BAGHDAD, Aug 6 (Saba) - A quarter of Iraqi people are now living below the poverty line, and unemployment rate hit 30 percent, Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported on Friday.

According to a recent report co-compiled by the United Nations (UN) and Iraqi government, more than half Iraqi children fail to complete their primary education.

The report - titled "Millennium Development Goals in Iraq" - showed progress in the fulfillment of development goals in several fields, including efforts to reduce famine, child mortality and gender equality.

Iraq is still the second highest rate of child mortality compared to other countries in the region, at a rate of 41 deaths per thousand births, the report, released on Thursday, indicated.

It showed that the Iraqi government made slow progress in such vital fields as primary education, employment, water and sanitation.

Only a quarter of Iraqi families are equipped with sewage networks with low percentage in rural areas for up to two percent, it said.

The report emphasized that the UN and Iraqi government had agreed to work together to strengthen efforts to resolve these issues by 2015, the final date for Iraq to fulfill millennium development goals.
In communications, six percent of Iraqis use Internet on a daily basis, while over 75 percent of Iraqi people use cellular phones, the report said.

Saba