About 19.6 per cent of Egypt's population below poverty line, UN

from Monsters and Critics

At least 19.6 per cent of Egypt's 75 million citizens live below the poverty line, while 14.7 per cent of children do not go to school, said the United Nation's Human Development Report.

The annual UN Human Development Report 2008, which was issued on Tuesday, assessed Egypt's social, economic, health and educational status.

One of every five Egyptians lives below the poverty line, although the poverty rate decreased by 1 per cent during 1990 and 2005.

However, poverty rates are widely expected to increase in Cairo from 4.6 per cent in 2005 to 7.6 per cent in 2015, the report said.

As for education, the report said that 69.5 per cent of the population are illiterate, mostly women. Some 14.7 per cent of children do not go to school while university graduates account for only 6.9 per cent of the educated population.

However, the report praised the role of civil society in Egypt, saying relation between the government and the non-governmental organizations had improved.