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 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 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 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. Currently 85% of both urban and rural children in Tehran province have access to health protection and schooling. For example, the percentages of families having access to clear drinking water, and having bathrooms in their houses are 99.9% and 94.1% for Tehran city and 97.2% and 85.05% for Tehran province.

Regarding education, the present study shows that more than 97% of children aged 6-10 are enrolled in elementary schools with more than 90% of them finishing the elementary level. However, the rate of school enrollment for girls (beyond the elementary level) is lower than the rate for their male counterparts. This may be attributed to a number of factors including long distance, poverty among families and early marriage. This drop in girl enrollment is more evident in rural areas and around informal settlements.

Tehran study indicates that social problems concerning children are have increased rapidly during the last 10 years. The estimated number of street children in Tehran alone amounts to 50,000 and 13% of them are either begging or working (selling flowers, newspapers and chewing gum, taking people's weight, cleaning wind shields of cars…). The street children who work for gang leaders, although 'protected' for various reasons, are subjected to sexual and physical abuse, by the same people who claim to protect them. But the majority of the street children in Tehran work for themselves. However, they have to pay a portion of what they earn to those who are older and stronger or as payment of bribes. The present study shows that the majority of working children live with their parents, and 23% of working children come from broken families mostly due to divorce or the death of their fathers.

Tehran study reported increasing numbers of youth suicide; during 1983 and 2000, there were 3225 cases of death due to suicide whose victims were 13 to 17 years of age. The number of students committing suicide in Tehran city alone during 2003 is about 283.

The present study reviews the ministries and governmental and non-governmental' institutions working with children, specially the vulnerable and disadvantaged ones. Some of these institutions attempt to enhance children's wellbeing, mental development, learning improvement and the like. Prominent among them is the Center of Mental Development of Children and Adolescents, which caters for those from age 2 to age 18. Among the organizations serving children with special needs and problems, the Welfare Organization of Iran should be singled out. No other organization in Iran covers children the way this organization does. In the year 2003, it's Tehran office for Social Abuse Affairs carried out nine projects, seven of which directly benefited children.

Twelve governmental and non-governmental institutions working with children in Tehran were selected for capacity building, based on the following criteria: (a) number of projects carried out (b) the level of participation in events concerning children and youth (c) number of volunteers (d) diversity of activities related to children and (e) their focus on disadvantaged and vulnerable children.

5 / 132

6 / 132

7 / 132

Introduction

This report is an overall assessm ent of the condition of children (ages 0-18) living in Tehran, the capital of I ran. Putting children in I ran by age category to study for the various reasons thoroughly discussed in the report entails a num ber of problem s. These problem s are organizational in nature and are substantive due to the overlapping of age groups with other categories arrived at by various organizations for a variety of reasons. Moreover, the children in Tehran represent an extrem ely heterogeneous age group and the differences am ong them stem from a variety of reasons, both socio-econom ic and cultural. Another problem concerns how the ages are grouped in official sources. For exam ple, census inform ation has either divided children into two groups, one 0-14 and the other 15-19, or has com bined them into one category as 0-19. Both cases differ from the definition of children in the TOR and it is for this reason that the research team, while preparing the present report, calculated figures for ages 0-18 whenever possible.

I t should also be taken into account that in I ran census is taken every ten years. The last one goes back to 1996 and another one will take place this current year. Therefore, figures which com e from census are close to ten years old and no updated figures on them are available. To find a rem edy for such a shortcom ing, an attem pt has been m ade to find m ore recent calculations of the sam e indicators covered in the census through other sources. Obviously, the m ore recent studies lack the com prehensiveness of a census since they usually concern very lim ited sam ples. Needless to say they m ay not allow any generalization beyond those studied.

Apart from the above issues, there are still other problem s. I n the past 26 years after the victory of the I slam ic Revolution and the establishm ent of the I slam ic Republic, I ran has been subject to continuous negative reports from foreign m edia m ost of which have served a pre-thought out political stand point and therefore have not been fair. At the sam e tim e, there were also constant attem pts in the dom estic front to portray western m edia coverage as hostile acts of unfriendly sources against the welfare of the I ranian people. This cannot also be totally accurate. Thus, to write on any issue concerning Iran while trying to be completely detached from both extremes is a very difficult, if not impossible, task.

Moreover, the children’s case in itself presents conflicting pictures. On one hand, what have been delivered in term s of education and health are unprecedented in I ranian history and the achievem ents have been notable. These achievem ents are also acknowledged by independent international organizations. On the other hand, there are events and experiences faced by I ranian children which are, in a negative sense, extraordinary. This is especially true when one realizes that the definition of a child as given in the TOR of the present report also refers to those regarded as adolescents, ages 15-18, and who are subject to certain rules of conduct and life style not generally acceptable to the youth. Consequently, certain

8 / 132

groups am ong them undergo experiences with far reaching and negative consequences. Fortunately, the overall environm ent has changed dram atically and is now less tense and this is partly due to an encom passing social m ovem ent in which the youth has played a decisive role.

Finally, one should take into account that I ran is generally an extrem ely com plex society. This characteristic m akes it very difficult to present all contingencies, pre- conditions and history-old variables which are at work when one attempts to arrive at explanations concerning the socio-econom ic and cultural environm ent in which the children of Tehran are living today. The class polarization which has resulted from a policy of structural adjustm ent practiced for over a decade is the reason why certain socio-econom ic groups are deprived, and, despite the deliveries in term s of infrastructure and other facilities, are not able to avail of them . The number of these groups is increasing constantly.

What have been stated above should be kept in m ind when reviewing what will follow since they are pre-requisites for arriving at an accurate picture of the children of Tehran today. To familiarize the reader with Tehran and Iran’s children, some general information is given in the boxes below:

BOX No.1

Tehran: Capital of both the Islamic Republic of Iran (I.R.I) and Tehran province Surface Area: 19196 Sq Km No. of urban counties in Tehran Province: 12 No. of rural Districts: 31 No. of cities in Tehran province: 42 No. of villages in Tehran province: 73 No. of cities in : 2 No. of villages in Tehran County: 2

BOX No.2

Basic Indicators concerning Iranian Children are presented in Annex 29.

9 / 132

Issue

The present report has a num ber of interrelated objectives. First, it attem pts to present an overall picture of the status of children (ages 0 to 18), whether urban or peri-urban, residing in Tehran, the capital of I ran, with em phasis on how well their needs are m et, especially those of the m ost vulnerable and disadvantaged. Second, it aim s to illustrate the severity of the socio-economic, cultural, nutritional, and health-related problem s which these children are facing today, and identify the factors based on gender, age and socio-economic characteristics that cause and aggravate these problems.

The report would introduce the different institutions in Tehran which deal with children’s issues with a look at their potentials, shortcom ings and especially the constraints they have to battle. Special attention will be given to their capabilities in dealing with the growing needs and problem s am ong different age groups within such a general category. The evaluation of these institutions will therefore complete the first part of the TOR.

I n the second part, a phased capacity-building program for a num ber of selected organizations, public and private, will be prepared. An explanation of the selection criteria, including justifications, will be given. Obviously, an institution’s effectiveness in m eeting the needs of children in a speedy and cost-beneficial way would be a major criterion.

This author has claim ed on m any occasions that “I ran is a land of contradictions, conflicts, and contrasts” and the children’s case will prove this. Also to be noted, is the complexity of the term “children” which, by definition, is a concept encom passing all those whose ages are between zero and eighteen; yet, in Iran, the problems besetting children of a particular age group within the 0 to 18 range differ dram atically from other age groups of the sam e age range. The status, condition, issues, and problem s of children less than five years old, are by far different from those of children between five and fourteen, or especially those who have passed the age of puberty because by then they would be experiencing a unique environm ent com pletely different from that of their counterparts elsewhere. Why? Because the governm ent has defined and im posed a particular lifestyle for the youth, a lifestyle which contradicts the rapid changes in society brought about by globalization.

Globalization has m ade it possible for the children in I ran to gain access to inform ation available to all other children in the world, thereby exposing them to western attitudes and lifestyles, particularly where relationships with the opposite sex are concerned. A percentage of I ranian children and youth desire to em ulate the sam e lifestyle, in contradiction to what a faction within the I ranian governm ent, backed by the judiciary, espouses firm ly, to the extent of using police force to im pose their restrictions. Such unacceptable acts by the authorities have, of course, provoked reaction from the youth population here.

10 / 132 They ignore the laws, openly show noncom pliance, and act rebelliously, and, these have led to punishm ents such as being jailed and other unpleasant consequences which have far-reaching im pacts on them . To nam e just a few, there is constant fear, anxiety, restlessness, and in m any cases, severe psychological problem s accom panied by feelings of hum iliation, feelings for revenge, and anti-social feelings. I t should be m entioned, however, that since ten years ago authorities have begun to realize the grave consequences of their harsh reactions towards the youth and have become m ore lax. Thus, the num ber of arrests has reduced dram atically. Nevertheless, a review of the status of children in Tehran, particularly those above sixteen years of age, is not com plete unless these issues are taken into account. A m ore detailed discussion on this can be found further in this report.

All the same, a lot has been accom plished for children all over I ran, even in the rem otest areas, and these should not be overshadowed by the above issues. What follows is an attem pt to present a realistic and well-balanced picture of children, particularly in Tehran; their potentials, their worries, fears, anxieties, and their depressing m om ents as well as the way they arrive at m echanism s both for defending them selves and having their needs m et. Furtherm ore, this report will show how a segm ent of the children of Tehran (aged 15 and above) were able to initiate an encompassing social movement which took the world by surprise and how this m ovem ent is absorbing a decisive setback sim ilar to so m any others in I ranian history, a history which has witnessed the birth of a very complex generation in an equally complex society.

The m ethodology used to gather inform ation for this report has been far from sim ple considering that I ran’s bureaucratic system is sectored. So, a dozen institutions and library archives were visited by the team in addition to holding discussions with a substantial num ber of inform ed people. I n-depth interviews were also conducted. With tim e restraints, there was no choice but to target sources of secondary data which m akes content analysis the suitable choice technique for data treatm ent although it was used only in a qualitative sense (i.e. for arranging the contents and arriving at categories and classifications). Much was gained despite bureaucratic and financial restraints but as is the case in any developing country, inform ation garnered thus could be incom plete, inconsistent, and inaccurate. Different institutions presented different details on the sam e issue and alm ost no updated and com plete statistics on the children of Tehran were available. Furtherm ore, the institutions each had its own definitional concept of “children”.

I n the course of data-gathering, the NGOs stood out as being m ore generous and candid in giving inform ation. Com pared to governm ent institutions, they are also m ore dedicated to their jobs. Also, Tehran itself proved to be a problem . Most of the available inform ation excluded the newly-established districts and the num erous form al and inform al settlem ents of the city. Furthermore, available data did not distinguish either gender or by age.

11 / 132 For the reader to place children in a broader context (i.e. to get a picture of where they were born and are growing up) “I ran at a Glance” is presented in Annex 22 to render inform ation on dem ographic and socio-economic indicators. I n doing so, em phasis is also placed on the urbanization of I ran, the rate of which has been steady, as an im portant variable affecting different aspects of children’s lives.

With reference to the facts presented in Annex 22 on the dem ographic characteristics of Iran and through a review of Table 27, a number of important facts are revealed, one of which is the sharp decrease in the population growth rate (A m ore intensive discussion follows Table 27 in Annex 4). Another is that public awareness, an outcom e of the new, strong and encom passing social m ovem ent as m entioned above where the wom en and the youth have played im portant roles, has been em erging and com ing to the surface since nine or eleven years ago; and, this awareness has had long, lasting and deep im pacts upon many aspects of social life in Iran including that of Tehran.

To close this section, a num ber of im portant num erical figures are presented in Tables 31 to 38 (see annexes 8-15) which will help in gaining a better understanding of I ran’s overall condition and Tehran’s ranking in relation to a number of indicators, an understanding critical to a com prehensive background of the issue at hand.

Table 32 represents 29 health indicators(latest available inform ation in this regard) (UNFPA, 1998:68-69) which point to the fact that however the economic situation in Iran has worsened in the past two decades, achievements in rural infrastructure, health, literacy and com m unication have been notable. I n Table 33, a few indicators reflecting the dem ography, the environm ent, and issues on wom en are presented which testify to the im provem ents m ade in those areas.

However, another issue which requires closer attention is the fact that despite the worsening of the conditions of poor fam ilies, the overall econom ic growth rate of I ran has been notable, especially in the past eight years; and, this is due to heavy investm ents in infrastructure. What should also be taken into account is the polarization of society which explains why the fruits of econom ic growth are unevenly distributed.

To conclude, it is interesting to note what Shalom o Avineri, a Professor of Political Science at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and a form er Director- General of the Israel Foreign Ministry, has written about Iran in an article which appeared on the internet on February 9, 2002. The reason for presenting his ideas here is the fact that, although by no m eans can he be regarded as a pro- I ranian writer, yet his views show that any one-dim ensional analysis of the

12 / 132

I ranian situation will not reveal the true story of I ran- a land of paradoxes. The children’s case, therefore, is no exception.

To quote, “….internal developm ents in I ran are com plex, and any dem onization of the I slam ic Republic as such is sim plistic……I n m any respects I ran is perhaps the m ost interesting country in the region, with the greatest potential for a developm ent which m ay lead to greater opening and liberalization. The last few years have shown som e rem arkable developm ents. Am ong them : wom en have the vote and participate actively in political life. Because elections to the Majlis (parliam ent) and the Presidency are contested, they are m eaningful…..Debates in parliam ent are real with different views expressed…..for years the governm ent has encouraged crash courses to train wom en doctors in I ran than under the Shah, and the num ber of wom en dying in childbirth is am ong the lowest in the region. Sim ilarly, the governm ent has instituted a very active birth control program ….I ran has consequently, one of the lowest birth rates in the region.” Unquote.

Structural Constraints

Before dealing with the issue of the children in Tehran, it is necessary to be aware of the structural constraints in the country. This author, in a series of articles entitled “Developm ent Constraints in I ran: A Few Historical Considerations” which appeared in the m onthly Politics & Economy (No.49- 57:1991), has reviewed the m ain im pedim ents and obstacles to I ran’s genuine developm ent. Before presenting the research carried out to identify the m ain issues and problems that the children of Tehran are facing today, a summary of those articles will be given here. This is necessary, since a thorough knowledge of the existing constraints enables the CI P, and later on, all the other institutions working in areas related to children, to approach program s for children in a more realistic manner and thus avoid making bold decisions.

The m ost im portant constraint concerns people’s non-involvem ent in the process of developm ent. I n other words, m ost of the planning and program m ing are carried out by governm ent agencies. Therefore, recom m ended projects and program s through various plans are not com m unity driven i.e. they lack the participation of the stakeholders. Because of this, people do not feel that their real needs are addressed and they have no reason to feel that such programs belong to them. Such a phenomenon stems from the fact that I ran has been witness to an authoritarian form of governance for centuries. Within such a system, people do not have any role in the daily affairs of society. Thus, a vast gap exists between the people and the governm ent and any action by the latter would be regarded as a conspiracy by the form er. However, such an approach as m entioned above is slowly changing as reflected in the em ergence of a relatively high num ber of NGOs in all dom ains, including areas related to children.

13 / 132 Another structural constraint is the lack of a clear approach toward issues and problem s on children. The lack of a well-defined and clear approach has led to confusion where the aim s and the direction that planning for children should take, are concerned. This is also true with project im plem entation. Add to this the problem atic coordination am ong agencies and the obvious outcom es would be redundancies and the waste of time and resources.

As has been m entioned in passing, the problem s stem from the sectored nature of developm ent in I ran and the weakness or lack of coordination am ong various sectors which has led to m ism anagem ent and a considerable am ount of waste in term s of m anpower and resources. Redundancy, in m any aspects, has been a natural by-product of the uncoordinated sectored approach toward development.

The existence of conflicting laws and regulations is another problem . Again, this is due to the sectored view of developm ent. Such an im pedim ent has m ade planning and im plem entation very tim e consum ing to the point that when plans are about to be implemented, many other new factors arise and the factors which have been previously taken into account would lose their relevance. I n this m anner, the implementation of plans under new conditions cannot give way to any im provem ent. Moreover, the plans m ay very well conflict with the new needs or factors which have emerged under the new conditions.

The high level of governm ent intervention in all phases of project im plem entation should also be noted. This intense involvem ent prevents the com m unity-driven initiatives to be effective in the process of planning and im plem entation. Furtherm ore, it has conditioned the local population not to think about their real needs. So, it is either the experts or governm ent officials irregardless of rank who often introduce what they themselves think are the real needs of the communities.

