Child Protection Initiative Publication Series (10)
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Child Protection Initiative Publication Series (10) Riyadh / February / 2007 TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents 1 List of Tables 2 Acknowledgement 3 Preface 4 Introduction 8 I. The Status of Children in Tehran 14 1.1. Legal Issues 15 1.2. Child Population 17 1.3. Recreational Facilities 20 1.4. Educational Status 21 1.5. Health Care Status 22 1.6. The issues of poverty 25 1.7. Informal settlement 26 1.8. Enhancing the status of children 28 II. Children and Social Problems 31 2.1. Street Children 31 2.2. Child abuse 37 2.3. Disabled Children 43 III. Institutional Arrangements: 43 3.1. Tehran Municipality 47 3.1.1. Center for the Mental development of children & the Youth (2-18 49 years old) 3.1.2. Center for Juvenile Delinquents 50 3.1.3. Children NGOs in Tehran 50 3.2. Rapid Assessment concerning the performance of institutions serving 51 children IV. Capacity building for Public Institutions and NGOs working with 55 Children in Tehran 4.1. Assessment of the capacity of Institutions 57 4.2. Action Plan : Capacity-building Project 58 4.2.1. Organizational Arrangements 59 4.2.2. Implementation phases 60 Conclusion 62 Recommendations 65 Annexes 67 Bibliography 68 1 / 132 List of Tables Table 1: Population of Tehran Province, Tehran City, Urban & Rural 17 Table 2: Age Groups and Gender; Tehran Province Population (1996) 18 Table 3: Number of Pre-Schoolers, Staff, Kindergartens and Number of Classes, Tehran Province 20 (2003-2004) Table 4: Number of Elementary School Students, Staff, Schools and Classes 20 (Tehran Province, 2003-2004) Table 5: Number of Intermediate School Students, Staff Schools and Classes 21 (Tehran Province, 2003 – 2004) Table 6: Main Nutritional Indicators, Tehran Children 23 Table 7: Mothers’ Awareness Concerning Growth and Nutritional Needs Tehran Province, 1997 23 Table 8: Population of Cities with Informal Settlements and an Estimation of the Population of 26 Said Settlements (Tehran Province) Table 9: Numbers of Street Children who Stayed in Child Shelters and run-away girls who Stayed 34 in Girls’ Health Houses, Tehran Office, 2003 Table 10: Number, Percentage and Gender of Street Children, 2003 (Tehran) 34 Table 11: Age Distribution of Street Children, 2003(Tehran) 34 Table 12: Level of Education of Male Street Children, 2003 Tehran 35 Table 13: Age Distribution of Male Street Children, 2003 Tehran 35 Table 14: Age Distribution of Female Street Children, 2003 Tehran 35 Table 15: Frequencies and Distribution of Child Abuse Reporting in Tehran, 2003 38 Table 16: Classification of Child Abuses Reported through the Child Call Line, 2003 Tehran 38 Table 17: Age Distribution of Abused Children Reported Through the Call Line, 2003 Tehran 38 Table 18: Gender Distribution of Abused Children in Tehran as Reported to the Child Call Line, 39 2003 Table 19: Reasons for the Arrest of 320 Individuals in the Month of December, 1991(Tehran) 40 Table 20: Age Grouping of Sample Group* (N=320) 41 Table 21: Numbers of Those Arrested for Various Crimes 17 years and Below, According to 42 Gender Tehran Table 22: Activities of the Office for Social Abuse Affairs, Welfare Organization, Tehran, 2003 44 Table 23: Number of classified children in Welfare Organization Tehran Nurseries and Reasons of 45 Separation from Parents, 2000-2001 Table 24: Number & Percentages of Children Lacking Parents and Receiving Support in the Use 45 of Nurseries and Kindergartens Classified by Age (Tehran Province) 2 / 132 Acknowledgement We would like to express our sincere thanks and gratitude to all those who contributed to this volume, which is the eighth in a series of assessments of the status of children, specially vulnerable and disadvantaged ones, in 12 cities in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) that were commissioned by the Child Protection Initiative (CPI). In particular, we are highly indebted to Prof. Parviz Piran, Allameh, Tabatabaiee University, Tehran, the principal author of this study, for his excellent scientific contribution, which is written with high academic standard. Thanks are extended to his team for their valuable efforts in preparing the study. The team includes the following: Ms. Mariam Najibi, Mr. Mohammad Attaie, Mr. Ghassem Ahmadi, Mr. Arash Sarlati, Mr. Siavash Sarlati, Ms. Mariam Moshref , Mr. Abbas Shiah , Ms. Farzaneh Sotoudeh, Ms. Nassim Razavi, Ms. Azadeh Sotoudeh. We would also like to extend our thanks to Dr. Baquer Namazi for his peer review and constructive suggestions on the manuscript. The principal author is indebted to Mrs. Sepehri for reading the manuscript and suggesting valuable comments and corrections and to the staff of Tehran Welfare Organization for providing their published documents and information. The author is also indebted to his wife Farzaneh and sons Pooria & Pirouz for their support and patience. Our gratitude is extended to the scientific committee of the MENA CPI: Prof. Osman Nour, Dr. Hind Khalifa, Dr. Gamal Hamid and Dr. Yasir Awad El Karim. Finally, we would like to thank Dr. Sayed Sarwar Hussain from King Saud University for his excellent editorial skills. Special thanks to Mr. Abdul Waheed Khalifa for his valuable efforts in typing and formatting the manuscript. 