World Bank’s overall review of Iran’s economy as the second largest in the Middle East in size of economy and population

http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/iran/overview

Iran ranks first in brain drain among 91 countries and annually more than 150 thousand educated Iranians leave in search of better prospects, worth more than twice the country’s oil revenues

http://www.iranvij.ir/1859279/--------

According to the World Economic Forum annual report, Iran ranks 74 in the economic competitiveness index. In the Institutions pillar, Iran’s ranking is 94. Click on the country profile for details

http://reports.weforum.org/global-competitiveness-report-2015-2016/competitiveness-rankings/#indexId=GCI

Half of Iran’s army of the unemployed have a university education and no one in nearly 26% of families living in urban areas has a job. The average number of people with a job in a typical urban family is less than one person.

http://mehrnews.com/news/3588813/--------

A very useful report from the OECD Development Centre’s Social Institutions and Gender Index. While the Iranian constitution calls for gender equality before the law at Article 20, this is negated by the enforcement of discriminatory civil and criminal laws that subordinate women

http://www.genderindex.org/country/iran-islamic-rep

A comparative study on issues of women and minorities based on mainly general legal provisions between Iran and Saudi Arabia

http://iranprimer.usip.org/blog/2016/jan/04/iran-v-saudi-arabia-women-minorities

The Human Rights Watch country report on Iran for 2015 examines important litmus tests of freedom such as expression, association and religion

http://www.hrw.org/world-report/2015/country-chapters/iran#814a01

Amnesty International’s annual report on the Islamic Republic of Iran covering areas such as discrimination against women as well as ethnic and religious minorities

http://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/middle-east-and-north-africa/iran/report-iran/

A report on state discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities in Iran by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Iranian League for the Defence of Human Rights (LDDHI), calling for reforms including to the constitution

http://www.iranhrdc.org/english/human-rights-documents/ngo-reports/international-federation-for-human-rights/3405-damning-report-on-an-ignored-issue-discrimination-against-ethnic-and-religious-minorities-in-iran.html

An interview with sociologist Azam Khatam about impediments to female employment in Iran. The interview focuses on key questions such as why in spite of educational achievements by women and also change of attitude towards female employment among men, the statistics are not promising and are even worrying.

http://yekshahr.net/2014/11/post-168.html

A short report on discrimination against women in public sector employment, through offering more opportunities to men than women.

http://yekshahr.net/2015/08/post-316.html

Statistics on children out of school are inaccurate and at times contradictory. According to some estimates more than 7 million Iranian children and young adults of schooling age are not in education, many of them are subject to child labour.

http://persian.iranhumanrights.org/1394/09/concealed-statistics-of-school-dropouts/

UNICEF’s Annual Report 2014 on conditions of children in Iran

http://www.unicef.org/about/annualreport/files/Iran_Islamic_Republic_of_Annual_Report_2014.pdf

International Labour Organization’s country report about Iran focusing on the issue of child labour.

http://www.ilo.org/ipec/Regionsandcountries/Asia/Iran/lang--en/index.htm

A report published by Library of Congress on legal aspects of child rights in Iran, examining laws pertinent to children.

http://www.loc.gov/law/help/child-rights/iran.php

An article on situation of children in the very deprived province of Sistan and Baluchestan in the south east of the country bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan, where many children do not have access to education.

http://www.radiozamaneh.com/271008

A look from within, at laws pertaining to minorities in Iran through articles of the constitution, civil and criminal law as well as fatwas.

http://iranlawclinic.com/doc/95a16b880

An article about the conditions of Iranian Sunnis as the biggest religious minority. Iranian Sunnis are not treated as equals to the Shiite majority population.

http://www.islahweb.org/content/2015/5/15215/----

A letter by a number of Iran’s human rights groups and organizations calling on the United Nation to extend mandate of its Special Rapporteur for Iran.

http://www.article19.org/resources.php/resource/38299/en/joint-letter-from-the-civil-society-on-the-renewal-of-sr-mandate-on-iran-at-hrc31

An essay about the conditions facing religious minorities in Iran, arguing there has been deterioration rather than improvement.

http://iranpresswatch.org/post/14462/

A report by the Home Office of the United Kingdom about Christians and Christian Converts from Iran to help decision makers on cases of asylum.

http://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/481555/CIG_-_Iran-_Christians_and_Christian_Converts.pdf

A report by International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran about the conditions of Baha’is in the country. focusing on specific cases of imprisonment of followers of the faith.

http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2016/03/twelve-bahais-allege-torture-in-detention/

Report sent to the Human Rights Council about the situation in Iran by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Ahmed Shaheed, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran.

http://www.bic.org/news/flawed-legal-system-iran-continues-violate-human-rights-say-top-un-officials#fuAHxqSDExyTEtBt.97

A report by the Baha'i International Community about the conditions of the followers of the faith in Iran.

http://www.bic.org/focus-areas/situation-iranian-bahais/current-situation#1MZuhyTJvpvO8SKV.97

A report by the US Department of State about religious freedom in Iran as a country of particular concern.

http://iranprimer.usip.org/blog/2015/oct/15/us-report-irans-religious-freedom-abuses

A look at a number of statistics about women in Iran. Including the 20% of girls who never get the chance to enter high school and information on discrimination against women in workplaces.

http://www.tabnak.ir/fa/news/513219/-------

A panel discussion about the conditions facing the children of Iranian women who have married non-Iranian men, particularly Afghans.

http://isna.ir/fa/print/94101306625/--------

An article about girls who do not have access to education in deprived provinces such as Hormozgan, Sistan and Baluchistan

http://tavaana.org/fa/Schoolleavinginiran

A report about the statistical estimates of child labour in the country, such as 75% of children surveyed are between 10 and 14, and 18% of them were from Sistan and Baluchistan, based on a survey prepared by Imam Ali charity organization.

http://mehrkhane.com/fa/news/20477/--------50------

An article about Iranian government action to prosecute parents that deny their children the right to education

http://www.dw.com/fa-ir/-----------/a-19144126

A report by Small Media about ethnic minorities in Iran.

http://smallmedia.org.uk/nationalfabric/Nationalfabric.pdf