I. The Status of Children in Tehran

As has been m entioned, a study of the status of children in Tehran necessitates the distinction between two groups of children. The first group includes all children age zero to fifteen, and the second group consists of children age sixteen to eighteen. This second group should be studied with reference to the way in which society approaches the issue of youth in general. Actually, this group represents a transitional group in Tehran, as well as the whole of I ran, which is m oving away from childhood and entering the critical stage of being young. I n fact, the definition of “child” for various purposes also justifies such a classification.

Furtherm ore, it should be taken into account that children though having com m on characteristics, do not represent a hom ogenous group. For exam ple, children of poor fam ilies and those living in inform al settlem ents face problem s different from other children.

14 / 132

1.1. Legal I ssues. Shirin Ebadi, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, has said, “One of the m ain obstacles in protecting children in I ran is the existing confusion concerning the definition of a child. According to I slam ic law, whenever the issue of m arriage is raised and an appropriate age for m arriage is questioned, the answer is: whenever a child, no m atter whether boy or girl, passes puberty, he or she can marry.” However, the time of puberty may vary from one individual to the next so they have announced a fixed age for marriage; that is, fifteen for boys and thirteen for girls. But, seldom does marriage take place at these ages.

Where I ran’s penal law is concerned, childhood ends at the age of fifteen for boys and nine for girls. However, if som eone less than eighteen years of age com m its a crime, he or she will not be sent to jail but rather will be referred to the Center for Juvenile Delinquents (Kanoone Eslah va Tarbiyat).

On the other hand, I ran’s labor law states that the end of childhood is at the age of fifteen for both sexes. And yet, for the purpose of voting and political participation, sixteen years of age is said to end the childhood of both boys and girls.

A look at the above figures clearly justifies the suggested classification which has been put forward. The fact is that, any child who passes the age of fifteen will confront entirely different issues and face a determ ined set of expectations which he or she m ust fulfill. Even ‘though such a classification is both im portant and justified, at first the status of children in general will be reviewed, and then the status of each age group will be examined.

Children’s rights and the Child Rights’ Convention. I n order to get a clear picture of the status of a child in Tehran, it m ight be useful to initially have a look on how well a child is protected here. After all, children are the m ost vulnerable group in society. Their rights may be violated, but they are not able to do anything about it. I t is for this reason that m any countries have passed special laws to protect children. These laws are usually grouped into a category called, “Differential Crim inal Law.” According to this law, any action which in any way is harm ful to a child will be considered a crim inal act and thus punishable by law. Moreover, any crim inal act which targets children will have punishm ent even m ore intense, at times, drastic.

To protect I ranian children, the reform ist parliam ent passed a law in Decem ber 2002 entitled, “ The Law Protecting Children and Youth.” The m ain factors which led to the passing of this law were, for one, the incidence of child abuse, especially by parents and m ore frequently by stepm others; and, two, the constant dem ands of the institutions of civil society belonging to an encom passing and forceful social m ovem ent concerning the enhancem ent of civil rights and liberties. I n addition, I ran was am ong those countries which signed conditionally the “Declarations of the World Convention on Children” way back in 1991. The conditional signing of the declaration left room for I ran not to honor those articles in the declarations

15 / 132 which either contradicted the precepts of I slam or the constitution of the I slam ic Republic of Iran.

The law passed by parliam ent, as m entioned above, clearly defined a num ber of actions as criminal acts. They include:

1. child abuse in any form; physically, sexually, mentally, and emotionally, 2. the intentional neglect of a child’s health and well-being, 3. the prevention of a child from attending school i.e. denying a child’s right to education in general, 4. the buying and selling of children, 5. forcing a child to engage in criminal acts, and 6. forcing a child to work.

Moreover, the law states that child abuse is a public crim e and thus, does not require a complainant to be heard in court. Also, it became mandatory that anyone who has knowledge of a child abuse’ case should report it to the authorities. Finally, the law increased the age lim it of a child to eighteen for both boys and girls.

According to the I ranian constitution, any law passed by the parliam ent should be reviewed by the Council of Guardians of the Constitution which is com posed of fifteen m em bers, five of which are clergies who review the law to ensure that it does not conflict with I slam ic laws and teaching, while the other ten m em bers, who are lawyers, review the law to make sure it is in line with the constitution.

So, as with all other laws, the one concerning child protection was sent to the council. However, it was returned to parliam ent on the account that according to I slam ic law if child abuse is the act of the father of the child, the father cannot be prosecuted. Until now, the law has gone to the council three tim es but has not been ratified. Since Reform ists defeat in the latest parliam entary election the fate of this bill is unknown.

The above case is m entioned here to show the conflict existing am ong various groups where the status of children is concerned. For centuries, children have had high status am ong fam ilies in I ran m ainly because the fam ily has always been the m ost im portant and the m ost precious institution in I ranian society. Unfortunately, this general rule is no longer valid when fam ilies face extrem e poverty or when one of the parents suffers from m ental problem s or any behavioral disorder. I n addition, due to econom ic difficulties especially in the past two decades, when attempts at structural adjustment has led to the polarization of society, children of poor fam ilies are deprived of their rights, needless to say, their well being is in danger.

The increasing rates of divorce, extended drug addiction, the increasing num ber of men abandoning their families, and the high crime rate, have made it vital to have

16 / 132

laws protecting children. The num ber of children who are neglected, abused, forced to work at a very early age, denied access to education and the like, which was relatively low, is now steadily increasing on an alarm ing rate. Therefore, it m ust be reiterated that today, m ore than any other tim e, the passing of laws to protect children is vital.

Obviously, the passing of these laws in itself is not enough. I t is also im portant that adults be aware that a healthy society is everyone’s concern. A child’s health, therefore, requires closer attention. I t follows then, that poverty-stricken com m unities, inform al settlem ents and rural areas are given priority. Likewise, girls should have better protection from cases of sexual abuse and child molestation.

1.2. Child population. Another im portant factor which would help in the understanding of the status of children in Tehran is their share in the com position of society. The percentage of children in the populations of I ran in general, and Tehran in particular, is a good indicator. Seem ingly, it is also useful to have a look at the children’s share in a num ber of other indicators. Tables 39 to 41 (see annexes 16-17) will show these proportions.

A review of Tables 39 to 41 in the annexes as well as Tables 1 and 2 below clearly shows that children, both at the National and Tehran levels, represent the m ost im portant age group. Back in 1996, close to half of Tehran’s population was less than 20 years of age. Also, the percentage for both m ales and fem ales was at 44.87% as shown in Table 2. In addition, the population of females aged 0-19 was 45.25% and it was 44.51% for the m ales. To put it in another way, a little less than half of the populations of both the country and of Tehran were children.

17 / 132

Table 1 : Population of Tehran Province, Tehran City, Urban & Rural

GROWTH YEARS RATE %

1986 1991 1996 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 86- 91- 86- 91 96 96

TEHRAN 8097587 9224253 10343963 11292085 11508189 11713678 11931656 12150742 2.64 2.32 2.48 PROVINCE URBAN 7525400 8480264 9318961 9972218 10117557 10250294 10390578 10528282 2.42 1.90 2.16 RURAL 572187 743989 1025002 1319867 1390632 1463384 1541678 1622460 5.39 6.62 6 TEHRAN 6059445 6497238 6794347 7018107 7065057 7100224 7137568 7169965 1.40 0.90 1.15 CITY URBAN 6048873 6485870 6779667 6999356 7045363 7079574 7115910 7147266 1.40 0.89 1.15 RURAL 16572 11368 14681 18750 19694 20650 21658 22699 1.46 5.25 3.34 Source: Iran Statistical Yearbook 2001 2001 – 2005 estimations, Adjustment & Estimation of Sharestans’ Populations p.73-76 NOTE: When the population growth rate of Tehran City and the rural population of Tehran province as they appear in this table are reviewed, certain considerations should be taken into account, otherwise, these rates will lead to incorrect conclusions. First of all, the urban rate in the population growth figures of Tehran City only includes 20 m unicipal districts. There are now 22. Second, it should be noted that from 1996 to the present (2005), the population growth rates of 5 districts in Tehran are negative and during the same period the average rate of rural-urban migration within the province is more than 3% while the average growth rate of Tehran City (again, the m unicipal districts), has been around 1.3%. These rates clearly illustrate that a m ajority of rural m igrants and a percentage of fam ilies living in Tehran City resettle in inform al settlem ents around Tehran. Realizing this phenom enon from a policy-m aking point of view is critical. I t indicates that the num ber of children living in inform al settlem ents is increasing at high levels and accom panied by various negative consequences. Undoubtedly, these settlements are among the most deprived areas in Iran.

18 / 132

Table 2 : Age Groups and Gender Tehran Province Population ( 1996)

AGE TOTAL FEMALE MALE GROUPS (Including (Including percentages) percentages) 0 - 4 854136 414963 439173 (48.58%) (51.42%) 5 - 9 1213920 594864 619056 (49.00%) (51.00%) 10- 14 1424213 699102 725111 (49.09%) (50.91%) 15- 19 1149277 561997 587280 (48.90%) (51.10%) 20- 24 928324 453376 474948 (48.84%) 51.16%) 25- 29 931552 452997 478555 (48.63%) (51.37%) 30- 34 834945 407826 427119 (48.84%) (51.16%) 35- 39 735587 357307 378280 (48.57%) (51.43%) 40- 44 579450 276524 302926 (47.72%) (52.28%) 45- 49 421541 202694 218847 (48.08%) (51.92%) 50- 54 321461 151226 170235 (47.04%) (52.96%) 55- 59 263207 120975 142232 (45.96%) (54.40%) 60- 64 235916 105201 130715 (44.59%) (55.41%) 65- 69 175271 84211 91060 (80.05%) (51.95%) 70- 74 134188 64092 70096 (47.76%) (52.24%) 75 & 140987 71071 69916 above (50.41%) (49.59%) TOTAL 10343975 5018426 5325549 0 - 19 4641546 2270926 2370620 % of 0 - 19 to TOTAL = 44.87%

Source: Prediction of Provinces’ Population (Tehran) 2001

19 / 132

Nevertheless, the im portance of children is not lim ited to their num bers, no m atter how high. Eventually, the children are those who will run the country; therefore, any investm ent on their well being is investm ent for the future of the country. Aware of this, the governm ent of I ran has invested very generously on issues directly related to child health and well being. I n som e cases, the rural children were m ore at an advantage com pared to urban children. For exam ple, 85% of the population in rural areas in 1999 had access to health protection while the percentage in urban areas was only 65%. (Majlis&Pajouhesh, 2001:159). Currently, however, 85% of both urban and rural children have access to health protection. (Note: For a com prehensive review of the status of children, see Table 45 in annex 25 which is based on a representative sam ple study). But it should also be noted that rural societies receive the higher share of the amounts the government spend on subsidized items.

1.3. Recreational Facilities. Another indicator which illustrates the status of children is land use. Back in 1986, the surface area for recreational activities of the children and the youth was 101.31 hectares. But if the surface areas of the parks especially allocated to activities of children and youth, such as biking, be taken into account, the total surface area for recreational activities would have been 300 hectares. In 1996, without taking into account the parks, the total surface area allocated for recreational activities reached 149.1 hectares. I n com parison, there has been a 28% increase in this figure in 2003 (Source: Office of the Deputy Mayor for Social and Cultural Affairs, Annual Report 2004, p.186). Currently, all parks in Tehran are required to have special sections just for children. I t should also be m entioned that one of the largest parks in the Middle East is Azadegan Park which is located in one of the poorer areas of Tehran. It is well-equipped with the latest playground facilities, both for children and the youth.

Meanwhile, Tehran’s share of the total surface area allocated to sports’ facilities was close to 10%. A research study conducted in Tehran in 2003 indicated that 72% of those who used sports’ com plexes were 14 to 29 years of age (Samavati 2004:32). Figures presented in various reports given by cultural centers indicate that the age group of 12 to 18 years com prised 58% of those who patronized cultural centers in 2004. Despite all attem pts for organizing children and youth leisure tim e, there is still no com prehensive plan for recreational activities for children due to the sectored nature of planning and decision m aking. I t is interesting to note that a m em ber of parliam ent back in June 26, 2006 has claim ed that “ however fourth different governm ent agencies in one way or the other are involved in planning for children and youth leisure tim e, the achievem ent at best is unclear and poor fam ilies m ost of the time are left out” (Kargozaran Daily, June 26, 2006, p.13).

I ran’s achievem ents in areas such as education, health, access to basic facilities and alike, are rem arkable; and, all children, regardless of place of residence, gender and age, are served m ore or less equally. However, access to recreational facilities presents an entirely different story. Such facilities are m ostly used by m ale children of the upper and m iddle classes. I nform al settlem ents, due to their illegal status, do not have these facilities. Besides, poor children have to work long hours to feed

20 / 132

themselves, so, even if they have access to recreational facilities, they would seldom be able to use them.

1.4. Educational status. Where education is concerned, m ore than 97% of children ages 6 to 10 are enrolled in elem entary schools with m ore than 90% of them finishing the elem entary level. Elem entary schooling in the country is free of charge for all; i.e., government schools do not demand any tuition fee. However, school enrollment of girls beyond the elementary level has dropped sharply, due to a number of factors including long distance to girls’ interm ediate and high schools in larger villages, poverty of the fam ilies and m arriage, and this is m ore evident in rural areas and inform al settlem ents (see proceedings of the 1st I nternational Workshop on RH, 2000:22 and Condition of Children and Youth in I ran, 999:5-6). For figures on the school enrollm ent of children in Tehran City and Tehran Province, see Tables 3-5 below:

Table 3: Number of Pre-Schoolers, Staff, Kindergartens and Number of Classes, Tehran Province (2003-2004)

NO. OF STAFF NO. OF ADMINISTRATIVE NO. OF NO. OF NUMBER OF PERSONNEL IN STAFF IN EDUCATIONAL KINDERGARTENS CLASSES PRE-SCHOOLERS EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS INSTITUTIONS

TOTAL BOYS GIRLS

88407 43524 44883 1982 240 2098 4024

Table 4 : Number of Elementary School Students, Staff, Schools and Classes ( Tehran Province, 2003- 2004)

NUMBER OF STUDENTS NUMBER OF STAFF NUMBER NUMBER OF OF SCHOOLS* CLASSES

TOTAL BOYS GIRLS EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATIVE

997472 513666 483806 35570 12353 3889 34244

The num ber of schools has increased but the fact is that the present population growth rate does not call for the need to construct new schools. However, an alarm ing problem still

21 / 132

prevails. I t is com m on knowledge that Iran, in general, and Tehran, in particular, are earthquake prone areas. Although Tehran has not experienced a m ajor earthquake for decades but its geological m ake up and past trends indicate the possibility of a m ajor earthquake. Based upon extended studies and surveys it is estim ated that such an earthquake, when it occurs, will have intensity above 7 points on the Richter scale. This sad fact necessitates the dem olition, renovation or fortification of a good num ber of existing schools; and, since such a disaster m ay occur anytim e, such works should begin im m ediately. Otherwise, the children of Tehran will face a disaster unprecedented in recent history. Source: Statistical Yearbook, MPO, 2004.

Table 5 : Number of Intermediate School Students, Staff Schools and Classes ( Tehran Province, 2003 – 2004)

NUMBER OF STUDENTS NUMBER OF STAFF NUMBER NUMBER OF OF SCHOOLS CLASSES

TOTAL BOYS GIRLS EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATIVE

752610 391682 360928 27975 12350 2867 24582 Source: Statistical Yearbook, MPO, 2004.

As additional inform ation, it seem s appropriate to present a short profile of the official educational situation in I ran. The country’s educational system consists of 5 levels – Preschool (1 year), Elem entary school (5 years), I nterm ediate school (3 years), High school (3 years), and the pre-university level (1 year). I t is after interm ediate school that students choose their field of study, whether Mathem atics, the Sciences, Hum anities, or Arts. I t is interesting to note that in the past five years, the num ber of girls enrolled in all four fields of studies in urban areas has increase while a good num ber of boys opt to leave school. I t is of no surprise then that 60% of those adm itted to universities in the past three years had been fem ale's (See Annexes 26- 28, Tables 46 - 50).

