teshneh Del	2005	2012	Politics cultural social
11	Avayeh Makoo	Reza Monsaref	Reza Monsaref	1999	2012	Politics cultural social
12	Avayeh mishomrand	Mirhojjat hosseini	Mirhojjat hosseini	2003	2012	Economics, politics, social issues
13	Ateltash	Morteza Ebrahimi	Morteza Ebrahimi	2011	2012	Politics, social issues
14	Abarchai	Hamed jafarzadeh	Adarm Hekamatollah	2003	2012	Politics, culture and social issues
15	Abhar rood	Ahad Zolghadr	A Hmad Zolghadr	2012		Cultural and social issues
16	Akhtar	Mirtaher Mousavi	Mirtaher Mousavi	2003	2004	Economy, politics and social issues
17	Ardebil emrooz	Gholamreza Mirzahosseini	Gholamreza Mirzahosseini	2002	2012	Economy, politics and social issues, entertainment
18	Ardebil Farda	Farahd Khaef	Farahd Khaef	2005	2012	Political, social and cultural issues
19	Ark	Mohammad Ashrfai	Mohammad Ashrfai	1992	2012	Literature, stories, culture, arts and social issues
20	Armghan Azerbaijan	Iraj Soleimanzadeh	Iraj Soleimanzadeh	2001	2012	Economy, cultural and social issues
21	Urumieh	Tayebeh saghaee	Tyebeh Saghee	2011	2012	Economic and social issues
22	Eghtesad Azerbaijan	Moayed Hosseini Sadr	Moayed Hosseini Sadr	2010	2012	Political and social issues
23	Andooz	Seyyed Hamed Madani	Seyyed Hamed Madani	1999	2012	Economic, political issues
24	Omid Azerbijan	Faramarz karamooz	Faramarz Karammoz	2002	2012	Economic, political and social issues
25	Omid Tabriz	Habib Shiri Azar	Habib shiri Azar	2005	2012	Economic, political and social issues
26	Omid roshandelan	Jalil nasiri	Jalil nasiri	2006	2012	Humor. Entertainment, cultural and social issues
27	Omid Salmas	Hamid Dilmaghani	Hamid Dilmaghani	2011	2012	Political and social issues
28	Entezar Noor	Seyyed Mohamad Reza Mirtajdini	Seyyed Mohamad Reza Mirtajdini	2011	2012	Political and social
29	Andisheh Ardebil	Ghasem Mohammadi	Ghasem Mohamadi	2011	2012	Political and cultural
30	Andishe va frhang	Mohammad Bagherloo	Mohammad Bagherloo	2006	2012	Literature, stories, humour, Entertainment and cultural and social issues
31	Avarin Khoy	Mahmood Mehr Alizadeh	Mahmood Mehr Alizadeh	2001	2012.	Literature, stories, cinema, poetry, social issues arts
32	Olaviat aval	Enayatollah Ghazi shiraz	Enayatollah Ghazi shiraz	2003	2012	Economy. Culture, social issues
33	Inchi denizim	Seyyed satar hosseini	Seyyed satar hosseini	2011	2012	Political cultural
34	Ba mardom Hamedan	Davood Gorji	Davood Gorji	2009	2012	Political cultural
35	Baghcheban	Mahmood khalili	Mahmood khalili	2003	2012	Politics, poetry. Social issues, arts
36	Byram	Ali Mohammad bayati	Ali Mohammad bayati	2006	2007	Economic and Social issues
37	Barayand	Mehran Hossein zadeh	Mehran Hossein zadeh	2006	2007	Economic and social issues
38	Payam Azerbaijan	Zkaria Valaee	Akaria Valaee	2003	2012	Economic, political, social issues visual arts sports,
39	Payam Ardebil	Rasool Naserzadeh	Nasser Rasoolzadeh	1994	2012	Literature, stories, cultural, social issues, arts
40	Payam	Hossein Anvari	Hossein Anvari	2001	2010	Social issues
