Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman and Tunisia now report immunization rates of over 95 per cent. Total enrolment in primary schools more than doubled between 1970 and 1990. The girls' enrolment rate of 28 per cent in 1960 had soared by 1990 to 70 per cent. The female literacy rate more than doubled between 1970 and 1990. But two thirds of the region's estimated 65 million illiterate adults are women.
Children fare differently depending on country of origin, residence and gender.
The Sudan and Yemen have much higher child mortality rates than Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. In Egypt and Tunisia, rural children are twice as likely to be malnourished as those in urban areas.