1.5. Health care status. I t can be rightly claim ed that I ran has reached a phase in which most of the goals defined in the declaration of the World Convention for Children have been achieved. More than 90% of children in the country are covered by the im m unization project. I nfantile (child) paralysis is close to being eradicated. More than 80% of child births take place in health facilities in the presence of trained, educated health personnel. I n the city of Tehran, 67.7% of births take place in public hospitals

22 / 132 and 29.2% takes place in private hospitals. I n the year 2000 in Tehran City, 2.1% of m aternity labor and child birth took place at hom es. The figure for Tehran Province stands at 4.9% in urban areas and 11.2% in rural areas (Picture of Population and Health in the I .R. of I ran, 2000, 52, revised 2005). Moreover, the natural population increase of two decades ago which was am ong the highest rates worldwide, is now 1.4% annually with infant m ortality at the rate of 31, and total fertility at 2.9. The life expectancy at birth for the whole population is 69 years; it is 68 years for m en and 71 years for women.

I n addition, close to 80% of hospitals all over the country have child-friendly wards. More than 95% of fam ilies have access to drinking water and m ore than 80% have access to sanitized toilets. Since Tehran Province is either first or am ong the top 3 in all rankings, the above percentages are higher in the case of Tehran City. Only as an exam ple let’s review the cases of I nfant Mortality Rate (I MR) and Child Mortality Rate (CMR). Back in 1990 infant m ortality rate per 1000 live births was 52.5 the sam e rate in 1992 was reduced to 48; in 1994 the sam e rate becam e 32.5, in 1996 it was reduced to 31.7 and in 2000 if became 28.6 am ong the lowest in the MENA region. CMR also has had the same trend. Back in 1990 under-five mortality rate per 1000 live birth was 68.1. I n 1996 it was reduced to 38.6 and in 2000 it was 36. I MR in Tehran city in 2001 was 13 for boys and 19.9 for girls. I n the sam e year CMR for boys was 11.8 and for girls it was 15.9.

Despite im pressive achievem ents in health care, both at the national level and where as Tehran is concerned (this will be presented shortly), there is, however, a m ajor shortcom ing in that m ajority of the pertinent authorities, just like their counterparts in other developing countries, define developm ent from a one-sided point of view. They deeply believe that developm ent occurs when econom ic growth is achieved. And for them , econom ic growth is only possible with the investm ent of hardware, ignoring the fact that developm ent is a holistic concept requiring balanced efforts both in hardware and software. When this approach is coupled with a patriarchal view toward children and the youth, then the gap which exists between quantitative and qualitative achievements becomes significant.

Facts such as what have been m entioned affect the status and condition of children and the youth so that despite the achievem ents in other areas, there is still a great need for their rights to be protected and their m ental, spiritual, em otional, and recreational needs to be addressed with m ore care. For instance, while the num ber of children referred to one of the orphanages in the south of Tehran was only 8 in 2003, the num ber of these unwanted children referred to this sam e orphanage in 2004 was 60 (Source: I ran Daily, June 14, 2005, p.6). Unfortunately, unwanted children are not issued birth certificates. However fam ily and clan ties are still strong in I ran and whenever a child loses both parents relatives usually take care of the child. I n recent years the numbers of orphans referred to the orphanages and abandoned children are increasing. There is no reliable inform ation concerning the total num ber of orphans today in Tehran.

23 / 132

According to Tables 6 and 7 that follow, the nutrition of children requires m ore attention. Although 73.2% of children aged 5 and below have growth cards, 13.5% of them are not checked regularly. Also, 49.6% are not weighed at regular intervals. These figures indicate that apart from providing the needed services, public awareness programs which especially target mothers, are likewise necessary.

Table 6 : Main Nutritional Indicators, Tehran Children

0 to 23 24 to Below 5 years old Months 59 % Months INDICATORS %

Urban Rural Male Female Total Number % % % % %

High&Medium 9.4 6.2 6.2 12.5 8.5 6.5 7.5 64452 STUNTING High 2 1.5 1.6 2 2 1.3 1.7 14476 High&Medium 2.5 8 6.3 5 6.7 5.1 6 51699 WASTING High 0.4 1.6 1.4 0.4 1.7 0.5 1.2 9995 High&Medium 3.2 9.4 6.6 9.7 7 7.5 7.2 62384 UNDERWEIGHT High 0.4 1 0.7 1.2 0.9 0.6 0.8 7066 Low 19.4 24.7 21.7 27.3 22.8 22.7 22.8 196284

NOTE: There are no doubts that almost all cases of nutritional problems among children in Tehran come from the poorest families in the place. Source: As table 7

Table 7 : Mothers’ Awareness Concerning Growth and Nutritional Needs Tehran Province, 1997 Mothers having children below 5 being aware about Urban Rural Female/Male Total nutrition and growth 1 Mothers who do not know 39.7 50.6 0.98 41.7 the aims of the growth project 2 Percentage of mothers 51.2 58.1 0.97 52.2 Who do not know about the growth card 3 Percentage of children who 28.9 17.7 0.96 26.8 do not have growth cards 4 Percentage of children who 78.1 68.3 0.94 76.4 have had their weight checked less than two times 5 Percentage of children 91.6 82.7 0.99 89.9 who have not been weighed in proper intervals 6 Percentage of mothers 86.8 78.4 0.94 79.0 who do not have a proper understanding of a child’s weight curve 7 Percentage of children who have not 42.0 63.2 0.99 46.2 taken Vitamins A&D or multivitamins (1 to 23 mos. Old)

24 / 132

8 Percentage of children 65.8 73.2 1.11 67.3 Who have not taken iron drops regularly Source of above tables: “Picture of Children’s Nutrition in Provinces- 1998”, p.42- 43 NOTE: From this table, it is interesting to note that while the percentage of m others in the urban areas of Tehran Province who are not aware of growth cards is 51.2% and for rural areas 58.1%, yet m ajority of their children had growth cards one way or another and the percentage of rural children without these cards is less than that of the urban areas.

1.6. The issue of poverty. There are im portant factors which are counter productive to the success of projects aim ing at the betterm ent of children’s lives and their general well being. The most obvious one is poverty. Poor families have suffered extensively in the past decades when prices and the rate of unem ploym ent have increased steadily; m eanwhile, having a regular and legal shelter m eant expending half to two-thirds of the fam ily incom e. The official rate of unem ploym ent, by the way, is 15% of the active population. But independent surveys put the rate as high as 30% (see Reiesdana, Shadi Talab and Piran, Poverty in Iran, 2000).

Under the circumstances of poverty, it is not surprising that children are requested to work. Equally unsurprising is the fact that projects which aim to prevent children from leaving school to work have not been as successful as other projects (see Picture of Population and Health, 2000:119) . Such a shortcom ing, in addition to m any others, illustrates the differences in the status and conditions of children as far as child protection is concerned.

Likewise, these shortcom ings testify to the fact that any generalization referring to the status of children in Tehran which does not take the relevant differences into account is unfounded and sim ply wrong. An exam ple herewith m ay help to understand the issue better.

Within a six-year period, from 1991-1996, Tehran Municipality bulldozed m ost of the inform al settlem ents located within the then twenty districts of Tehran City and turned the freed land into parks, cultural houses, and cultural centers. The establishment of these cultural centers and local cultural houses in the neighborhoods was an undertaking which considerably helped Tehran’s children and youth. Hundreds and thousands of children poured into these institutions for a sm all fee to attend all kinds of classes. A large num ber learned to play m usic, to paint, learn photography, and shoot m ovies. A few of the m ajor cultural centers such as Bahm an and Khavaran were established in the poor districts of Tehran and they soon became meeting places for children and the youth. For the first tim e in their young lives, they spent their times in a productive manner.

But then again, despite these m any positive points which any unbiased observer m ay count to justify establishing these institutions, the eviction of inform al settlem ents had, in parallel, devastating im pacts on the lives of those evicted. Children were the first to suffer (see Piran 1999:26). I n fact, in the course of data gathering for a research entitled, “ I nform al Settlem ents in I ran,” this author interviewed heads of

25 / 132

fam ilies, a few of whom were am ong those evicted. They claim ed that the m unicipality of Tehran forced them to evacuate the land where they had built their shanties and paid them com pensation between Rls 3,000,000 to Rls 7,000,000 (at the tim e of eviction, each US$ was equal to Rls 6500). With this am ount, m ost of the evicted fam ilies could not find any alternative place to live in Tehran; so, a m ajority of them were forced to resettle in rented room s in other inform al settlem ents close by, like Bagher Abad and Akbar Abad. I n other words, they lost their houses, were forced to pay m onthly rentals, and since they now lived further away from their places of work had to cover the cost of transportation.

I n the words of one, “All of a sudden m y incom e, which was not even enough to feed my family, was reduced in half. I had no choice but to ask my elder sons to stop their schooling and go to work.” This was a 52-year old m ale unskilled worker. Yet, the effects of eviction were not only the reduction of incom e and dropping out of school. As a 39-year old male driver noted, “Due to the eviction, I know of a few families who went through major marital conflicts and two of these cases led to divorce.”

1.7. I nform al settlem ents. Unfortunately, there is no available inform ation on informal settlements; let alone on the status of children in those areas. This is mainly due to the fact that different definitions of these settlem ents exist. For exam ple, the Statistical Center of I ran, when carrying out a census, considers any house as permanent if it is a regular dwelling; and, all those shelters not considered permanent are all grouped under one distinct category. Therefore, in statistical yearbooks, the num ber of non-perm anent houses is put as a few thousand for the entire country. I n reality, however, the informal settlements all over Iran account for one third of all the dwellings in large cities such as Tehran, Mashhad, Tabriz, I sfahan, Shiraz, Ahwaz, and a few m ore. However, it should also be noted that a good m ajority of houses in informal settlements in Tehran and the whole country, are not shanties. Based on this author’s classification, now widely accepted, m ost of the inform al settlem ents are inner-city villages; or in other words, the houses in these places have been built similar to those in villages.

The only way to study the condition of inform al settlem ents is to review the existing researches and other studies. But then again, a m ajority of these researches focus only on a particular neighborhood, or at m ost, a few of them . Furtherm ore, m ajority of these are about the physical, spatial, land use and land value of settlem ents. Migration is also a subject matter which has been frequently studied.

But even with the eviction of inform al settlem ents carried out by the Tehran Municipality, a num ber of newly-built settlem ents, such as the -Chamran informal settlement which presently has a population of over 20,000, have sprung up. However, the settlers are not only those who have been evicted. I n addition, there are the newcom ers from villages all over the country, newly-created fam ilies of Tehran from recent m arriages, and a num ber of fam ilies who used to live in Tehran but m oved to these settlem ents because of the city’s high rents, or because they wish to buy a cheaper house.

26 / 132

As a general rule, any place in the outskirts of Tehran which shows a growth rate higher than 10% per annum , can be regarded as a place with a percentage of the population categorized under inform al settlem ents. Table 8 below is an attem pt to come up with an estimation of informal settlements in .

Table 8 : Population of Cities with Informal Settlements and an Estimation of the Population of Said Settlements (Tehran Province)

Name of 1986 1991 1996 Estimated Estimated # City Popula- % tion of Informal Settle- ments 2001 2004 (Minimum) 1 58508 77624 107232 146502 187178 561534 30 2 Islamshahr 236722 257530 265450 270595 273520 136760 50 3 17903 26656 36488 49395 62649 12530 20 4 18308 33273 49220 72007 90235 55341 60 5 Sabashahr 7654 11095 12542 14021 15259 12208 80 6 1787 2104 36736 39924 42476 33981 80 7 Nasimshahr 13750 49945 85124 92511 98425 78740 80 8 Baghershahr 32082 38774 45607 53052 59599 47679 80 9 Gharchak 99186 129640 142690 155321 165462 82731 50 10 Golestan 9927 45797 112495 122257 130072 104058 80 11 Meshgindasht 12224 20009 28388 39831 51987 25993 50 12 Shahedshahr 4647 7624 13623 24074 37789 30231 80 13 Kamalshahr 15762 26648 27224 27506 27606 13803 50 14 Safashahr 3394 4837 6825 9524 12376 7426 80 15 Mohamedshahr 34670 48394 58766 70574 81331 48799 60 16 Ghods 74802 101245 138278 186773 236463 189170 80 Minimum estimation = 1440984 17 Greater Minimum estimation = 400000 18 Tehran City Minimum estimation = 1000000

2840984

NOTE: Contrary to what is presented in the table, however, experts in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning have estim ated that the population of inform al settlem ents in greater Tehran is around 3,000,000 (see Sarafi, Haftshahr, 2003:35). I t is estim ated that the num ber of those 0 to 19 years of age living in informal settlements is 1,274,749 where 576,824 are females and 697,925 are males. Source: Calculated by this author based upon the information in Statistical Yearbooks.

27 / 132

I nform al settlem ents: Pressures on fem ales and children. The young fem ales in the inform al settlem ents, 15 years and above, m arry at an early age at a rate m ore than the national average. Back in year 2000, the percentage of girls in Tehran City who got m arried at ages between 10 to 14 years was 1.1%; and, 10.7% were between the ages of 15 and 19 years. Where the whole province was concerned, young m arriages were true for 1% of urban girls and 1.5% of rural girls between 10 to 14 years of age. For those aged between 15 to 19 years, 16.4% of the urban girls and 22.8% of rural girls got m arried early (Afsaneh Rezaie, Marriage in Tehran, unpublished MA thesis, Tehran Islamic Azad University, 2004).

While single, the recreational activities of these young fem ales are very restricted. The reasons are mainly poverty, traditional attitudes of families, and family size. They are also targets of crim inals especially with regard to sexual abuse. Although there are no statistics available on this issue, the cases reported by the newspapers point out the needs of this group and particularly indicate the fact that protection from abuse is the m ost critical one. Child abuse, especially on boys aged 3 to 16, is very com m on and is m ostly perpetrated by parents, particularly the fathers. Also frequently reported is the use of children to sell drugs.

Yet, apart from the schools and health centers which give service to children in inform al settlem ents, seldom are there any other services offered them . Recently however, parks with children playgrounds, ‘though in lim ited spaces, have been constructed in more populated settlements of Tehran Province.

Obviously, the uneven and rapid urbanization process, discussed in the section on I ran at a Glance (see Annex 22) , in addition to the high rate of unem ploym ent, the relatively high rate of drug addiction and m ost especially the alarm ing rate of unem ploym ent am ong the young, have put excessive pressures on wom en and children. The resulting direct outcom es of such social problem s as given above include: street children, working children (those less than 15 years old), begging, school drop outs, handicapped children, and finally, the increasing drug addiction am ong those from age 9 to 18 years (see Condition of Children and Youth in I ran, 1998:6-7).

1.8. Enhancing the status of children. I n order to enhance the status of children in Tehran, the m ost im portant step which should urgently be taken, is to provide them legal guarantees. The approval of the law to protect children and youth which was passed by Parliam ent but not ratified by the Council of Guardians is a top priority.

Children’s participation in various affairs and entrusting them with responsibility are also im portant factors which could enhance their status. Projects which are designed, organized and im plem ented by children are seldom carried out to conclusion. Even when such undertakings are planned, they are usually m ere tokenism and not real

28 / 132

participation. But one project in which there is genuine participation of children is the “School Mayors of Tehran” program which was initiated in 1993.

A way to com e up with a list of what should be done to elevate the status of children in Tehran, and in fact of children in I ran as a whole, is to review the articles of “ The Convention on the Rights of the Child,” as well as the recom m endations of the Millennium Developm ent Goals related to children and finally, the Special Session on Children Docum ents. I t would also be useful to evaluate the achievem ents and shortcomings of programs related to the conditions of children in Tehran.

Actually, I ran has been able to achieve alm ost all the goals indicated in “Goals of the year 2000.” But with regard to article 1, changes still have to be made where the definition of child is concerned, as was discussed at the beginning of this report. Also, where article 2 is concerned, I ran does recognize the right of children to express themselves, but there are still existing laws which give priority to the rights of fathers over the rights of children. Likewise, m any things need to be done to tackle the issue of discrimination against females and children born out of wedlock.

But aside from what has been m entioned in the preceding paragraph, I ran’s governm ent has passed laws protecting wom en when pregnant or during the tim e of breast feeding. Also, I ran’s radio and TV have allocated a few hours to program s for children. Today, am ong the m ore than 600 newspapers and m agazines published in Iran (m ostly published in Tehran), about 50 target children and young readers (1998). I ran has likewise m ade acceptable achievem ents in relation to articles 5, 9 – 11, 18 – 21, 25, 27 and 39. But the country’s achievem ents where articles 6, 18, 23 – 24, and 26 – 27 are concerned, are remarkable.