41	Payam Zanjan	Nasser mostafa	Nasser Mosstafa	1997	2012	Political, social issues
42	Payam sobh	Simin Jhanbakhsh	Simin jahanbakhsh	2011	2012	Economic social issues
43	Payam no	Ali Akbarzadeh	Ali Akbarzadeh	1997	2012	Economics, politics, entertainment, social political issues
44	Tabriz	Hamid halvaee	Hamid Halvaee	2002	2012	Political, social cultural issues
45	Nasim Rooh	Mohammad Reza Babazadeh	Hojjat Firoozbakht	2011	2012	Political, social and cultural
46	Javan Garmi	Mehdi javid	Mehdi Javid	2011		Cultural, social issues
47	Haghighat	Saffar Jaffarzadeh	Saffar Jafarzade	2006	2012	Literature. Stories poetry, cultural, social
48	Heydar Baba	Hedar Baba Publishing	Ahmad Aminzadeh	2003	2012	Economy, political, general knowledge
49	Ardebil News	Asghar, Taghdisi Mirak	Asghar, Taghdisi Mirak	08/01/1385	02/30/1391	Political, cultural, social
50	Khoda afarin	Hossein Sharghi	Ideen Mohammadi	2004	2012	Humour, entertainment, cultural, social
51	Last line	Younes Ranjesh	Younes Ranjesh	2005	2012	Humour, entertainment, cultural and general knowledge
52	Khosh Khabar	Karim Delaviz Aghbelagh	Karim Delaviz Aghbelagh	2004	2012	Political, economic social
53	khoy	Parviz Moghbeli	Parviz Moghbeli	2006	2012	General, sports
54	Khayav	Najafgholi Moshkbar	Najafgholi Moshkbar	2003	2012.	Economics, politics, entertainment social issues
55	Khibar	Norooz Samadi	Norooz Samadi	2002	2012	Political, humour, cultural, sports
56	Darak Safa	Seyyed fatah Kabiri	Seyyed Fatah Kabiri	2011	2012	Political, humor, cultural sports, social issues
57	Dast	Farzin Slaehi	Farzin Salehi	2011		Political, cultural
58	Daavat	Mohammad Abbaspoor Changing	Mohammad Abbaspoor	2005	2008	Literature, stories, politics, poetry, social issues
59	Deniz	Mostafa golizadeh	Mostafa golizadeh	2011	2012	Political, cultural
60	Rahng Sabz	Reza Asgari	Reza Asgari	2008	2010	Political and Cultural
61	Rahmat	Abdollsh Mohammadi	Abdollah Mohamadi	2006	2012	Political, poetry, entertainment, social issues, sports
62	Resaneh parsi	Moretza, ghahremani	Morteza Ghahremani	2008	2012	Political, cultural
63	Reshadat	Jafar Karami	Jafar Karami	2012		Cultural , social
64	Rasad	Hossein Hossein nejad	Hossein Hossein nejad	1991	2012	Cultural , social
65	Saray	Mojgan Gholizadeh	Mojgan Gholizadeh	2006	2012	Political, cultural, social
66	Saghi	Masood Barzegar Jalali	Masood Barzegar Jalali	2003	2012	Political, cultural and social
67	Savala	Hedyat Yengejeh	Hedayat Yengejeh	2006	2012	Politics, humor, cultural, social
68	Sabalan Ardebil	Seyyed Ali Foroozan	Seyyed Ali Foroozan	2011	2012	Politics, humor, cultural, social
69	Sokhan Eel	Manoochehr Kiani	Manoochehr Kiani	2004	2011	Economic, political, social
70	Sorkhab	Sokhan Negaran Tooba Publidhgn	Syyed Reza Alavi	2003	2012	Literature, stories, social Cultural issues
71	Soheil	Arjang Media consultants	Mehdieh Koohpaee	2003	2012	Political. Cultural, social
72	Simayeh Maragheh	Mahmood Vahmazad	Mahmood Vahmazad	2003	2012	Literature, stories, socil issues, arts
73	Shahamat	Sadegh Taher	Sadegh Taher	2003	2012	Political and cultural
