Iran among countries with "least job opportunities" for women
The United Nations has classified Iran, Saudi Arabia, and a number of Middle Eastern countries as among the countries that offer the fewest job opportunities to women, and for this reason, the unemployment rate for women in them is very high.
A report from the International Labor Organization, affiliated with the United Nations, on the eve of International Women's Day - March 7 - shows that the unemployment rate for women in Middle Eastern countries is twice as high as the unemployment rate for men.
According to the organization, most women in the Middle East are employed in the lowest-paid, most professional jobs.
Emmanuelle Pozan, a UN expert, said: "In the Middle East, there is still little incentive for women to be employed in various jobs."
According to Ms. Pozan, the jobs offered to women are not very attractive because the pay is low.
Overall, statistics show that half of women worldwide work; in the Middle East, this figure drops to 19 percent of women and in South Asia to 28 percent.
A new ranking of 144 countries in the world prepared by the United Nations shows that the countries that provide the fewest work opportunities and economic participation for women are Syria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Iran.
In these few countries, the pay gap between women and men employed in the same job is at least 65 percent; meaning that women's salaries and benefits are at least 65 percent lower for the same work as men.
The United Nations says that globally, women are paid less than men, but nowhere is this gap as stark as in the Middle East.
The UN's findings also show that the working conditions and rights and benefits of women in developed countries are much better than in developing countries.
Source: Radio Farda