Refugees in Tehran

In an article entitled “ The Effects of Social I nteraction between Afghan Refugees and I ranians on Reproductive Health Attitudes” recently written by this author and published in Disasters, the journal of disaster studies, policy and m anagem ent (Vol.28, No.3, Sept.2004, pp 283-293), it was noted that “over the past two decades I ran has received m illions of refugees from neighboring countries despite its own deep-rooted econom ic difficulties and eight years of devastating conflicts. The estim ated three m illion Afghans com prise the largest group but there are also thousands of Kurds and I raqi Shiites, Azaris, and Arm enians in addition to the hundreds from Bosnia-Herzegovina who have sought refuge in I ran. Most of the refugees in I ran do not live in cam ps but are free to m ove around the country and seek em ploym ent. Afghans now m ostly live in large- and m edium -sized I ranian cities.” (Piran, 2004:283)

Except for the Afghans, alm ost all the refugees have gone back to their own countries. Based on a tripartite agreem ent of the UNHCR-I ran with that of the

29 / 132 governments of Iran and Afghanistan, the Afghans are also slated to be repatriated in the current year up to the next. However, the success of this repatriation is very much doubtful.

The Afghans in Iran are divided into two main groups: refugees and migrant workers. Each of these groups has am ong them those who are legal and those who are illegal residents. The legal residents have been issued blue identification cards which allow them to be employed in any job, send their children to Iranian schools, and to avail of health services in all types of public clinics and hospitals in the country free of charge. However, for m any years now, even those without the blue cards were seldom refused public services. At this point though, it should be noted that due to the tripartite agreement mentioned above, these blue ID cards are no longer renewed.

I t has been estim ated that the cost of I ranian state subsidies for education, health services, transport, fuel and basic goods for approxim ately two m illion Afghan refugees peaks at US$ 10 million a day (see Rajaee, 2000:59).

Where the Afghan children are concerned, two groups can be distinguished. The first group com prises those children who live with their parents and who have either been born in Iran or have accompanied their parents when moving to Iran as refugees. The second group com prises those m igrant workers aged 9 to 18, m ost of whom are illegal.

According to a study conducted in 2005 (see Abbasi et al, 2005), “…the size and com position of Afghan households in Tehran and Mashad are sim ilar wherein the average size is 5.5 m em bers with ages ranging from 2 to 12 and runs across two generations.” However, it is alm ost im possible to know for sure how m any Afghan children live in Tehran today. Back in 2001, it was estim ated that 8-10,000 Afghan children aged 6 to 15 were enrolled in the elem entary and interm ediate schools of Tehran Province. But since 2004, after repatriation agreem ents, no school has been allowed to enroll Afghan children. However, the Afghans them selves m anaged to open classes for their children and a few NGOs also ran classes for them . But sooner or later because most Afghans have no plans to return to their home country, at least not in the near future, a new arrangem ent for the education of Afghan children should be implemented.

The most pressing issue concerning Afghan children is child labor. The desire to work, earn and save m oney am ong the Afghan illegal workers im m ediately after their arrival in Iran is strong. This is generally true and the age of those seeking jobs is not an issue. Most of the under-aged Afghan workers in Tehran find jobs either in Iranian shops, especially restaurants, or work as servants in the houses of the upper and middle class. Almost all of them are male.

Meanwhile, those children who live with their parents also desire to enter the job market. They drop out after they go through elementary and/ or intermediate schools to work in order to help their m ostly large, im poverished fam ilies. So far I ranian

30 / 132

authorities have not been very strict in enforcing the law against illegal workers since they realize the urgent need of these Afghans to earn money.

As far as health issues are concerned, the Afghan children who live with their parents have had access to health services and facilities sim ilar to those provided to I ranian children. Alm ost all of them are covered by the country’s vaccination program s. The only thing denied them is the birth certificate which, as m entioned, is not issued to any newly-born Afghan child. Unfortunately, the illegal Afghans could not also refer to the em bassy of Afghanistan in Tehran to request for birth certificates for their newborns and this would create problem s for their children when they reach 6 years of age.

But relatively speaking, Afghan children have enjoyed I ran’s “ open door” policy towards refugees- a policy which, however, is currently no longer in place (see Abbasi et al, 2005a,b&c).

I ran can boast of being am ong the best of developing countries with regards to children’s health and protecting the handicapped. But it has a long way to go to make grounds where articles 28 – 29 and 31 are concerned although on the issue regarding refugees, Iran has been extremely generous.

II. Children and Social Problems

Despite the fact that the num ber of children involved in illegal activities and who are victim s of social problem s is relatively low, the alarm ing issue which should be taken seriously is the increasing rate of these problem s. Social problem s concerning children have been increasing rapidly since 10 years ago.

2.1. Street Children

Take street children for an instance. It is estimated that today, in Tehran alone, there are 50,000 street children. I ran’s Welfare Organization has estim ated that 87% of these street children do not work. Am ong the 13% who work, a good percentage are begging, or selling chewing gum , or taking people’s weights in the streets with a small weighing scale, or cleaning windshields when cars stop for a red light, or selling flowers, newspapers, and the like. As Johann le Roux and Cheryl Sylvia Sm ith have declared (1998), “The street child phenom enon is an alarm ing and escalating world- wide problem . Street children are m altreated, im prisoned, and in som e countries, killed. Street children, as the offspring of a com plex contem porary urban environm ent, represent one of our m ost serious global challenges…..no country and virtually no city anywhere in the world today is without the presence of street children. Both developed and developing countries face a broad spectrum of problems posed by these children, yet few steps have been taken to address the issues.” (Quote as quoted from Piran, 2004:15)

31 / 132

I n order to fully grasp the alarm ing nature of street children, it should be taken into account that m inim um estim ates point to the fact that 25 to 30 street children are added daily to those already in the streets of Tehran. Such estim ation clearly shows that the existence of street children is a phenom enon which is increasing at a faster rate than any other social problem in I ran. Likewise, what should also be considered is that street children will lead to a num ber of other social problem s. When the characteristics and experiences of children while in the street are reviewed carefully, it will becom e clear that the phenom enon of street children is a fertile ground for so many other social ills.

“Available inform ation on street children reveals that these children face sim ilar problem s everywhere. The m ost im portant ones are sexual abuse, addiction, violence, being used for drug trafficking and other illegal activities, m ental illness, behavioral disorders, delinquencies, em otional problem s, anti-social behaviors, vandalism , prostitution, exploitation in m any ways and form s, poor health, severe disruptions in fam ily life, delays in physical and em otional developm ent, poor school performance…” (as quoted from Piran 2003; see Fox & Roth 1989, Daly 1996).

Crim e and street children. I n a study carried out by this author wherein 20 street children were interviewed, the fact was clear that 50% of the sam ple (10 children) had crim inal files in police stations which were m ostly related to drugs. 11 out of the 20 adm itted they were drug users them selves. I t has to be noted here that when interviews were conducted, it was apparent that the children were in constant fear (Piran, 2003:20). Seemingly, these children are in fear of m any things but m ostly they are afraid of harassment by the police, by officials of the Municipality, and by so- called standing elders who are actually m em bers of gangs which supervise street children and who com e to their rescue when they are being arrested by the police or attacked by members of rival gangs.

Working Children and street children. A certain percentage of street children, work on a fixed daily wage. For this reason m aking a distinction between working children and street children is difficult. Those street children who work for gang leaders, although “ protected” for various reasons, are subjected to abuse, sexual and physical, by the sam e people who claim to protect them . But m ajority of the street children in Tehran work for them selves. However, they have to pay a portion of what they earn to those who are older and stronger or as paym ent of bribes. Such problem s, in addition to m any others, have forced street children to form inform al working groups which usually consist of children living in the sam e neighborhood and their relatives. However I ranian law prevents children under the age of 15 from working, dom estic work is excluded. I t was estim ated (2003) that apart from 50,000 street children at least 100,000 children worked in various sectors in greater Tehran. Back in December 2005 it was claimed that 14 percent of children in Iran were forced to work (I ran Focus, 2005). Alm ost all working children support their fam ilies. These groups are am ong over a m illion children in I ran who are living in extrem e poverty

32 / 132

and sim ilar to street children. They are also subject to all sort of social and health problems.

Fam ily life and street children. As has been m entioned, m ajority of Tehran’s street children live with their parents, or with just their m others and siblings. Fathers m ay be absent for three reasons: death, or they are in jail for petty crim es or for drug trafficking which is a direct result of their addiction, or because they have abandoned their fam ilies for good (see Piran, 2003:38).* However, one com m on characteristic which these fam ilies share, apart from poverty, is the lack of m eaningful relationships expected to be present in fam ilies. Fathers work in 2 or 3 different places for very long hours and they hardly see their children, let alone have tim e to talk with them on different issues. I n som e cases, the m others also work; thus, the children are left to themselves.

Fam ily size of street children is above national average which m eans that the basic needs of all m em bers in the fam ily are not sufficiently m et. I n addition, children are subject to abuse within their fam ilies, like harsh punishm ent from fathers who are in constant stress because of the difficulties they face.

Those street children who do not live with their fam ilies, a m inority actually, are those who have run away from hom e wherever that is in I ran, and have com e to Tehran. They sleep in secluded and dark alleys, underneath parked buses or bridges, at times in telephone booths, in short, in any place possible, if they have not rented a room or two in a shanty. These are the street children who soon becom e crim inals roaming in gangs.

Almost all street children who do not live with their families are abused repeatedly. In fact, those who rent out room s to street children are by far m uch older than them and take the opportunity to abuse these children, and usually, they start with sexual abuse (see Ghasemzadeh 1999, Madany 2001, Shohairi, 2002).

I t is estim ated that 20% of street children in Tehran do not live with their parents. The total num ber of these children is based upon the total num ber as officially announced, which is 50000; thus, putting the num ber of street children not living with parents at 10000 ( & Jameah, no.7, 2000). Their age average, as based upon a num ber of sam ple studies, is 13.54. Most of them are m ale. The num ber of girls is still negligible but growing rapidly. These girls are usually accom panied by either a m uch older wom an or a m ale. Crossroads and at red lights in the affluent parts of Tehran are where they are often found. While revising the present report it is announced that at least 4,000 girls also are among street children( Baghi, 2005:312).

A m ajority of working children live with their parents. According to a study (Ghasemzadeh 1999:68), 23% of working children com e from broken fam ilies mostly due to the death of the father.

33 / 132

------* While conducting a research on poverty, this author confronted a 48 year-old m an who claim ed that he left his fam ily of 6 for good without any prior notice. When asked why he did such a terrible thing, he replied, “How long can a m an continue to enter his house em pty handed and knowing that his fam ily has not eaten for three days? And the stores in your neighborhood constantly harass your fam ily to pay debts owed and your landlord has gone to court to throw your fam ily out and there’s nothing you can do. Gradually you listen to those who tell you to escape and when you do, you never even try to find out what happened to your family. You just try to get lost in a crowd somewhere.”

Education and street children. Am ong these children, 64% continue to attend school but only a sm all m inority finish high school. The m ain reason for dropping out is, of course, financial, a reason true to all other drop outs. I n the year 2000, a representative survey of 6 to 24 year olds who dropped out of school showed that 18.8% am ong the m ales and 5.2% of the fem ales referred to financial difficulties as their m ain reason for dropping out. I n the province of Tehran, financial problem s are likewise responsible for 22.7% of urban m ales dropping out of school and 26.6% of the rural m ales. Where fem ales are concerned, 6.6% from the urban centers and 9.3% from the rural areas gave the same reason (Madani, 2001:142).

Health and street children. A study entitled “The Picture of Population and Health” conducted by the Office of the Deputy Minister for Health (Ministry of Health and Medical Education) back in October of 2000 involving a sam pling of 2000 households selected random ly from the 22 districts of Tehran City, arrived at the conclusion that from am ong 1000 children under 15 years of age, about 3.8% do not have their fathers present at hom e, 4.8% have lost their fathers, 3% do not have their m others living with them , and 0.8% have lost their m others. Moreover, only 2.7% of children aged 3 or 4 attend kindergarten and from am ong children aged 6 and above, 2.7% have never enrolled in school.

Other statistics include: 1.6% of children below 2 years of age have never been breastfed; 1.3% of those aged 5 to 14 work for a salary for som eone other than relatives, and from this sam e age group, 0.7% work m ore than 4 hours everyday in their hom es and 1.5% are actively involved in earning activities to help their fam ilies financially. As for those ages 10 to 14, the work index is 10.5%.

The tables which follow this text illustrate some statistics on street children.

Table 9 : Numbers of Street Children who Stayed in Child Shelters and run- away girls who Stayed in Girls’ Health Houses, Tehran Office, 2003

Street Children Run- away Girls

No. of Children No. of Cases No. of Run-away Girls No. of Cases

24735 58107 243 763 Source: Welfare Organization, 2003.

34 / 132

Table 10: Number, Percentage and Gender of Street Children, 2003 (Tehran)

Total Girls Boys

24735 1020 23715 100% 4.123% 95.88%

NOTE: Am ong those street children who stayed in child shelters, 12.5% had run away from their families, 28.3% were tem porary guests sheltered from abuse in their fam ilies, and 1.5% had no other place to stay. In addition, 4.8% of the total numbers were working street children. Source: Welfare Organization , 2003.

Table 11: Age Distribution of Street Children, 2003 (Tehran)

AGE 0 – 9 10 – 12 13 – 15 16 – 18 19 – 21 TOTAL

NUMBER 652 2398 5966 14876 843 24735 % 2.64 9.7 24.1 60.1 3.4 100

Source: Welfare Organization, 2003.

Table 12: Level of Education of Male Street Children, 2003 Tehran

LEVEL OF Illiterates Elementary Level Intermediate High School College EDUCATION School Level

NUMBER 1742 4769 10017 6904 283

% 7.35 20.1 42.2 29.1 1.2

Total = 23715

35 / 132

Table 13: Age Distribution of Male Street Children, 2003 Tehran

AGE 0 – 9 10 – 12 13 – 15 16 – 18 19 – 21 TOTAL

NUMBER 547 2230 5704 14462 772 23715

% 2.31 9.4 24.1 61 3.3 100

NOTE: A look at this table and Table 33 which follows shows that children between ages 16 to 18 are in the most critical period in children’s lives. In reality, the figures on the social problems of the children of Tehran once again give proof of the critical transition period from childhood to youth.

Table 14: Age Distribution of Female Street Children, 2003 Tehran

AGE 0 – 9 10 – 12 13 – 15 16 – 18 19 – 21 TOTAL

NUMBER 105 168 262 414 71 1020

% 10.29 16.5 25.7 40.6 7.0 100

Source: Welfare Organization, 2003.

A review of Tables 9 to 14 clearly shows that the phenom enon of street children is a growing problem in Tehran. As a rule, a sm all num ber of street children will either approach governm ent institutions for help or get arrested and sent to institutions. I t would follow that considering the num ber of street children who have stayed in the child shelters of the Welfare Organization in Tehran in 2003, which is fairly large at 24735, is proof of the severity of the problem and its rapid growth in Tehran. Furtherm ore, the estim ation which puts the total num ber of Tehran’s street children at 50,000 is a conservative one.

When the other problem s which ensue from being street children are taken into account, the severity of this particular social problem becom es clear. I t also points out the fact that the resources of public organizations allocated to such a growing problem are in no way sufficient. Fortunately, as will be detailed shortly, the num ber of NGOs active in street children affairs is growing constantly.

36 / 132

2.2. Child Abuse

Child abuse, particularly physical abuse or physical punishm ent on boys from very early years, has always been a social problem in I ran. I n fact, physical punishm ent inflicted by fathers and school officials especially teachers was then regarded as a normal act and at times necessary. “An act that children will sooner or later realize as som ething done not to harm but rather to help m ake them ready for adolescence.” This was a prevalent view for centuries and it has only been in the past century that it was severely criticized.

I t is a fact that in a society governed by an authoritarian political system where the rights of a hum an being were not respected, m ethods such as physical abuse on children and the hum iliation it caused, were regarded as adaptive m echanism s for coping with a harsh environment (see Piran, 2001:56).