74	Shahryar ma	Amin Ansar Company	Ali Akbar Balagar	2003	2012	Literature, stories, social issues, arts
75	Shoor	Mohammad Azarvash	Mohammad Azarvash	2001	2012	Literature, stories, social issues, arts
76	Saeb Tabriz	Ahamd Mahmoodzadeh	Ahamd Mahmoodzadeh	1998	2012..	Economic, Social, Cultural issues
77	Saheb Ghalam	Khosro Fatemi	Khosrow Fatemi	1991	2012.	Economic, Social, Cultural issues
78	Sobheh Azerbaijan	Peiman aliri	Peiman Daliri	2005	2012	Economic, political, Social
79	Sedayeh Ardebil	Mohammad Asghari	Mohammad Asghari	2006	2012	Law
80	Tarh Now	Mohammad Reza Rabani	Mohammad Reza Rabani	2006	2012.	Literature, stories, cinema, social issues, sports
81	Toloo Farda	Bahman Shaeghi	Bahman Shareghi	2004	2012	Political, humor, caricature, social issues
82	Tanin hagh	Zahra Javadi	Zahra Javadi	2006	2012.	Political. Cultural, social issues
83	Asreh Azadi	Seyyed Farid Peyman	Seyyed Farid Peyman	1997	2012	Social issues, economy and politics
84	Fajr Azerbaijan	Najaf Aghazadeh	Ahamd Mahmoodzadeh	1990	2012	Social issues
85	Foroogh Azerbaijan	Aref Shirzad	Aref Shirzad	2003	2012	Economic political and social issues
86	Faryad Ghalam	Karamali Moradi	Karamali Moradi	2006	2012	Politics, poetry, social issues, arts
87	Fasl Abi	Homayoon Ataee	Homayoon Ataee	2012		Cultural and social issues
88	Ghafelan	Gahder hassanzadeh	Ghader Hassanzadeh	2006	2012	Literature, stories, theater, poety, caricature, social issues, sports, arts
89	Ghafeleh	Yaghoob Khodadadi	Yaghoobb Khodadadi	2006	2012	Political and cultural issues
90	Kooshesh	Nasrin Meshkini	Nasrin Meshkini	2011	2012	Political and cultural issues
91	Goshayesh	Leyla MahmoodilEYLA Mahmoodi	Leyla MahmoodilEYLA Mahmoodi	2011	2012	Economic and social issues
92	Golsahn Raz	Mohammad Khosh Niat	Mohammad Khosh Niat	2011	2012	Political and cultural issues
93	Goonesh	Sokhan Negaran Pishgam Publishing	Yoones Fateh	2004	2012	Economic, political and social issues
94	Loh Novin	Ali Azarnejad	Ali Azarnejad	2006	2012	Literature, stories, poetry, cultural and social issues
95	Mobin	Mohammad Ali Gharibani	Kamal Moradi	1992	2000	Political, cultural and social issues
96	Makhtoomgholi Faraghi	Arazmohammad Sareli	Arazmohammad Sareli	1999	2012	Humanities
97	Mardom No	Reza Savai	Reza Savari	1999	2012	Economic, social and political issues
98	Matbakh	Ramin Sayadzadeh	Ramin Sayadzadeh	2004	2011	Politics, poetry, entertainment, social issues, arts
99	Mofid	Mohammad Mirzaee	Mohammad Mirzaee	04/29/1383	11/02/1390	Literature, stories, poetry, cultural and social issues
100	Mahd Azadi	Sharzad Peyman	Seyyed Masood peyman	1980	2012.	Literature, stories, poetry, political and social issues
101	Mahdeh Sardaran	Islam Attaee Livari	Islam Attaee Livari	2011	2011	Political and cultural issues
102	MHDEH Qoran	Mhdeh Qoran Institute of East Azerbaijan	Nasser Ghias khah	2003	2012	Cultural And Social issues
103	Mehr Azerbaijan	Soleiman Jafarzadeh	Soleiman Jafarzadeh	2006	2012	Literature, stories, politics, poetry, caricature social issues, sports
