Background
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Though most people in the Islamic Republic of Iran enjoy an average quality of life, many challenges exist. These include high unemployment, unequal distribution of income and inequality of opportunity. Approximately 20 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line and serious regional disparities exist. Populations in rural areas suffer the most, with lower household incomes, higher unemployment rates, lower literacy rates and fewer available services.
Issues facing children in Iran
- Several recent studies in Iran have reported that child abuse and exploitation is common around the country. One survey showed that more than one in five children aged 6-11 was physically punished by caregivers in the previous week. Corporal punishment in schools and remand homes is also common.
- Transitioning from primary to lower secondary school is a problem for many girls, often because of the great distances they must travel for the nearest school. The national transition rate from primary to lower secondary is less than 80 per cent for girls, compared with over 90 per cent for boys.
- In urban areas, female literacy reaches nearly 82 per cent while in rural areas, the rate is closer to 62 per cent.
- Even though prevalence of HIV in Iran is currently low (officially less than 0.1 per cent), the country is not safeguarded against an epidemic.
- Knowledge about HIV and AIDS appears to be dismayingly low among Iranian adolescents. One-third of female adolescents could not name even one mode of HIV transmission. Males, while having a higher level of knowledge, continue to engage in high-risk behaviours.
Activities and results for children
- UNICEF has developed a sensitization campaign that focuses on building and improving the skills of teachers, caregivers, parents and health and relief workers in the detection of abuse.
- A Juvenile Justice Bill was drafted, approved in the cabinet and sent to Parliament in March 2005. The bill authorizes judges to avoid capital punishment for juveniles and promotes alternative sentencing. UNICEF supported the development of this bill and will continue to intensively advocate for its adoption.
- A rural girls' education model pioneered by UNICEF was effective in mobilizing girls' groups in Sistan and Baluchistan, and resulted in reducing drop-out rates and changing negative attitudes towards girls attending school.
- UNICEF Iran's HIV/AIDS programme works with governmental and non-governmental partners, to disseminate key messages on HIV/AIDS and related issues through popular and other media – and to ensure the provision of youth-friendly health services and information.
- UNICEF is working to increase the number of births registered by reviewing the current law and registration system and suggesting measures to increase accessibility.
- UNICEF supported the establishment of community-based Rural Child Care Centres in the most deprived provinces of the country. After 42 pilot centres were opened, the government supported the expansion of the project, and around 3,600 locally managed centres have now been established.