For various reasons, cases of physical abuse on children are rarely reported. According to an item in the Persian daily Hamshahri, only one out of 20000 cases of child abuse is reported (see Hamshahri, July 25, 2000, p.5). The m ain reason for this is that in m ost cases, it is actually one of the parents or a m em ber of the extended fam ily e.g. uncle, grandparent, and especially stepm other or stepfather, who frequently abuse the child physically. But although such cases go unreported, the existing and increasingly available sources clearly indicate that child abuse is widespread in Tehran as well as in most of Iran. According to a report from the Social Work Com m ittee of the Society for Protecting the Rights of the Child, an active NGO in I ran, in the m onth of Decem ber 2001 alone, 13 cases of child abuse were reported to one of their centers in Tehran. The m ethods of punishm ent in the reported cases were severe beatings, the use of belts to punish the children, and burning the child’s body with cigarettes and other hot item s which led to severe injuries. In 5 of the cases, parents were the inflictors of abuse, m others in 3 cases, superintendents in 2 cases, the stepm other in one case, a stepfather and the natural m other in another, and both father and m other in still another case. I t is for this reason that it is estim ated that 90% of physical child abuse occur at hom e.” (Newsletter no.73, January 2003:4)

Child Abuse: Sexual. Another kind of abuse which is increasing is sexual abuse, and although boys were traditionally by far the m ain targets, the num ber of cases of sexual abuse on girls is increasing at an alarm ing rate. A new face to child sexual abuse is that it is now accom panied by excessive violence; at tim es, leading to the brutal death of the victim s. Another relatively new but increasing type of child sexual abuse in I ran is incest, especially by fathers. A study carried out by UNI CEF in 1999, which involved a sam pling of 2240 children from all over I ran, revealed that 60% of the subjects reported som e type of abuse of which 106 cases were sexual in nature. In 22% of these cases, a m em ber of the fam ily, including the father, was involved; close relatives were responsible for 31% of the cases; and in 16% of the cases, a

37 / 132

close fam ily friend was the perpetrator. The rest of the cases were attributed to people unknown to the victim s’ fam ilies (see UNI CEF, 1999, 16). At this point, it should be noted that in a num ber of studies, there is a clear correlation between poverty and child abuse.

To retrace, girls have been m entioned to be abused by a m em ber of their fam ilies. These are girls who have shown tendencies to run away from hom e and that itself is a growing problem in Tehran. Girls who run away from hom e are targets of all kinds of crim e and social ills. Prostitution is a direct outcom e for a large m ajority. The average age of prostitutes in Tehran has decreased from 27 years to 20; and that m eans a num ber of prostitutes have begun plying their trade at a very young age. Although there is no reliable figure for the num ber of prostitutes in Tehran, the daily appearances of m any of them in the streets attest to a relatively high figure. But what is m ost alarm ing is the fact that prostitution, being illegal in I ran and with a very harsh punishment, operates underground. Therefore, no monitoring systems are available nor are there any protective m easures being taken. This situation creates grave risks to the prostitutes’ customers, some of whom are young males.

Back on October 26, 2000, BBC Radio through its Persian-language program , reported that based upon official docum ents, 30 dead bodies of run-away girls with evidence of severe abuse were found in different parts of Tehran in the first half of year 2000. The report also included the fact that the num ber of run-away girls in 1999 was a 30% increase compared to the year before that, 1998.

One im portant program of the Welfare Organization of I ran (m ore facts on this institution will be given further in this report) is the Child Call Assistance Line which not only gives children a chance to share their problem s and grievances with som eone, but likewise increases the reporting of child abuse cases and other problems concerning children over the telephone by people who do not wish to reveal their identities. Tables 15 to 18 which follow illustrate im portant inform ation on the condition of abused children in Tehran.

Table 15: Frequencies and Distribution of Child Abuse Reporting in Tehran, 2003

CALLER Children Member of Neighbor School Official Others TOTAL Themselves family

NUMBER 2 18 16 10 30 76

% 2.6 23.7 21.1 13.2 39.5 100

Source: Welfare Organization, 2003.

38 / 132

Table 16: Classification of Child Abuses Reported through the Child Call Line, 2003 Tehran

TYPE OF CHILD ABUSE Mental/Emotional Sexual Physical Neglect TOTAL

NUMBER 11 3 48 14 76

% 14.47 3.95 63.16 18.42 100

Source: Welfare Organization, 2003.

Table 17: Age Distribution of Abused Children Reported Through the Call Line, 2003 Tehran

AGE GROUPS 0 – 6 7 – 12 13 – 18 TOTAL

NUMBER 19 38 19 76

% 25 50 25 100

Source: Welfare Organization, 2003.

Table 18: Gender Distribution of Abused Children in Tehran As Reported to the Child Call Line, 2003

GENDER Girls Boys TOTAL

NUMBER 43 33 76

% 56.58 43.42 100

Source: Welfare Organization, 2003.

39 / 132

A shocking fact revealed in Table 17 above is the num ber of abused children who are 6 years old and below. When one takes into account the fact that child abuse is rarely reported, the depth of the problem becomes starkly clear.

Among the cases of child abuse reported through the child call line, two were referred to court and another two to m edical jurisprudence, indicating that these four cases of abuse have been very severe and involved m ajor injuries, an actually extrem ely rare phenomena.

Suicide

According to a study conducted in year 2002, the rate of suicide among children aged 13 to 17 had been increasing steadily. From 1984 to 1993, there were 1500 to 2700 reported cases annually of death apparently due to the prevalence of suicide in that age group. Those cases included deaths from uncertain causes and deaths from accidental causes. But if these cases, as m entioned, be disregarded, it would be safe to claim that between 1983 to 2001, there were 3225 cases of death due to suicide whose victim s were 13 to 17 years of age. As of this writing, Shargh daily reported that in 2003, 283 students have committed suicide in the city of Tehran alone.

Suicide: Gender Profile. The report also quoted the deputy of the city’s Departm ent of Education as saying that m ost of those who com m itted suicide were girls and that the m ain problem s of students in 2003 which m ay lead to their suicide were related to either anxiety or educational difficulties.

Suicide: Reasons related to educational factors. Escaping from school, dropping out and other acts which lead to students being dism issed from learning institutions have had higher frequencies. Specifically, there were m ore cases of being dism issed from school because of having relationships with those of the opposite sex i.e. conducting telephone calls, sending letters, talking in the parks, and the ensuing problems concerning legal guardians. The deputy further added that 1.3% of students (in the elementary, intermediate or high school levels; aged 7 to 18) are in danger of addiction because of parents who are addicts and are m ore prone to buying drugs, selling drugs, or both.

Furtherm ore, the report said that students in the interm ediate level (aged 12 to 15) had m ore problem s than those in the other levels. I n the past five years, problem s with high frequencies included learning difficulties, anxiety, problem s related to relationships with parents, behavioral disorders, lack of attention, abuse, anti-social behaviors and personality disorders. Majority of the students who visited different counselors at Tehran’s Departm ent of Education were girls (Shargh Daily, Nov.22, 2004). During the I ranian New Year holidays of 2005, 141 students in Tehran alone attempted to commit suicide (Shargh Daily, Apr.30.2005)

40 / 132

Delinquency and Crime

A report published by the Tehran Police on a study entitled “A Survey of the causes of being inclined to Seditious Actions,” carried out by the Office of the Deputy for Fighting Social Deviations, Greater Tehran Police in 1992, gives a good profile of the conditions of the youth in Tehran. The sam ple group was a selection of som e 320 individuals, who were am ong those arrested for various offences in only one m onth (December, 1991). Table 19 below details the reasons for their arrests and shows that 83.4% of the offences are not considered a crim e in the m aj ority of countries in the world. Gam bling, one of the offences, should also not be a reason for arrest because it takes place in private residences. Actually, only 20 cases in the table, or 1/16 of the total, can be considered criminal acts as in other countries.

Table 19: Reasons for the Arrest of 320 Individuals in the Month of December, 1991( Tehran) REASONS FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

Annoying women and girls 9 2.8 Improper wearing of scarves 42 13.1 Attending gatherings of mixed 77 24.1 gender Improper sexual relationships 72 22.5 Adultery 10 3.1

Membership in vice gangs 9 2.8

Running away from home 6 1.9

Drinking alcoholic beverages 15 4.7 Producing alcoholic beverages 15 4.7 Selling and buying prohibited movies 47 14.7 and pictures Sodomy (Pedophilia) 1 0.3

Gambling 17 5.3

TOTAL 320 100

41 / 132

The age grouping of the above sample group is shown in Table 20 here:

Table 2 0 : Age Grouping of Sample Group* (N= 320)

AGE GROUP FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

14 and below 2 0.6 15 – 19 57 17.8 20 – 24 88 27.5 25 – 29 72 22.5 30 – 34 43 13.4 35 – 39 22 6.9 40 and above 35 10.9 No answer 1 0.3

TOTAL 230 100

As the above table shows, 68.4% of those arrested were 29 years old and below while 45.9% were 24 years old or younger. Although it can be said that the police have had no choice but to enforce the law, these youngsters undergo experiences which may adversely change their lives forever.

To conclude, a percentage of the num ber of those arrested for various crim es including m urder, causing injuries to others, threatening others, forcing others to commit crimes, poisoning and using knives in fights with other people, were 17 years of age and below. These, according to the Statistical Yearbook of Iran (2001), figures are presented in Table 21 which follows:

42 / 132

Table 21: Numbers of Those Arrested for Various Crimes 17 years and Below, According to Gender Tehran

AGE 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001

17 and below 4094 4291 5579 4158 3542 3919 Male 3301 3504 4254 3610 3142 3570 Female 793 787 1325 548 400 349

Source: Statistical Yearbook 2001

2.3. Disable Children There is no reliable inform ation concerning the num ber of disabled children (both physically and m entally) in Tehran. The existing inform ation only includes those who have approached public health institutions to seek help. Parents of children being disabled by birth especially poor and those living in rural com m unities seldom approach health institutions to seek help. For the fact that m ajority of them think nothing can be done. I ran’s Welfare Organization contrary to such belief provides various types of services for the disabled including m onthly paym ents. The latest available information indicates that the rate of physical disability among children aged 0 to 14 years is one in 10,000 from 94.8% of the population.

III. Institutional Arrangements

While reviewing the institutional arrangem ents which have been set up to help or m onitor children, especially those with problem s, a num ber of tables and diagram s are presented in this section which further em phasizes the severity of the social problems facing the children of Tehran.

As previously m entioned, the I ranian organizational set up is based upon specialized sectors. Each sector consists of a num ber of Ministries, organizations, and departm ents which serve the entire population. Obviously, with reference to what is in line with the m andates and agendas of a m inistry and its related organizations, some age groups would be covered more than others. Take the Ministry of Education, for example. It is responsible for the educational affairs of the entire population of the country but regards as its m ain target group children aged 6 to 18. Thus, the various needs of children are met by a number of different ministries and organizations which have not been designed to serve children alone.

Apart from such a dom inant arrangem ent, there are also a few other institutions which cover children alone. These institutions are of two types. One type covers those

43 / 132

institutions, very lim ited in num ber however, which attem pt to enhance children’s well being, m ental developm ent, learning im provem ent and the like. Prom inent am ong them is the Center for Mental Developm ent of Children and Adolescents (Kanon Parvareshe Fekrye Kodakan va Nojavanan) which caters to those from age 2 to 18. The other type covers those organizations or departm ents which are attached to line ministries but concentrate on children with special needs and problems. Except for one or two, all of these organizations and departm ents are organizational com ponents of I ran’s Social Protection Program . Diagram 1 which follows shows the organizational arrangement of this program:

Diagram 1 : Social Assistance Programs Evaluation

The diagram also indicates that not any of the subprojects of I ran’s Social Protection Program cover children alone. I t shows, however, that a num ber of subprojects (Boxes 1,2, 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 1-1-1, 1-2-1, 1-2-3, and 1-1-2) directly serve children. But children also indirectly benefit from the rest.

Am ong the organizations serving children with special needs and problem s, the Welfare Organization of I ran should be singled out. No other organization in I ran covers children the way this organization does. I n the year 2003, its Tehran’s office for Social Abuse Affairs carried out nine projects, seven of which directly benefited children. These programs were as follows:

1. Program of intervention in social crises 2. Child Call Assistance Line Program (Also see section on child abuse)

44 / 132

3. Mobile social services 4. Girls' housing and health 5. Rehabilitation of women and girls who have been abused or are in danger 6. Protection of those with problems related to sex identity (TS) 7. Street children protection 8. Intervention in family problems to reduce the incidence of divorce 9. Child’s health inn. ( Source: Welfare Organization, Tehran’s Office for Social Abuse Affairs, 2004)

For purposes of presentation, an overall picture of the activities of the Welfare organization which concern children is given in a number of tables below.

Table 22: Activities of the Office for Social Abuse Affairs, Welfare Organization, Tehran, 2003

Child Shelter Sex Identity Child Call Mobile Social P Programs Issues Line Services

No. of Cases of No. of Cases of No. No. of No. of No. of Individuals Activities Individuals Activities of Activities Individuals Activities calls Tehran 122 485 26 203 76 340 864 3182 Province

Total number of individuals who received assistance: 1088 Total number of activities carried out: 1892 Total number of run-away girls who received assistance from Tehran office: 2962

Source: Office for Social Abuse Affairs, Tehran

NOTE: The m ost critical issue revealed when reviewing the activities of governm ent organizations is the huge gap existing between the growing num ber of children in need of urgent help and the m eans available to those organizations m andated to provide assistance. Obviously, the traditional approach which gives the governm ent m onopoly in assisting children with social problem s should change. NGOs are in a position to enter the scene. This, in addition to public awareness cam paigns, which are not only very important, but are urgently needed.

The sam e is true for run-away children as discussed previously in this report. I t should also be taken into account that to provide shelter for runaways is inadequate. A com prehensive program is required and this program should be community driven and participatory.

45 / 132

Table 23: Number of classified children in Welfare Organization Tehran Nurseries and Reasons of Separation from Parents, 2000- 2001

Abandoned Parents Parents Parents Parents Parents Other REASONS children are have not are in not rea- TOTAL dead incurable available jail suitable sons disease

NUMBER 2740 496 214 330 828 621 59 5288

% 51.81 9.38 4.05 6.24 15.66 11.74 1.12 100

Source: Statistical Report Concerning Tehran’s Welfare Organization, 2000-2001

Table 24: Number & Percentages of Children Lacking Parents and Receiving Support in the Use of Nurseries and Kindergartens Classified by Age (Tehran Province)

AGE Less than 1 1 – 2 3 – 4 5 – 6 TOTAL year

TYPE OF Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % CHILDREN Children lacking 3158 2.15 1162 46.9 433 2.11 411 1.01 1152 1.38 guardians who receive help from nurseries and night shelters Children served by 143605 97.85 1315 53.09 20123 97.89 40086 98.99 82083 98.62 kindergartens of the WO of Tehran

TOTAL 146763 100 2477 100 20556 100 40495 100 83235 100

Source: the same as table 23.

46 / 132

The Welfare Organization (WO) is also responsible for abandoned children another growing problem in Tehran. Those fam ilies, who, for various reasons, can not keep their infants or very young children, have the option to hand them over to the nurseries of the Welfare Organization. Orphans and children without guardians are also kept in establishm ents of the Welfare Organization. Table 23 above shows the number of each category of children in these establishments and the reasons for their being separated from their parents.

According to facts, children are abandoned due to poverty or legal issues, and, those children whose parents are in jail, m ost often for drug trafficking-related sentences, have a higher percentage com pared to other reasons, thus indicating the two m ost important problems children face today, not only in Tehran but all over the country.

Aside from the children who stay in WO establishm ents, there are other children who receive different kinds of support from the Welfare Organization like enrollm ent in WO-run kindergartens for a very minimal fee, if not free of charge.

The Welfare Organization (WO) of Tehran has also helped elem entary, I nterm ediate and High School students in m any ways. Table 42 (see annex 18) shows the types of assistance offered by the organization as well as a profile of the recipients. I t should also be noted that in the sam e year, the WO of Tehran supervised 432 private kindergartens for children aged 1 to 6 years. The total num ber of children who attended these schools in 2003 was 37720, of which 18753 were girls and 18967 were boys. These figures reveal that a good num ber of children in Tehran never attended kindergartens which have proven to provide the m ost im portant experience a child should go through for the healthy form ation of personality, particularly that of learning social interaction skills.

Another im portant program of the Welfare Organization of Tehran is the establishment of foster homes where 1274 children lived in the year 2003.

3.1. Tehran Municipality

Unlike m any other m unicipalities all over the world, Tehran’s m unicipality has lim ited involvement in children’s affairs, depending m uch on the current Mayor’s attitudes towards children’s affairs and the availability of financial resources.