104	Mehr Ardebil	Miryaghoob Taghvatalab	Miryaghoob Taghvatalab	2003	2012.	Political, cultural, social issues
106	Mehr Chaldor	Iraj Asgharzadeh	Iraj Asgharzadeh	2011	2012.	Economic and social issues
107	Moj Bidar	Faramarz Najari	Faramarz Najari	2003	2012	Political, cultural social
108	Moj No	Ali Mohammadi	Ali Mohammadi	2005	2012	Economic, political, cultura, social issues, sports
109	Meeyaneh Emrooz	Fadin Farmand	Fardin Farmand	2006	2008	Economic, political and social issues
110	Misagh	Asghar Nalband poor	Asghar Nalband poor	1997	2012	Literature, stories, cultural and social issues, arts
111	Nedayeh Khoy	Hashem hejazifar	Hashem hejazifar	2002	2012	Political, cultural and social issues
112	Nedayeh Moghan	Nader Shirinzadeh	Nader shirinzadeh	2005	2010	Political, cultural and social issues
113	Nsim Sabalan	Afsoon Akbarzdeh	Afsoon Akbarzdeh	2002	2005	Social issues
114	Naghmeh	Amir Eghbali Afshar	Amir Eghbali Afshar	2005		Poetry, cultural, social issues, arts, sports
115	Nasim Ghareh Dagh	Aref Gozali	Aref Gozali	2003	2012.	Poetry, literature, stories, cultural, social issues, arts
116	Naghib	Seyyed Mohammad Masood Naghib	Seyyed Mohammad Masood Naghib	2002	2012.	Economic. Political and social issues
117	Negin Azerbaijan	Ali Shiari	Ali Shiari	1999	2012	Economic, social, political issues
118	Negin Sabz	Jamshid Sheikhi	Jamshid Sheikhi	1999	2012	Economic, political,social issues
119	Navayeh Azerbaijan	Ali Zanjani hassanlooee	Ali Zanjani hassanlooee	2010	2012	Political and cultural issues
120	Navayeh Aras	Forsat Behrad Khalifehno	Forsat Behrad Khalifehno	05/20/1382	01/30/1391	Economic, Cultural and social issues
121	Tooshkaft	Asgahr Salamat Sardoroodi	Asgahr Salamat Sardoroodi	2006	2008	Poetry, literature, stories, cultural, social issues, arts
122	Navid Azerbijan	Mehran Tabrizi	Mehran Tabrizi	1998	2012	Economic, political and social issues
123	Navid Sahar	Rasool Bakhshizadeh	Rasool Bakhshizadeh	2006	2012	Economic, humor, cultural and social issues
124	Hampa	Nursing Organization of Ardebil	Shahram Bkhshi Haji Khajehno	2010	2011	Nursing and paramedics
125	Varligh	Javad heyat	Javad heyat	1979	2009	Social issues
126	Vajeh Vajeh	Ameneh Imami	Ameneh Imami	2006	2011	Health, medicine, paramedics
127	Vahdat Aedebil	Yoosef Akbari	Yoosef Akbari	2002	2012	Literature, stories, general knowledge
28	Yshayesh	Najaf Alizadeh Chahar borj	Najaf Alizadeh Chahar borj	2006	2012	Literature, stories, general knowledge
129	Yashel Moghan	Ali Fardi Shekarab	Ali Fardi Shekarab	2002	2012	Economic, political, social issues

Table 24 Kurdish-Farsi publications

No.	Name	Proprietor	Chief editor	License date	Last issue	Subject
1	Tasoo	Hossein Ahmadi Niaz	Hossein Ahmadi Niaz	2001	2005	Economic, political, cultural and social issues
2	Ashti	Borhan Zerehtan	Borahn Zerehtan	2003	2009	Economic, political, cultural and social issues
3	Agreen Rooj	Afshin Shabani	Afshin Shabni	2011	2011	Economic, cultural and social issues
