Iran made progress in women’s literacy: UN rep

October 25, 2010 - 0:0

TEHRAN – UN representative announced on Sunday that Iran has made significant progress in providing educational opportunities for the female sector in the society.

Talking in a press conference, United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) representative Ali Mojtahed-Shabestari said Iran has made progress in improving primary education levels among children, especially girls.
The press conference was held on the occasion of UN’s day (Oct. 24) at its office in Tehran. Different UN representatives participated in the conference elaborating on national and international reports of the organization’s achievements.
UNOCHA noted that unfortunately figures indicate that women and girls are the major victims of natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods.
The representative noted that UNOCHA has made several attempts to boost women’s knowledge about natural disasters and improve their capabilities in facing such incidents.
He went on to say that UNOCHA with the cooperation and coordination of Iran’s Red Crescent Society, NGOs, and government representatives has held workshops and special classes for women and girls in this regard.
The workshops are held in ten of the country’s less developed provinces including Azeri populated regions, Hormozgan, and Sistan-Baluchistan, he explained.
The UNOCHA representative in Iran uttered that Iran is also successful in reducing illiteracy among girls and women in villages.
He stated that figures indicate that 77.4 percent of Iranian women were able to read and write in 2008, adding that this is a significant progress in the literacy rate of the country