For exam ple, after the I ran-I raq war when the Tehran Municipality was denied governm ent funding, it received perm ission to sell “housing densities” i.e. perm its to land owners who were constructing m ultiple-story buildings according to existing laws and regulations, to build extra floors on the agreem ent that they pay a percentage of what they profit from such a venture to the m unicipality. This arrangem ent was later heavily criticized and caused unsolvable problem s for Tehran; however, it led to the pouring of billions of US dollars to the m unicipality’s coffers which was invested in

47 / 132

infrastructure, the creation of green areas, the establishm ent of cultural centers including local neighborhood cultural houses, establishm ent of centers for street children, and the allotm ent of generous am ounts of m oney to organizations and NGOs, particularly those serving children.

But then, the negative aspects of the arrangem ent as m entioned above gradually became more apparent until it came to the point that after lengthy debates the Islamic City Council of Tehran lim ited the selling of “ housing densities”. The result was the sudden drastic decrease in m unicipality funds which led to the closure of m any program s and establishm ents including two centers for street children: the Rihanh for girls and the Greenhouse for boys. Before being closed, the latter used to accommodate 4133 children in the year 2000 and also hosted 3883 children who were later returned to their parents after being offered a tem porary place to stay, psychological assistance, and financial support (see Jangholi, 2002, 134).

The m unicipality’s cultural centers which provided classes in leisure tim es for hundreds and thousands of children and the youth, especially those aged 13 to 18, now operate at a reduced scale. Moreover, their program s have changed from m usic, art, learning the com puter, and other crafts, to religion-related subject m atters. However, although assistance to som e other institutions which serve children (public, private, and NGOs) have been reduced drastically, lim ited assistance are still given to a num ber of institutions especially Tehran’s Departm ent of Education. And Tehran’s parks and other recreational green spaces which witnessed an unprecedented growth in num ber from 1991 to 1998 are now the most popular places where the children and the youth spend their leisure time.

At this point, it should be m entioned that the m unicipality’s involvem ent in children’s issues such as on street children, on runaways, on very young prostitutes and the like, was based upon a collective decision of a board consisting of the following officials:

Tehran’s Deputy Governor-General for Political and Security Affairs The Deputy Director-General of Tehran’s Justice Department The Director of the Children’s Court The Director-General of Tehran’s Welfare Organization The Director-General for Social Affairs of Tehran’s Governor’s Office The Deputy for Security Issues Greater Tehran Police The Director of the Shahid Isfahani Welfare Organization Center The Director of Tehran’s Center for Juvenile Delinquents The Deputy Mayor for Social and Cultural Affairs

Nevertheless, with the closure of street children houses, the m unicipality now gathers children from the streets and sends them to Tehran’s Welfare Organization. However, it does not have the m eans to capably assist different types of children beset with different types of social problems, thus, it has no choice but to release them shortly.

48 / 132

3.1.1. Center for the Mental Developm ent of Children and the Youth ( 2 – 18 years old) Kanone Parvareshe Fekrie Kodakan va Nojavanan

The Center for the Mental Developm ent of Children and the Youth was established 39 years ago and serves those aged 2 to 18. Initially, only a few m ajor cities had centers so a num ber of assistant librarians on m otorcycles were utilized to go from village to village distributing books for children and the youth to read. Presently however, the center has 638 cultural and art centers producing hundreds of books, films, and m any other accessories designed to help I ranian children to expand their knowledge and to think of unreachable horizons (see Kanon at a Glance, 2002)

Today, I ranian children often win prizes in various art and film festivals abroad, and, without a doubt, the Kanon’s initiatives have been decisive factors in their achievem ents. What follows in this text is an introduction of Kanon’s different departments and various activities.

One departm ent is I ran’s Language Center which offers language classes in English, Arabic, German, and French. I t has 11 branches in Tehran and 39 branches in other cities. Aside from publishing a quarterly on the learning of a foreign language, it has also produced 5500 copies of an English Learning package, 390000 cassettes which also have recordings of sim ple stories in English and French. I n addition, it has produced 5500 copies of audio CDs and 20000 hard copies of English stories for all ages.

Publications wise, Kanon has been very productive. I ts Departm ent of Public Relations has produced 11 volum es of newsletters introducing Kanon to the public. The Production Departm ent of Kanon has published 930,500 copies of books on 71 subjects. The new editions of 112 books published are already sold out; these consisted of 1,037,000 copies. Furthermore, 10 books in Braille on different topics for blind children have also been published.

With regards to film s, Kanon’s Departm ent of Cinem a Affairs has produced 424 m inutes of m ovies suitable for children of all ages. I t has also produced a num ber of documentaries which have been well received.

Meanwhile, the center’s Departm ent of Theater and Puppet Shows has so far perform ed a total of 483 shows for 89813 people in audiences all over I ran. I ts Mobile Show Center has also shown various shows num bering 251 for a total of 126,730 children.

Kanon’s other departm ents have been as active in the production of 5550 copies of three software CDs and 5 different toys in 33000 replicas, in conducting m ore than 50 researches concerning children’s issues e.g. their condition, needs and problem s, in organizing m any exhibitions, conferences, and workshops, in contributing 138 film s to

49 / 132

be shown in 48 I nternational Film Festivals, and, in sending the paintings of children and the youth to competitions in 20 countries.

It should also be mentioned that every year, Kanon actively participates in activities for the Day of the Child and it should not be forgotten that it has been responsible for the establishm ent of children’s libraries and m any other centers catering to children’s needs. All in all, Kanon is a very constructive establishm ent with a highly dedicated staff, a few of whom are now internationally well known.

3.1.2. Center for Juvenile Delinquents (Kanone Eslah va Tarbiyat) Main Office in Tehran

Unfortunately, the num ber of children aged 9 to 18 who com m it crim inal acts due to poverty and neglect is increasing. The addiction of their parents, especially the fathers, plays a major role in what they do. For years, these children, when arrested, were sent to regular jails where all types of crim inals were detained together. There were only 2 centers for juvenile delinquents in I ran before the I slam ic revolution and they were located in Tehran and Mashhad. But today, 26 out of 30 provinces have such an establishment. I n the 4 provinces which do not have the center, the juvenile delinquents are sent to special sections in the jails especially designed for children.

I t should be noted that for years juvenile delinquents were not treated differently from other crim inals. Fortunately, however, the attitudes of people involved in I ran’s judiciary system have changed. Rehabilitation and re-education of children are now considered m ain goals which explain the establishm ent of vocational training program s in a num ber of these centers for juvenile delinquents. Tehran’s center is the best equipped and well served.

Related inform ation on Tehran’s Center for Juvenile Delinquents is presented in other sections of this report.

3.1.3. Children NGOs in Tehran

As noted previously, a strong and encom passing social m ovem ent has been growing in I ran since 10 years ago. One of the m ajor dem ands of this m ovem ent has been the enhancem ent of civil society and its institutions. There have been charities which served children along with other recipients of different ages. Moreover, sem i- governm ent foundations have been established to either cover the children of specific groups such as m artyrs (Martyrs Foundation) and the war-injured and the form er POWS (Foundation of POWs and I njured Veterans), or, help the children of poor fam ilies in parallel to serving the entire population of I ran like the I m am Khom eini Relief Committee (Komiteh emdad-e-Imam Khomeini).

50 / 132

To reiterate, “….the traditional, religious and cultural com m itm ent to hum anitarian work, a hallm ark of I ranian history, focused considerably on deprived and poor com m unities and fam ilies, specifically children…” (see Nam azi, 2000:142). Such a historical com m itm ent, coupled with a social m ovem ent which brought a reform ist President and Parliam ent to power, and along with the daily negative consequences of rapid social transform ation such as uneven urbanization, have created a fertile environm ent for the establishm ent of m any NGOs which included those serving the children and the youth.

“While traditional NGOs and charities have accorded high priority to serving deprived children, the needs of future generations have attracted many committed professionals to work with newly-form ed NGOs. Modern and traditional NGOs are providing a wide variety of services for the protection of vulnerable children. The Convention on the Rights of the Child has proved to be a strong rallying point for child advocates. At present about 20 NGOs are working together to form a loose coalition to protect vulnerable children and prom ote their rights, particularly the rights of deprived groups such as street working children, disabled children, and refugee children.” (see Nam azi, 2000, 143).

Table 43 (see annex 19) lists the NGOs and charities in I ran which serve children. Although m ost of these institutions have their headquarters in Tehran, som e of them help children all over the country.

Aside from the 57 NGOs listed in the above table, there are 60 m ore NGOs in I ran which, however, do not consider children as their target group, but, the services they provide and the projects they implement do help children as well, though indirectly.

I n the governm ent sector, out of 22 organizations which serve children in one way or another there are only a few which have been solely established in response to children’s needs. But it would also be useful to list these organizations. They are shown in Table 44 (see annex 20).

3.2. A Rapid Assessm ent concerning the perform ance of institutions serving children in Tehran

In-depth interviews with 15 directors and professionals in the governm ent sector concerning the shortcom ings, constraints and problem s which institutions serving children in Tehran are facing today, revealed som e dilem m as which invariably affect their performances.

The m ost crucial am ong the dilem m as of these institutions goes back to the fact that the governm ent of I ran, as a general rule, lim its its involvem ent in alm ost all social dom ains and attem pts to reduce the num ber of personnel working in these institutes. Meanwhile, the needs and problem s of children in Tehran increase on a daily basis, not only in num ber but likewise in quality and com plexity. I n other words, children issues

51 / 132 expand in term s of quantity and severity but the staff responsible to address these issues and the needed resources remain the same if not reduced.

A decade ago, for exam ple, street children were unknown in Tehran. But a conservative estim ate indicates that at present, 25 to 30 children in Tehran becom e street children everyday. Based on that estim ate, there would be 100,000 street children in Tehran after five years. And, the sam e is true with the num ber of run-away children. Two decades ago, running away was unheard of and a rare phenom enon true only to boys. Currently, however, not only is the num ber of boys running away from hom e very high, but the num bers of girls who have entered the scene are increasing daily. Almost all social problems show similar trends.

Moreover, children are living in an era of rapid change. Their needs, world views, attitudes and problem s are also changing and these require new approaches and a deep understanding of the situation to which children are born and grow up. Yet, the m ethods, approaches and procedures adhered to by institutions have not changed for m any years, and, as has been m entioned, their resources are shrinking. I t is no surprise then that Tehran, and the whole country for that m atter, is witnessing a turning point as far as children’s issues are concerned.

The patriarchal approach toward children has widened the generation gap. Without exception, all those interviewed referred to such a gap as the m ost pressing problem which Iran is facing today.

Another dilem m a is in the legal perspective which is alm ost fifty years old. I n spite of the accelerating transform ation of society in alm ost all aspects, there has been no attem pt to m odernize the legal system . Undeniably, there have been m any changes in the I ranian judicial system which has particularly occurred in the past two decades, but, these changes are mostly related to so-called hardware issues.

Considering the facts presented above, it is safe to claim that parents, institutions, and other adults in general are alien to children’s conditions. This author has been directly involved in a num ber of research related to the youth aged 15 to 29 and has repeatedly heard these young people say that, “ adults no longer understand us and in turn, we can no longer understand them.” (see Piran, 1993, 1995, 2000, 2004)

The qualitative content analysis of the in-depth interviews conducted with the Directors and professionals of a selected num ber of institutions serving children in Tehran shows that the following issues are referred to more frequently:

1. The absence of clear and well-defined terms of reference on the tasks of institutions which work with children; 2. visible gaps between resources (e.g. m anpower, budget, equipm ent, facilities) and the number of children needing help; 3. conflicts among institutions responsible for the same issues; 4. redundancies and the overlapping of responsibilities;

52 / 132

5. the lack of reliable information and statistics on different children issues; 6. the lack of up-to-date methods for dealing with children in danger or vulnerable children; 7. conflicting definitions of a child which cause a host of problem s for institutions and individuals working on children’s issues; 8. the changes in approaches, m ethods, procedures and program s of institutions when m anagers and directors change, therefore, program s and projects are never sustainable; 9. the impact of political issues on children’s affairs; 10. the lack of coordination among institutions; 11. ignoring the findings of scientific researches related to children in decision-making processes; 12. limited number of professionals in the institutions; 13. lack of coordination when releasing information to be used by researchers; 14. absence of trust between institutions on one hand, and scholars and researchers on the other; 15. limited supervision and monitoring of institutions; 16. continuous reduction in budgets for projects and programs aimed at helping children; and 17. the lack of the necessary trust these government institutions should have toward NGOs.

However, the shortcom ings, as listed above, should in no way obscure what has been accom plished for the children of Tehran despite m any problem s. What is im portant is to em phasize that “despite national gains with respect to children and youth, positive policy developm ents and the increasing num ber of governm ent agencies addressing the needs of children and youth, there is no room for com placency.” (see Nam azi, 2000:141)

Those who work in children-related NGOs also reiterate the sam e problem s and shortcom ings as enum erated above, in their work with children. Herewith, the m ost general problems will be presented first, then later, the more specific ones:

a wide gap between policy and practice, resulting in inadequate support and encouragement from government officials; restrictive policies of many government agencies; financial constraints; and the absence of a cultural perspective of group work and collective social and com m unity action in parallel with the lack of recognition of the work being done by the NGOs, both from the public and the government. (see Namazi, 2000:143)

The forem ost problem NGOs in I ran have is their dependence on governm ent support, especially financial. I n fact, at the start of the decade, a num ber of individuals with well-established connections to a num ber of governm ent institutions established NGOs which received generous funding from the governm ent. This kind of funding led to a waste of resources which was com parably very m inimal, but, it created an atm osphere of distrust on NGOs for m any years to com e. Fortunately, dedication, hard work and

53 / 132 the visible positive results of their efforts have changed the Governm ent’s, as well as the public’s view, about NGOs. Today, NGOs are very much respected in the country.

This positive change is actually a direct outcom e of the continuous attem pts of the NGOs to rem ain independent so to protect their identity as a truly non-governmental organization especially in an environm ent of m istrust and power politics. However, their endeavors also projected the specific problem s they face today, the sam e problems everyone working with children face. They are listed in Annex 23.

I n response to the shortcom ings of both the governm ent and non-government institutions, the UNI CEF is able to play an im portant role, a role which will be further explained later in this text. At this point, it seem s appropriate to sum m arize what UNICEF has done so far in Iran.

Actually, UNI CEF Tehran office has worked very closely with the children and youth NGOs mainly because the children’s problems in Tehran, and to a lesser extent all over I ran, have been clearly spelled out in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and are the same mandates of the UNICEF.

UNICEF functions within the fram ework of standards provided by the convention. One of the areas in which it has been very active is advocacy and the dissem ination of inform ation on different aspects of children’s rights. Also, it has attem pted to im prove the capacity of the NGOs in the im plem entation of their program s. So far, UNI CEF has organized a num ber of workshops to im prove the capacity of wom en, children and youth NGOs so as to increase people’s awareness concerning the rights of children and to m obilize international NGOs to work for refugee children. Moreover, UNI CEF has funded a num ber of researches on different issues related to children, and, children situational analyses conducted by UNI CEF or by others which receive assistance from UNICEF are critical sources for acquiring a better understanding of Iranian children and their problems.

The close collaborations of UNICEF with the Ministry of Health and Medical Education as well as the Ministry of Education have been very fruitful. Furtherm ore, UNI CEF has provided assistance in incom e-generating activities, sponsored a num ber of journals for non-profit organizations, co-sponsored studies, organized conferences and facilitated the youth’s access to the UNI CEF inform ation center. Overall, it is safe to claim that the UNI CEF in I ran has been a successful organization providing services of high standard.

I n light of these activities, UNI CEF’s Tehran office is in a position to bring all children NGOs together in order to create a network with clear divisions of labor. A network such as this would be instrum ental in overcom ing m ost of the shortcom ings listed above. Fortunately, this task is being undertaken. Currently, UNICEF is also working on a program which aims to facilitate information gathering about children.

54 / 132 IV. Capacity building for public institutions and NGOs working with children in Tehran

A review of this report clearly shows that one area which requires focus and improvement is on capacity building. Government institutions and NGOs are very much in need of m ethods which would help them to learn how to use their available resources m ore efficiently and to increase the productivity of their existing personnel considering that: - they have limited resources; - the number of problems children face is increasing; - the number of children who need help in various forms is increasing; - the severity and intensity of the problems children have are increasing; and - their methods are actually obsolete.

Capacity building has proven to be effective in such circumstances. Therefore, it is only fitting that the last section of this report will be devoted to capacity building for the relevant institutions and NGOs. And at the end, a phased program aim ed at capacity building will be introduced, including an estimation of the costs for implementation.

