TEHRAN – The Iranian administration is making attempts to promote women’s presence in the society and improve gender equality in different arenas, said the vice president for women’s and family affairs, Masoumeh Ebtekar.

The administration is determined to take measures for gender equality and creating equal access to social services and job opportunities for women, the female VP made the remarks in a meeting on Saturday in Urmia, adding that women currently occupy 40 percent of governmental positions.

According to the Sixth Five-Year Development Plan (2016-2021), in order to reach a balanced society in policy-making and to achieve a healthy society, the gender equality should be observed, ISNA quoted Ebtekar as saying.

She further noted that women and family have always been an important issue after the Islamic Revolution and women’s share in the society cannot be ignored.

However, Ebtekar went on to add, Iranian women have a far smaller share of management positions compared to their population.

Presently, women comprise 60 percent of the country’s university students and 50 percent of university graduates. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate among women is two times more than men.

According to Ebtekar, President Hassan Rouhani’s administration has developed plans to allocate at least 30 percent of management positions to women.

The bills on ending violence against women, child abuse, and reforming the law as well as improving social security of women are supported and pursued in earnest by the Vice-Presidency of Women and Family Affairs, she concluded.

NM/MQ/MG