The World Bank in its new report has praised noticeable improvement in Iran's social, economic, and human development indicators, MEHR News reported.
The Washington-based organization in the report, which entitled "Iran Overview", announced that the country's social indicators are relatively high by regional standards.
Referring to Iran's subsidy reform plan, the World Bank also stated that the reform has reduced extreme poverty and income inequality significantly.
The following is the text of the World Bank's report:
Most human development indicators have improved noticeably based on Iranian Government's efforts to increase access to education and health.
Virtually all children of the relevant age group were enrolled in primary schools in 2009, and enrollment in secondary schools increased from 66% in 1995 to 84% in 2009.As a result, youth literacy rates increased from 77% to 99% over the same period, rising significantly for girls.
Consequently, Iran is well placed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) target with regard to eliminating gender disparities.Over the years, Iranian women have been playing an increasingly important role in the economy, though their market participation and employment rates remain limited.
Iran's health outcomes have also improved considerably over the past twenty years. The mortality rate for children under five steadily declined from 65 (per 1,000) in 1990 to 27 in 2009. Similarly, the maternal mortality ratio per 100,000 live births declined from 150 to 30 during the same period. Consequently, health indicators are usually above regional averages.
This success is based on the effective delivery of primary health care which almost balanced health care outcomes in rural and urban areas. Iran's new 5th five-year development plan from 2011 to 2015 continues to focus on social policies.