I n order to com e up with a practical and productive capacity-building program , som e preparatory tasks are required. Although the people in Iran who are involved in various tasks are used to regular and num erous m eetings, workshops, sem inars, conferences and congresses which are organized to enhance the capacity of their organizations and staff, they are now harboring a growing doubt concerning the usefulness of these activities. The m ain reason behind the discontent is that in the organizing of these gatherings, little attention is given to the environm ent in which capacity building is to take place and the actual pressing needs of the participants. Moreover, they are becom ing m ore and m ore a m atter of routine. Experience has shown that selected individuals who act as instructors in these gatherings are no longer fam iliar with the state of the art, have insufficient knowledge of the current literature and of new m ethods and techniques, and are not fully aware of the extent and nature of problem s which need prom pt response. But of course, no generalization about these gatherings is valid although jokes abound am ong participants. Take this one, for exam ple. I n Persian, lunch is “nahar” which is the m ost im portant (and heaviest) m eal in I ran. Considering that lunch is served in sem inars, participants refer to them now as “Sem inahar”, insinuating that it is the lunch which is the m ost im portant part of the seminar.

Should organizers pay sufficient attention to the context and the environm ent in which a problem has com e to exist and change over tim e, and, be aware of the latest m ethods and m eans in dealing with the particular problem at hand, participants to these events would increase in num bers beyond expectation and consequently, positive results would be considerable. So, before presenting the program designed for

55 / 132 capacity building, it would be prudent to discuss the context and the environm ent to which the children of Tehran were born and are growing up.

The personnel and staff of both governm ent and non-governm ent institutions working with children in Tehran are fully aware of the growing poverty and class polarization which have trem endous im pact upon the tasks they carry out to serve the children in Tehran. Currently, the access to wealth of the upper stratum of the urban population is 17 tim es m ore than that of the lowest level. I n rural com m unities, the figure is 21 times. Presently, there are 12 million people living under the poverty line with 700,000 in need of immediate protection to stay alive.

Today, 4 m illion people receive financial support from the I m am Khom eini Relief Organization and 55,000 m ore receive m onthly allotm ents from I ran’s Welfare Organization. I n addition, thousands of fam ilies are supported by I ran’s inform al support system including NGOs and charities. Only 20% of I ran’s population benefit from 60% of the national income while 80% get only 40%.

The figures above can be redefined as m ore street children, m ore runaways, m ore abused and neglected, more very young prostitutes and more juvenile delinquents. The generation gap continues to grow and the num ber of children needing psychological counseling is growing steadily. I t is estim ated that 50% of I ran’s future urban expansion will be informal settlements. (see Piran, 2001)

Facts point out what is obvious; that is, traditional m ethods and m eans are no longer in line with growing needs. Therefore, staff of all types of institutions should undergo continuous training and the contents of training program s should aim to fam iliarize responsible authorities and decision-m aking bodies on children’s issues with the m ethods to m obilize the entire population toward participation. People participate only when they trust those who request for their involvem ent and that trust can only be gained when the people themselves are active partners to any undertaking.

I t is proposed, therefore, that before the im plem entation of any capacity-building program , a num ber of rapid assessm ents should be carried out which will fam iliarize children’s institutions with the fam ilies’ attitudes, needs, fears, anxieties and their descriptions of the environm ent in which their children are living. A rapid attitude survey such as this will also include the changes they desire to happen, what they expect from children's institutions and the com plaints they have about these institutions. Likewise, the survey can also list what they are willing to do.

Unfortunately, despite the m any researches which have been carried out in the past two decades, there is no reliable inform ation about what parents think and feel about their children and the future of their children. Another rapid assessm ent is needed which would describe the latest approaches, research findings, institutional arrangem ents, program s and projects which are available in other countries including what they have done for children facing different threats, risks and problems.

56 / 132

The third rapid assessm ent, which is necessary, concerns what the individuals who have worked for years with the children in I ran propose. The author deeply believes that bureaucracy rarely gives chances to those who have valuable experiences to make their voices heard. On the contrary, they are the ones least heard. The title of this assessment would be, Hear the Inner Voice.

All these three assessm ents should be carried out by a large research group consisting of a num ber of doctoral and m aster students with a num ber of volunteers, working along well-thought out guidelines. At this point, professional researchers should be avoided as m uch as possible. The people whose involvem ent would m atter would be the people who have shown dedication and those who have suffered as they witnessed children in danger. Anything which would m ake these assessm ents sim ilar to routine and official reports should also be avoided. Form al institutions in countries all over the world are experts in dehumanizing research. Iran is no exception.

4.1. Assessment of the capacity of Institutions

The selection of Institutions

Before introducing institutions selected for capacity building and the selection criteria upon which they were chosen, it is necessary to further explain about Tehran m unicipality which is am ong those selected. As m entioned, Tehran m unicipality was very active in assisting children and the youth until three years ago. They established cultural centers and neighborhood local cultural houses, added a good number of parks to existing ones while providing special sections in each park for children, established the “Greenhouse” shelter for m ale street children and the “Reihanh” for the girls, im plem ented a num ber of projects which required children and youth participation, allocated land for sm all sports grounds in m any neighborhoods, provided buildings to many NGOs, and allocated m illions of US dollars to cover the expenses of these NGOs and to support civil society organizations.

Sad to say, revenues of the m unicipality dropped and the political scene changed. Conservatives cam e into power and a new Mayor was elected who subsequently changed alm ost all the directors and high officials in the 22 districts of Tehran. As a consequence, m ost of the m unicipality’s program s as m entioned above either cam e to an end or the direction of their activities changed drastically. For exam ple, cultural centers now placed m ore em phases on religious studies and the encouragem ent of the patronage of conservative religious youngsters. Without wishing to m ake any judgm ents, it can be said that dram atic changes occurred in the m unicipality’s agenda. However, due to its potentials, it is selected for the capacity building project, but, whether they will cooperate or be willing to participate, is som ething which is to be seen.

57 / 132

The institutions listed in Table 44 (see annex 21) will be the focal organizations for the capacity-building project, but in a num ber of activities all the public sector institutions and children NGOs will be invited. To reiterate, all publications published during and after the program will be made available to all interested parties.

The criteria on which the selection of target institutions has been based are as follows:

the number of projects carried out; the level of participation in events concerning the children and the youth; number of volunteers; diversity of activities related to children; and their focus on disadvantaged and vulnerable children.

4.2. Action Plan: Capacity- building Project

Project Title: Capacity building for Institutions serving children in Tehran

Implementing Agency: Cultural Research Bureau

Cooperating Agencies: UNICEF, Tehran Office University of Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences

Estimated Starting Date: 01/05/2007

Estimated End Date: 01/08/2007

Preparation Time: 01/03/2007 – 01/05/2007

Project Description: The project concerns capacity building for public sector/ governm ent institutions and NGOs active in children’s affairs in Tehran. I t aims to form ulate a fram ework for capacity building and to spell out its com ponents. Although the bulk of the work will cover selected institutions, at the sam e tim e there will be program s available to all NGOs active in looking after children’s well being. Within the fram ework of capacity building, a num ber of training courses which will focus on the m ost pressing issues the children of Tehran are facing today will be organized. These courses will fam iliarize the staff of the selected institutions with the m ost recent and advanced m ethods and techniques effective in serving children with different needs, the new approaches toward children, and participatory m ethods i.e. the best ways to m obilize concerned people. Likewise, the best practices available will be introduced and analyzed. Apart from the training courses, a num ber of focused workshops with clear-cut and well-defined agendas will also be organized. In parallel, a num ber of publications on various issues of capacity building will be published to be used during program implementation.

58 / 132

Target Beneficiaries:

Direct beneficiaries are the selected institutions whose staff is to participate in all the events including the training courses. At the sam e tim e, other governm ent institutions and NGOs serving children in Tehran will be invited to the workshops and will receive all the publications which will be prepared during the two m onths of the preparation period (01/03/2007 to 01/05/2007). All in all, target beneficiaries whether direct or indirect, will be all the institutions (Governm ent, sem i-governm ent, GNGOs, NGOs) which work with children in Tehran.

4.2.1. Organizational Arrangements:

The Cultural Research Bureau (CRB), a well known and trusted non-profit organization in I ran with over 15 years of experience in organizing training courses, seminars, workshops, and other sim ilar activities, will sign the contract and will carry out the project. The CRB has worked with the Tehran m unicipality for over 10 years. I t boasts of a very extensive archive on children’s issues and has carried out m ore than 50 surveys and field researches for various organizations. The bureau’s am iable relationship with all the political groups in I ran, from the conservative right to the radical left, has bestowed on it an exceptional status which is crucial in the present situation. I n addition, the bureau’s Children Departm ent enjoys the cooperation of m any fam ous scholars working on children’s issues and this is a great advantage. Taking all factors into account, the author firm ly believes that the bureau has no parallel in Iran as far as the project in hand is concerned.

Both the UNI CEF Tehran office and the University for Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences will be cooperating agencies. UNICEF’s selection needs no justification since it is a partner of CPI . Also, as has been pointed out, UNI CEF’s Tehran office is a very successful organization well received by both intellectuals and parents from all walks of life.

The University of Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences is affiliated to I ran’s Welfare Organization which is the m ost im portant institution as far as the children of I ran are concerned. I ts various departm ents work in m any areas related to children’s affairs and it has access to alm ost all the nurseries, dorm itories, and shelters which have been established to house orphans, as well as the vulnerable, abused and disabled children. Moreover, the beautiful and quiet cam pus of the university has well-equipped am phitheaters, classroom s and other facilities required in the im plem entation of the project.

59 / 132

4.2.2. Implementation Phases:

There will be three general im plem entation phases. The first is the preparatory phase in which a detailed work plan where all the objectives, tasks, activities, input and output of the program are to be clarified, is to be prepared. At the same time, two sets of publications will be produced. The first set will contain (1) a general description of the capacity-building project including its aim s, objectives, justifications, dos and do nots in a sim ple language and all the while taking into account the context and the environm ent in which the project will be im plem ented; (2) a situational assessm ent concerning children in I ran with particular focus on the ones in Tehran; and (3) a syllabus of all the training courses which will be held including a sum m arized description of each course, the m ain questions which should be answered, the m ain issues which are to be introduced, and the recent approaches, m ethods and m eans used as tools when working with children burdened with varying needs and problem s. In preparing this set, the activities, needs and shortcomings of the selected institutions will all be taken into consideration.

The second set of publications will be those relevant to the proposed workshops. Each workshop will have its own set of aim s, objectives, target groups and the like which will be detailed out in a publication. The capacity-building program will also be discussed including its background, its justification in relation to children in Tehran, and the institutional arrangem ents already in place. Booklets pertinent to the nature of each workshop will also be prepared and given out. These booklets will touch on different topics: the needs and shortcom ings of personnel working with children with extended and varying needs, children in danger, children who have been abused, the generation gap, children pathology in Tehran, institutions serving children, legal fram eworks, knowledge-based activities, rapid assessm ents, data gathering, data sharing, snowballing of available literature, the best practices in I ran and abroad, etc. Likewise, a num ber of carefully-selected biographies of children with horrible experiences such as physical and sexual abuse are to be published.

The m ain objectives of the training courses, publications and workshops are as presented in Annex 24.

The preparatory phase is to be finished in two months after the signing of the contract.

The second phase will be devoted to training courses for the selected institutions. The nature and contents of each course will be determ ined based upon this report and other pertinent docum ents. There will be two types of courses. The first type is to cover general issues on capacity building and the second type will deal with the specific issues and problem s that Tehran’s children face daily and the institutional shortcomings when dealing with these problems.

Each course is to be divided into a num ber of topics and a well-known scholar with specialization on that particular topic will be given the responsibility of teaching it. I n each 2-hour class, 30 to 45 m inutes should be devoted to discussions and debates

60 / 132 am ong the participants where each would be required to share his or her experiences with the rest. This discussion tim e will be organized as a focus group discussion with the instructor to act as m oderator. All classes will be recorded for the purposes of content analyses and future publications.

The third phase involves the subject-focused workshops. Before the start of each of these workshops, participants will receive a package which will include relevant publications, children biographies, and discussion topics like the m ain objectives of the workshop, organizational arrangem ents, and the m ain questions for discussion. I t has been proposed that at least three of these workshops be organized and all dealing with capacity building in an accum ulative m anner. I n other words, no one workshop will be independent of the other.

The first workshop will deal with the general issues of capacity building, the second will target m ore specific issues, and the third is to address specific problem s and special issues. Furtherm ore, each workshop is to be divided into two types of sessions. One session, in the m ornings when all participants will be present, will cover discussions on the m ain aspects of capacity building, after which the participants will be assigned to different working groups where each working group will be given the responsibility to tackle a num ber of issues. Before the end of each day, the working groups will gather together once again to discuss their m ain findings and to choose the topics of subsequent sessions.

Sessions are to begin with the sharing of experiences by a group of children who face different types of problem s and these children will also point out their needs and demands. Each workshop is to be held over a 2- or 3-day period.

Estimated Cost:

After the proposal of the project will be approved for im plem entation, a detailed table of its m ain input and output, objectives, tasks and activities, along with their respective requirements will be submitted and the costs involved will be explained item by item . However, considering what are involved in the three phases of the project as detailed above, it is estim ated that project im plem entation would require at least US$ 70,000 excluding the costs of renting workshop venues. This author, after lengthy deliberations with the University of Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, was able to convince the university chancellor to provide the required venues including its facilities and equipm ent, free of charge. Obviously, however, everything is contingent upon the acceptance of the proposed action plan and its accompanying recommendations.

61 / 132

Conclusion

This overall assessm ent of the conditions of children living in Tehran has been com plicated by factors such as the way children in the country have been officially classified, thereby greatly affecting official data upon which studies are based. Nevertheless, m uch has been covered and the study enables the reader to conjure a clear picture of a typical status of children in Tehran and how their situations determined by their living environment.

One of the objectives of this study was to assess how well the needs of the children in question are m et, especially those who are the m ost vulnerable and disadvantaged; and another was to illustrate the extent of the problem s these children face today. Seem ingly, what is unique in I ran’s case is that the context in which children live is com pletely different from that of their counterparts elsewhere; of course, barring those living in war-torn countries. Therefore, the problem s besetting them are also unique particularly where lifestyle is concerned. The children of Iran have a particular lifestyle defined for and imposed upon them, which contradicts the rapid changes in society brought about by globalization which they are also subjected to.

It should be noted that the most severe problems which Iranian children in general and children of Tehran in particular, differ according to the im m ediate context in which they live. I nform al settlem ents, for exam ple, put notable pressures on fem ale children where they constitute easy targets for crim inals, especially with regards to sexual abuse. However, child abuse is not lim ited to girls in these places. Boys aged 3 to 16 are often abused and the abuses are m ostly perpetuated by parents, fathers in particular. Also frequently reported is the use of children to sell drugs. And it is unfortunate that seldom are public services offered to children in these settlem ents. Furthermore, disadvantaged children like refugees and the disabled face other sets of problem s in addition to what all other children face in general.

But, what is truly upsetting is that the social problem s which focus on children have been increasing rapidly since 10 years ago. There are now m ore children on the streets and their conditions and the nature of their lives are very m uch alarming. The phenomenon of street children serves as fertile grounds for so many other social ills. Likewise, child abuse has been ram pant but for various reasons incidences are seldom reported. What is undeniable is that there is a clear correlation between child abuse and poverty. I n addition, the num ber of cases of sexual abuse on both boys and girls is increasing and is now accom panied by excessive violence. I ncest, perpetuated m ostly by fathers, is also on the rise. Prostitution is very m uch present in society and there is now a large num ber of very young prostitutes; a direct outcom e of run-away girls, another growing problem in Tehran. Sadly, because prostitution is not only illegal but also carries very harsh punishm ents it operates very secretly which m eans that neither m onitoring system s are available nor are protective m easures taken. I t is a

62 / 132 situation that creates grave risks not only to the girls them selves but likewise to their customers.

With all the difficulties children in Tehran face, it is no surprise that the rate of suicide has been steadily increasing.

Nevertheless, a lot has been accom plished for children all over I ran, even in the rem otest areas. However, m ost intervention program s have been planned, scheduled, and carried out by governm ent agencies. Therefore, recom m ended projects and program s are not com m unity driven i.e. they lack the participation of the stakeholders and because of this, people do not feel that their real needs are addressed and they have no reason to feel that such program s belong to them . But, special m ention m ust be given ‘though, to the m any existing NGOs nam ed in this report which have done m uch to address the needs of children and they have shown a great deal of dedication to their jobs. Also, from am ong the organizations serving children with special needs and problems, the Welfare Organization of Iran should be singled out since no other organization in I ran covers children the way this organization does. Tehran Municipality is also am ong the institutions serving children.

