BAGHDAD — Iraq on Friday braced for a fourth day of violent antigovernment protests that have left dozens of people dead, after demonstrators took to the streets in the capital and in a half-dozen southern provinces, some throwing rocks at security forces who responded with bullets.

The death toll from the unrest reached at least 34, with the worst violence in the southeastern province of Dhi Qar, according to the Iraqi Health Ministry and figures provided by the United Nations. Hundreds more were reported wounded in the southern part of the country and in Baghdad, the capital.

The developments prompted the country’s prime minister to deliver an early-morning address in which he promised to improve employment opportunities and the distribution of wealth.

Amid reports of new clashes, Marta Hurtado, a spokeswoman for the United Nations human rights office in Geneva, said it had confirmed the deaths of 12 people in Baghdad, and she expressed concern at reports that security forces had used live ammunition as well as rubber bullets and fired tear gas canisters directly at protesters.