3 / 132 Preface The population of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, which comprises, for the purpose of the CPI, 22 Arab states and Iran includes a high proportion of children under 18 years, specially when compared with developed countries- the proportions being 44% and 23% respectively. This proportion is even higher for some countries in the MENA region, reaching 52.7% for Palestine and 55.8% for Yemen. This high proportion of children makes the region one of the youngest and most dynamic regions in the world. The high level of fertility in many countries of the MENA region, together with declining mortality rates, has led to very high rates of natural population increase, reaching 2.7%. Urban areas in the MENA region have witnessed rapid rates of population growth due to high rates of natural increase, rural-to-urban migration and labor migration (primarily to Arab oil producing countries). The annual rate of population growth in some cities in the MENA region is as high as 7.0%. If this pattern of urban population growth continues, then 70% of the total population of the region will be living in urban areas by the year 2020, i.e. an increase of 86 million people. While rapid urbanization is taking place in the MENA region, many cities are still not capable of keeping up with the pace of rising needs for job opportunities, housing, environmental, social and cultural services. With increasing decentralization in many countries of the MENA region, and shifting of more responsibilities to local authorities, municipalities are expected to play a leading role in addressing the needs of their vulnerable citizens, namely children, women and the elderly. Furthermore, achieving the Millennium Development Goals requires governments, private sector and civil society associations to join forces to assist vulnerable and disadvantaged children. Such children include: the poor, working children, disabled, orphans, homeless and street children, refugees and displaced, girls and boys affected by violence. The Child Protection Initiative (CPI) was established in response to a recommendation made at the "Children and the City" conference held in Amman in December 2002. The "Amman Declaration" called for building up the capacities of municipal authorities, and establishment of a regional fund to respond rapidly to the risks faced by vulnerable and disadvantaged children in the MENA region. The CPI, which was launched in September 2003, is supported by the World Bank and the Arab Urban Development Institute (AUDI), which hosts its secretariat in Riyadh. One of the objectives of CPI is to build an extensive knowledge base on the main issues that face children in the MENA region, and to derive lessons and best practices from the research and programs that address vulnerable and disadvantaged children's issues, whether within the region or elsewhere. In order to fulfill this objective, the CPI commissioned scholars and researchers in the MENA region to conduct assessments of the status of children and relevant institutions in 12 MENA cities, namely, Amman, Riyadh, Khartoum, Alexandria, Sana'a, Beirut, Casablanca, Algiers, Kuwait, Gaza, Medina Al Munawara and Tehran. The present study on the status of Children for the Tehran city is the tenth one published by the CPI to fill the knowledge gap on children's issues. The main objective of Tehran study is to give an overall picture of the status of children (0-18 years), with emphasis on how well their needs are met, specially for the vulnerable and disadvantaged ones. The present study also aims to illustrate the severity of socio- economic, cultural, nutritional and health related problems facing children in Tehran. In addition, the present study introduces the different institutions in Tehran addressing children issues with a look at their potentials, shortcomings, and the constraints they have to battle. According to Iran statistical yearbook for the year 2001, almost half of the Iranian population are under 4 / 132 19 years of age; the percentages being 49.57% and 49.25% respectively for males and females. The proportion of under 19 years of age is lower for Tehran province compared to the country as a whole- the percentage for Tehran province being 44.87% in 2001. Regarding the health situation, the present study shows that more than 90% of the children in Iran are covered by immunization and more than 80% of child births take place in health facilities in the presence of trained, educated health personnel. In the year 2000, 67.7% of births in the city of Tehran took place in public hospitals, 29.2% in private hospitals, and only 2.1% of maternity labor and child birth took place at homes.