is no readily available information that might indicate that the National Body took effective steps specifically to address the number of street children in the Islamic Republic of Iran. B. The State Party should address the root causes of the phenomenon of children working and/or living in the streets The Committee on the Rights of the Child has identified structural causes of the emergence of children in street situations, which include “inequalities based on economic status, race and gender” These factors are further exacerbated by poverty and inadequate social protection, forced migration and displacement, family violence as well as intolerance and discriminations. 34 Additionally, the lack of protective child labor laws in Iran tend has been found to favor the employment of children in the streets. Studies have shown that children coming from low-income families tend to be sent to the street as an alternative income to their household. 35 36 Such families are often characterized by a male head of household with lower than high school level of education, either unemployed or working in precarious positions. 37 38 39 A recent study carried by the Islamic Parliament Research Center found that more than 13 million lived below the national poverty line in the Islamic Republic of Iran.40 In July 2020, the International Monetary Fund assessed the Iranian inflation rate at 34.2%,41 a decrease of the GDP of 6%42 and unemployment at 16.3%.43 The Iranian economic decline has been particularly worsened by renewed U.S. sanctions since 2018, a situation raised by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights44 and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic 34 General Comment No.21 on children in street situations, Committee on the Rights of the Child, CRC/C/GC/21, https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CRC/C/GC/21&Lang=en 35 The Socioeconomic Status of Street Children in Iran: A Systematic Review on Studies over a Recent Decade Vameghi, Meroe ; Sajadi, Homeira ; Rafiey, Hassan ; Rashidian, Arash Children & Society, 2014-09, Vol.28 (5), p.352-365 referenced in Transnationality of Child Poverty: The Case of Iranian and Afghan Children in Tehran, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318729333_Transnationality_of_Child_Poverty_The_Case_of_Iranian_and_Afgha n_Street_Children_in_Tehran 36 Transnationality of Child Poverty: The Case of Iranian and Afghan Children in Tehran, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318729333_Transnationality_of_Child_Poverty_The_Case_of_Iranian_and_Afgha n_Street_Children_in_Tehran 37 Davarpanah Raghfar and Nakaii (2010) referenced in Transnationality of Child Poverty: The Case of Iranian and Afghan Children in Tehran, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318729333_Transnationality_of_Child_Poverty_The_Case_of_Iranian_and_Afgha n_Street_Children_in_Tehran 38 Transnationality of Child Poverty: The Case of Iranian and Afghan Children in Tehran, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318729333_Transnationality_of_Child_Poverty_The_Case_of_Iranian_and_Afgha n_Street_Children_in_Tehran 39 The Socioeconomic Status of Street Children in Iran: A Systematic Review on Studies over a Recent Decade Vameghi, Meroe ; Sajadi, Homeira ; Rafiey, Hassan ; Rashidian, Arash Children & Society, 2014-09, Vol.28 (5), p.352-365 referenced in Transnationality of Child Poverty: The Case of Iranian and Afghan Children in Tehran, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318729333_Transnationality_of_Child_Poverty_The_Case_of_Iranian_and_Afgha n_Street_Children_in_Tehran 40 Iran Wire, https://iranwire.com/en/features/5829 41 International Monetary Fund, https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/PCPIPCH@WEO/ADVEC/OEMDC 42 International Monetary Fund, https://www.imf.org/en/Countries/IRN#featured 43 International Monetary Fund, https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/LUR@WEO/IRN/SOM 44 OHCHR, “Bachelet briefs States on Colombia, Cyprus, Guatemala, Honduras, Iran, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Venezuela and Yemen”, 20 March 2019, https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24377&LangID=E 4