Egypt and Iran: A Comparative Analysis of Social and Economic Factors

This presentation provides a comparative analysis of Egypt and Iran across four key parameters: education, marriage, civil rights, and employment. Regarding education, both countries prioritize it, but Egypt faces challenges in infrastructure and learning outcomes, while Iran boasts higher literacy rates. In marriage, Egypt blends traditional and modern views, granting women certain rights, whereas Iranian women face stricter laws and limited freedoms. Civil rights, including freedom of speech and protest, have been historically violated in both countries, although Iran provides equal driving rights to women. Both nations struggle with unemployment despite a strong youth population. The presentation concludes that both countries can learn from each other to adopt better measures for development in the region. Desklib offers a wide range of solved assignments and study resources for students.

COMPARING EGYPT AND IRAN

INTRODUCTION
The presentation aims to compare the two
countries namely Egypt and Iran based on four
major parameters. These include education,
marriage, civil rights that include voting rights,
driving rights and so on and employment. Iran
has been chosen to compare against Egypt
because both countries are two major players
within the Middle East.

EDUCATION
The Egyptians give much value to
education, which is reflected from the
citizens’ socio-economic status. Iran,
similar to Egypt also gives much
importance to education, as they believe it
is an effective medium to spread Islamic
philosophies. Comparing the two countries
in terms of education reveals some other
facts.
Contd…

EDUCATION
Egypt
• The government spends nearly
$6, 500 million in education
every year making up 3.76% of
the GDP (Countryeconomy.com)
• The main challenges faced by the
country is the poor infrastructure;
1 out of 5 schools lack proper
building, functional water and
sanitation facilities (Unicef.org)
• More than half of the students fail
to meet international learning
benchmarks, which puts the
country amongst the lowest
ranked
Iran
• Around $11,000 million is spent in
education every year and constitutes
2.93% of the GDP
(Countryeconomy.com)
• Compared to Egypt, Iran has shown
progress in terms of the GDP and boasts
of a high literacy rate with more than
84%
• In terms of rankings as well, Iran is
amongst the top-ranked within the
Middle Eastern countries including Egypt

MARRIAGE
When it comes to marriage, Egypt boasts
of a fusion between ancient and
contemporary traditions. The marriage law
indicates that it is a contract that
consenting parties enter into after attaining
marriageable age. In Iran, marriage is
considered an important event that must
be celebrated with grandeur.
Contd….

MARRIAGE
Egypt
• The country has taken
revolutionary decisions when it
comes to providing marriage and
divorce rights to women.
Egyptian women have the right to
sue her husband if she finds about
his second marriage.
• New trends of marriages in the
country are visible but limited
with women still fighting for
equal rights when it comes to
choosing the groom.
• The legal age of marriage is 18
years for men and 16 years for
women
Iran
• Compared to Egypt, women in
Iran have limited freedom and the
laws are even stricter
• The legal age for marriage for
girls is 13 years and boys is 15
years, which makes child
marriage legal in the country
• The rights of women is restricted
when it comes to marriage as well
as divorce that became stricter
after the 1979 Iranian Revolution

CIVIL RIGHTS
The civil rights in both Egypt and Iran have been
violated continuously over the years owing to the
civil wars that took place in the countries. Egypt
and Iran have been designated as the worst
countries for human rights with rights to live,
freedom of speech and protest being restricted.
CONTD…..

CIVIL RIGHTS
Egypt
• The voting rights for Egyptians
commences at the age of 18.
However, citizens with mental
illness are denied voting rights.
• Other civil rights like the right to
drive vehicles although not
restricted for women, it is tabooed
and women are harassed
• Prior to the Egyptian revolution in
2011, the right to freedom of
speech also was extremely poor in
the country
Iran
• The legal age for voting is 18
years, which was 15 years until
2007 (Hrw.org)
• When it comes to driving rights,
Iran provides equal rights for
women to obtain driving licenses
and drive without any harassment
• Civil rights pertaining to freedom
of speech have been largely
violated in Iran with the
government pressing down hard
on those who hold contrasting
views then theirs

EMPLOYMENT
Egypt and Iran both nations boast of a strong
youth population, which increases their potential
to progress. However, the countries struggle with
the concern to generate more than 700,000 jobs
every year for the newly graduates. This has
resulted in many youth leaving their countries for
finding better jobs.
CONTD…..

EMPLOYMENT
Egypt
• The rate of unemployment in the
country is poor with only 12.8%
of the population having
employment. Around 3,600
million people in the country are
unemployed
• The main areas of employment
are agriculture and government
services
• With increasing efforts from the
government, the unemployment
rate in the country has shown
marginal dip from 12.5% in 2016
to 11.8% in 2017 (Reuters.com)
Iran
• The employment situation in
Iran is vulnerable with
unemployment rate touching
12.5% (Reuters.com)
• The growing discrimination
against women at workplaces
also makes the country
performing poorly in this field
• However, similar to Egypt, the
government too has raised
efforts to provide better
employment opportunities for
its youth

CONCLUSION
To conclude, it needs to be reiterated that both
the nations have a major role to play in the
development of the region. the comparison
between the two countries in terms of
education, marriage, civil rights and
employment demonstrates that both need to
learn from each other and adopt better
measures.

REFERENCES:
Countryeconomy.com. "Country Comparison Egypt Vs Iran
2018". Countryeconomy.Com, 2018,
https://countryeconomy.com/countries/compare/egypt/iran. Accessed 3 Sept
2018
Hrw.org. "World Report 2018: Rights Trends In Iran". Human Rights Watch,
2018, https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2018/country-chapters/iran.
Accessed 3 Sept 2018.
Reuters.com. "Egypt's Unemployment Rate Dips To 11.8 Pct In 2017 -
CAPMAS". U.S., 2018, https://www.reuters.com/article/egypt-
unemployment/egypts-unemployment-rate-dips-to-11-8-pct-in-2017-capmas-
idUSC6N1M601B. Accessed 3 Sept 2018
Unicef.org. "Education". Unicef.Org, 2018,
https://www.unicef.org/egypt/education. Accessed 3 Sept 2018

Thank
You