4	Na Na Na	Kamran Makari	Kamran Makari	2011		Cinema, visual ats
5	Avayeh Maad	Morteza Zarrin Gol	Morteza Zarrin Gol	2011	2011	Political, cultural and social issues
6	Reserch on Kurdish literature	Kurdistan University- Research Center on Kurdish language and litarture	Najaldin jabbari	2010		Comparative literature
7	Kurdish Society	Ardeshir Sadreldini	Ardeshir Sadreldini	2011		Political and social issues
8	Jootiyaran	Bijan	Bijan Rhamani	2011		Farming
9	Diar Kohan	Ali Laki Zadeh	Ali Laki zadeh	2008	2012.	Cultural, social
10	Didgah	Keyvan azizi	Nasser Khaledian	2005	2012	Literature, stories, economy, theater and cinema, graphics, general knowledge, visual arts, sports, arts, and social issus
11	Rasan	Soraya Azizpanah	Soraya Azizpanah	2004	2006	Economic, political, cultural and social issues
12	Roocheneh	Hamideh Ghaderi	Hamideh Ghaderi	2011	2012	Cultural, children and adolescents
13	Roojravand	Seyyed Emad Hosseini	Seyyed Emad Hosseini	2010	2010	Political and social issues
14	Roojan	Nasser Khakedian	Nasser Khaledian	2011	2011	Economic and social issues
15	Roovyr	Rojia book publishing	Bhaman Zarei	2007		Cultural and social issues
16	Zaribar	Mohammad Adel Mohammadpoor	Mohammad Adel Mohammadpoor	1997	2011	Literature, stories, poetry, cultural, social, political issues
17	Zaribar	Mohamamd Rhm Golam Veisi	Mohamamd Rhm Golam Veisi	1997	2011	Litraeture, stories, poetry, cultural ns social issues, arts
18	Sooran	Aref Rahimi	Aref Rahimi	2008	2012….	Political, cultural. Social issues
19	Sirvan	Society of Kurdistan municipalities	Soleiman allh Moradi Changing	1998	2012	Economic, political. Cultural and social issues
20	Shar	Sanandaj Municipality	Asaad Farhadi	2011	2012	Cultural and general knowledge
21	Samim Saba	Valliallah Ghlehneki Kalhor	Valliallah Ghlehneki Kalhor	2011	2011	Political, social, cultural issues
22	Shirin shqahr	Mohammad Hossein	Nastarn Torkaman Changing	2003	2010	Economic. Cultural and social issues
23	Sdayeh Ashna	Abdolrahim Noorbakhsh	Abdolrahim Noorbakhsh	2005	2011	Political, cultural and social issues
24	Forsat barabar	Ghasim othmani	Ghasim Othmani	2011		Economic and social issues
25	Farhang Kurdistan	Ministry of Islamic Guidance of Kurdistan	Mansoor Imani	1980	2006	Literature, stories, poetry, cultural, social, political issue, arts
26	Kermanshah 1400	Abasali Allahyari	Abasali Allahyari	2001	2009	Political, cultural and social issues
27	Mahabad	Ahamd Mojri	Ahmad Mojri	1980	2009	Literature, stories, poetry, cultural, social, arts
28	Najva	Parviz Sharifi	Parvi Sharifi	1980	2012	Economic, political and social issues
29	Nedayeh Zagros	Seyyed Khalil Sajadi Assad abadi	Behnaz Pirandokh	1997	2011	Literature, stories, political, poetry. Social and genral knowledge
30	Nasim Gharb	Ali Asghar Jamshid Nejad	Ali Asghar Jamshid Nejad	2001	2012	Economic, political, social and cultural issues
31	Nishteman	Sholeh Azizi	Sholeh Azizi Changing	2008	2012	Cultural and social issues
32	Haya	Azad Mohammadi	Azad Mohammadi	2010	2011	Cultural and social issues