A/HRC/22/48 above-mentioned persons. The Working Group thus found the deprivation of liberty of Mr. Mossavi, Mr. Karoubi and Ms. Rahnavard to be arbitrary and in contravention of numerous provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Covenant, and called for their release and compensation. G. Economic, social and cultural rights and economic sanctions 45. Notwithstanding these serious concerns, the Islamic Republic of Iran has continued to make progress in human development. The Iranian human development index value for 2011 was 0.70, placing the country in the category of high human development. The Islamic Republic of Iran is also on track to achieve most of the Millennium Development Goals, particularly under goal 1 (reducing extreme poverty), goal 2 (achieving universal education), goal 4 (reducing child mortality by half) and goal 5 (reducing maternal mortality by two thirds). 46. The Islamic Republic of Iran has shown progress in health and education. Access to health, including reproductive health, has improved, resulting in increased life expectancy at birth for both men and women; more people have access to safe drinking water; maternal and under-5 mortality ratios have decreased, the proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel has increased to 97.3 per cent; while primary health care coverage in rural areas stands at more than 98 per cent. 47. The Islamic Republic of Iran has also made progress in women’s education and health. Literacy rates among 15–24-year-old women compared to men have increased,31 with more than half of all university students being women. The ratio of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education increased from 79.2 per cent in 1990 to 98 per cent in 2007.32 This progress is reflected in the increased gender development index for the Islamic Republic of Iran, which rose from 0.713 in 2004 to 0.770 in 2009. 48. Amidst such achievements, the country still faces challenges regarding unemployment, low labour productivity growth, income inequality, environmental degradation and vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. The continuous rise in inflation, reported at 21.8 per cent as of April 2012, coupled with the implementation of the 2010 Subsidy Reform Plan33 has also caused rising unemployment owing to its impact on businesses of higher utility bills, prices of materials and overhead costs like shipping. 34 The Government claims to have saved billions of dollars 35 through the phasing out of the subsidies on fuel, electricity and basic goods, and replacing them with direct cash subsidies. But the costs of fuel and basic services and utilities have dramatically increased. 36 49. Furthermore, disparities remain visible between urban centres and underdeveloped regions. For instance, despite noticeable improvement in health, life expectancy for men and women in some provinces, including Sistan-Baluchistan, Kurdistan, Kohkilooyeh and Boyerahmad, and Lorestan, remains lower than in other areas. The human poverty index stands at 8.28 and 10.90 for Tehran and Isfahan provinces, respectively, but in Sistan31 32 33 34 35 36 14 Information from the Statistical Centre of Iran (2008). Ibid. The Subsidy Reform Plan, enacted in 2010 in response to sanctions, allows the Government to issue cash pay outs ($40 per month) to middle and lower class families to offset the higher prices of unsubsidized goods. See A/67/327, para. 42, and www.tehrantimes.com/politics/96518. See A/67/327, para. 43. UNHCR, “2013 UNHCR country operations profile - Islamic Republic of Iran”. Available from www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/page?page=49e486f96&submit=go.