I f m ore has not been done for children in Tehran, and in I ran in general, it is because of various factors. I n m eeting the needs of children, there seem s to be a lack of a well-defined and clear approach towards children issues and problem s leading to confusion about the aim s and direction that planning for children should take. This also holds true for project implementation. Moreover, there exists a high level of governm ent intervention in all phases of project im plem entation and this intense involvem ent ham pers com m unity-driven initiatives to be effective in the process of planning and im plem entation. Furtherm ore, it has conditioned the target groups not to think about their real needs; so, it is either the experts or governm ent officials, regardless of their rank, who often introduce what they themselves think are the real needs of the communities. Add to this the problem atic coordination am ong agencies and the obvious outcom es would be redundancies and waste of tim e and resources. Another factor which pose a stum bling block to the success of intervention and aid program s is the existence of conflicting laws and regulations; a consequence of a sectored view of development.

Legal statutes are in place in Iran to protect children but they are neither sufficient nor do they cover children issues com prehensively. Attem pts have been m ade to remedy this lack. For example, the reformist parliament passed a law in December 2002 called “The Law Protecting Children and Youth” . The m ain factors which led to the passing of this law were, (i) the incidence of child abuse, especially by parents and m ore frequently by stepm others; and, (ii) the constant dem ands of the institutions of civil society belonging to an encom passing and forceful social m ovem ent concerning the enhancem ent of civil rights and liberties. Although the

63 / 132 proposed law clearly defined a num ber of actions as crim inal acts such as child abuse in any form and m andated the reporting of child abuse, being a public crim e, to the authorities, the Suprem e Guardian Council blocked its passage into law on the account that based on Islamic Law if the perpetrator of the abuse is the father of the child, he should not and cannot be prosecuted. Until now, this proposed legislation has not been ratified and its fate is unknown.

The above case was m entioned to illustrate that there are conflicts am ong various groups where the status of children is concerned. For centuries, children have had high status am ong fam ilies in I ran m ainly because the fam ily has always been the m ost im portant and the m ost precious institution in I ranian society. Unfortunately, this general rule is no longer held in prom inence because of the m any problem s and priorities Iranian families face Today.

Nonetheless, the increasing rates of divorce, extended drug addiction, the increasing num ber of m en abandoning their fam ilies, and the high rate of crim e, have m ade it vital to have laws protecting children. The num ber of children who are neglected, abused, forced to work at a very early age, denied access to education and the like, which was relatively low, is now steadily increasing in an alarm ing rate. Therefore, it m ust be reiterated that today, m ore than any other tim e, the passing and enforcem ent of laws to protect children is vital. I t is also im portant that adults be aware that a healthy society is everyone’s concern. A child’s health, therefore, also requires closer attention and the report confirms this need.

But despite its shortcom ings, the governm ent of I ran has been investing very generously on issues directly related to child health and well being, knowing that these children are to be the future leaders of the country. For instance, 85% of both urban and rural children currently have access to health protection. Also, there has been an increase in the am ount of total surface area allocated for recreational activities of children and all the parks in Tehran have special sections just for children.

Truly, I ran’s achievem ents in areas such as education, health, access to basic facilities and the like, are rem arkable; and, all children, regardless of place of residence, gender and age, are served m ore or less equally. Elem entary public schools enroll children free of charge and close to 80% of hospitals all over the country have child-friendly wards. But, it cannot be ignored that there is still very much the need for the rights of children to be protected and their mental, spiritual, emotional, and recreational needs be addressed with more care.

64 / 132

Recommendations

1. Programs & Interventions: Facts presented in the study indicate that traditional m ethods and m eans of intervention to address the needs of children are no longer in line with growing needs; therefore, the staff of all types of institutions should undergo continuous training and the contents of the training program s should aim to fam iliarize authorities and decision-m aking bodies responsible for children’s issues with methods to mobilize the entire population toward participation. Projects which target children would be better im plem ented by requiring children and youth participation. Therefore, to enhance the status of children, their participation in relevant affairs and entrusting them with responsibility are critical; thus, projects which are designed, organized and im plem ented by children should be encouraged and fully supported. Program s which will instill in people’s m inds a cultural perspective of group work and collective social and com m unity action m ust be im plem ented. I n parallel, existing ones should be recognized both by the public and the government. I ntervention program s which are being held should seriously take into account the unique context of I ranian society and the actual pressing needs of both participants and target groups. Moreover, instructors and resource persons of such program s should be experts and professionals fam iliar with the state of the art, have sufficient knowledge of current literature and of new methods and techniques, and m ore im portant fully aware of the extent and nature of problems being addressed and which need prompt response.

2. Assessments & Evaluation: A num ber of rapid assessm ents should be carried out which will fam iliarize children’s institutions with the attitudes, needs, fears, anxieties of target fam ilies and their descriptions of the environm ent in which their children live. Such a rapid attitude survey will also include the changes they desire to happen, what they expect from children institutions and the com plaints they have about these institutions. Likewise, the survey can also list what they are willing to do. Another necessary assessm ent which is highly recom m ended concerns what individuals who have worked for years with children in I ran have to say and what they propose. These people with their valuable experiences should be listened to. Assessm ents which are to be carried out concerning the children of Tehran should be at the grassroots level thereby avoiding anything routine or officially donated. I t is likewise recom m ended that the achievem ents and shortcom ings of program s related to the conditions of children in Tehran be carefully evaluated such that future projects and interventions be more result-oriented.

65 / 132

3. Child Rights: This study has shown that today, more than any other time in the history of the I ranian nation, the passing and enforcem ent of laws to protect children is vital. There is still very m uch need for children’s rights to be protected and their m ental, spiritual, em otional, and recreational needs to be addressed with m ore care. Legal guarantees have to be provided. There is no hum ane excuse for not doing so. I n order to elevate the status of children in Tehran, and in fact the children of I ran as a whole, it is recom m ended that the articles of The I nternational Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) be fully adopted as well as the Millennium Developm ent Goals (MDG) related to children and finally, the Special Session on Children Documents.

4. Capacity Building: I t is recom m ended that intensive capacity-building program s be organized for relevant institutions and NGOs which work with children, in order to introduce m ethods which will help them learn how to use their available resources m ore efficiently and to increase the productivity. More sym posia and discussions which focus on the environm ent in which the children of Tehran are born and grow up are needed. These are not only essential in the form ulation of laws and regulations to safeguard the rights of children but should also serve as the basis for program s structured to m eet their needs. The governm ent m ust do its best to staff institutions of social dom ains adequately.

5. Support & Awareness raising: Support is necessary for civil society organizations and it is recom m ended that this to be considered in decision-making processes at high levels of government and international aid institutions. Awareness cam paigns should be carried out to m ake adults m ore concerned about the im portance of having their children grow up in a healthy society so they would be willing participants in giving closer attention, children’s health as well as in the protection of children from different kinds of social abuse. The nutrition of children requires m ore attention; therefore, public awareness program s which especially target m others and care provider are strongly recommended. Of course, health services should not be denied to anyone. Conduct a stock taking exercise of the latest approaches, research findings, institutional arrangem ents, successful program s and best practices available in other countries including what they have done for children facing different threats, risks and problems.

66 / 132

6. Others: I t is widely believed that children who have their leisure tim e filled with beneficial activities are healthy children, m entally and physically. I t is therefore recom m ended that a com prehensive plan for children recreational activities be put forward for the children of Tehran, especially for the vulnerable and disadvantaged ones. The num ber of classes provided by cultural centers, especially those of Tehran Municipality to fill the leisure tim es for thousands of children and youth, has been currently operating at a reduced scale. I t is recom m ended that the num ber of classes be increased and religious subjects range from m usic, art, Computer literacy, crafts in addition to the usual subjects. Ways should be found to augm ent the resources allocated to public organizations for addressing the needs and problem s of refugee children; otherwise, the broad spectrum of problem s posed by these children will lead to a plethora of social ills, which would have broader consequences reaching to all children in society regardless of status. I t is recom m ended that m easures be taken to narrow, or better still, elim inate the wide gap existing between policy and practice. Government officials have to review public policies which are restrictive instead of facilitating.

67 / 132

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abbasi,M. et al “Return to Afghanistan?” A study of Afghans living in Tehran, Kabul: Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, 2005a.

Abbasi, M. et al, “Return to Afghanistan?” A study of Afghans living in Mashhad, Kabul: Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, 2005b.

Abbasi, M. et al “Return to Afghanistan?” A study of Afghans living in Zahedan, Kabul: Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, 2005c.

Aebadi, Shirin, “Legal Barriers in Children’s Participation” Quarterly of Social Welfare, Vol.2, No.7, 1382*

Association of Generous School Builders, Annual Report of I ranian School Builders, Tehran, 2003

Association for the Protection of Working Children, Newsletter, Vol.1, No.2, Summer 1382, Tehran, 1382

Babaie, Nemat, “Children’s Health Needs in View of Social Change” Quarterly of Social Welfare, Vol.2, No.7, 1382

Baghi, Emad Aldin, “The case study of children’s trampled rights in Iran”, Quarterly of Social Welfare, Vol. 4, No.16, Spring 2005.

Bonian Daily, “Governm ent I nstitutions working in Youth-related areas are not Functional”, Tehran, 1381, No.8, p.6

Children of the World Research I nstitute, “ Meeting of the Search for the Future, Planning to teach Art&Children”, Tehran, 1379

Children of the World Research I nstitute, Care Projects for Sm all Children Growth, Objectives, principles and Strategies, Tehran 1380

Children of the World Research I nstitute, Report of the 4 th Meeting of the Mem bers of CWRI, Mazandaran (no date given)

Children of the World Research I nstitute, Report Concerning I nstitute Activities, 1373, 1383, Tehran, 1383

Children of the World Research I nstitute, Brain-storm ing Workshop for street and working Children: A Report, Tehran 1382

68 / 132

Children of the World Research I nstitute, I nstitute’s Activities Concerning Children, Tehran, 1382

Center for Juvenile Delinquents, Performance Report, Tehran, 1383

Center for the Mental Developm ent of Children and Youth, Center’s Agenda, Tehran, 1380

Center for the Mental Developm ent of Children and Youth, Newsletter, Vol.4, No.1, Tehran, 1383

Center for the Mental Developm ent of Children and Youth, Newsletter, Vol.4, No.2, Tehran, 1383

Center for the Mental Developm ent of Children and Youth, Center at a Glance, Tehran, 1381

Citizenship, monthly, “Street Children” , Tehran 1381, No.8, p.12

Eatemad Daily, “National Document for the Revitalization and Rehabilitation of Informal Settlements in Iran” 1381, 1 st year, No.113, p.4

Ghasem zadeh, Fatem e, “ Tehran’s Street Children” Quarterly of Social Welfare, Vol.2, No.7, 1382

Ghasem zadeh, Fatem e et al, “Street Children: A Round Table” Quarterly of Social Welfare, Vol.1, No.3, 1384

Ham shari Daily, “Hom e&School Cooperation for a better Future” , No.1201, 5 th year, Saturday, Esfand 4, 1375, p.5

Hamshari Daily, “Putting an end to Children’s “, No.373, 2 nd year, 1373, p.5

Ham shari Daily, “Tehran Municipality enters the area of Divorce Prevention” , Tehran, 11th year, No.2973, p.5

Ham shari Daily, “Changes in the Educational System is a 1 st step toward Development”, Tehran, 1374, 3rd year, no.746, p.8

Hayate No Daily, “Suicide as a Major Problem” Tehran, 1380, 2 nd year, no.339, pp 6-7

Hayate No Daily, “Addiction Growth Among the Youth”, No.303, 1380, pp 6-7

Hamyaran, Progress Report, Hamyaran Iran NGO Resource Center, Tehran, July, 2003

69 / 132 Human Development Report of the I.R. of Iran, Ministry of Health & UN, Tehran, 1999.

I nstitute for the Socially Abused, Reihaneh House, Executive Program for Street Children (Girls), Summer, 1378

I nstitute for Managem ent and Planning, Education and Research, Forecasting Population of Provinces, Tehran, 1381

I nstitute for Research on Planning and Developm ent, The First I nternational Workshop on I ntegrated Approach to Reproductive health and Fam ily Planning in the I slam ic Republic of Iran, Tehran, 2000

Iran Focus, Internet, December, 2005

Iran Statistical Center, Iran Statistical Yearbook for 1380, Tehran, 1381&1382 (2002-3)

Iran, daily, “X: a new page in the history of drug addiction in Iran”, Tehran, 1382

Iran, daily, “ Children lacking identity, a potential danger increasing social problem s”, June 14, 2005, P.6.

Kam ali, Moham m ad, “ A Review of Disabled Children’s Rights” Quarterly of Social Welfare, Vol.2, No.7, 1382

Kam kar, Mahdis, “Review of UNI CEF’s attitude, perspective and perform ance concerning children participation” Quarterly of Social Welfare, Vol.2, No.7, 1382

Madani, Saeid, The Third Generation of Crim es and Social Problem s in I ran, I ran Daily, Sept.10.2005.

Managem ent&Planning Organization, I ran’s Statistical Center, Adjustm ent and Estimation of Shahrestan Population, Tehran, 1382

Management&Planning Organization, I ran’s Statistical Center, Socio-economic Characteristics of Women in Iran, 1986-1996, Tehran, 2001

Mehdizadeh, Azar, Marriage in I ran: Survey of Trends, unpublished MA Thesis, Tehran, 2003.

Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran’s Health Problems, Tehran, 1381

Ministry of Health and Medical Education, I ran Dem ographic & Health Survey, DHS, Tehran, 1379

Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Survey of Children Nutrition in the Provinces, Tehran, 1377

70 / 132

Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Survey of Health&Developm ent in the Provinces, Tehran, 1376

Piran, Parviz, “A New Face of Poverty in I ran: Tehran’s Street Children” Paper presented at a poverty study group MEAWARDS workshop, Rabat, May 2003

Piran, Parviz, “Effects of Social I nteraction between Afgan Refugees and I ranians on Reproductive Health Attitudes,” Disasters, London, Blackwell Publishers, Vol.28, No.3, September, 2004

Piran, Parviz, “Male Domination and Women’s Reproductive Health”, Quarterly of Social Welfare, Vol.3, No.13, 1383

Piran, Parviz, “Poverty Alleviation in Sistan & Baluchestan: The Case of Shirabad” , UNDP, Tehran 2002

Piran, Parviz, “Social Assessment and Poverty Mapping in Iran” World Bank, 2002

Piran, Parviz, “Toward Citizenship and Sustainability: School Mayors’ Project”, 3 Vols., Tehran Municipality, Tehran, 1374

Piran, Parviz, Citizen’s Centered Cities (A series of 5 articles), Monthly of Politics and Economics, Tehran, 1376-1377

Piran, Parviz, I nform al Settlem ents in I ran (A series of 15 articles), Monthly of Politics and Economics, 1367-1369

Piran, Parviz, ‘Culture and Reproductive Health: The Case of Rural Com m unities’, UNFPA, Tehran, 2004-12-10

Rahim i, Movaghar, Afari, et al, “ Survey of Child Abuse in Two Districts of Tehran” Quarterly of Social Welfare, Vol.2, No.7, 1382

Reies Dana, Fariborz, “Deconstruction of Working Children” Quarterly of Social Welfare, Vol.2, No.7, 1382

Rezaie, Afsaneh. “Marriage in Tehran”, Unpublished MA Thesis, Tehran, I slam ic Azad University, 2004.

Sarafi, Mozafar, “Toward a Theory Concerning I nform al Settlem ents”, Haft Shahr Quarterly, Vol.3, No.8, pp. 5-11, Tehran 1381, No.139, p.9

Shargh, Daily, “Lack of Coordination among Children Organization”, Tehran, 1382

71 / 132

Shargh, Daily, “Review of 115 years of NGOs in I ran”, Tehran, 1383, No.238, p.1 of Life Section

Shargh, Daily, “Reporting on 141 cases of suicide New Year 2005”, Apr.30.2005

Shiani, Mallihe, “ Children’s Social Participation” Quarterly of Social Welfare, Vol.2, No.7, 1382

Society for Protecting the Rights of the Child (SPRC), Bulletin, Vol.6, No.73, Bahman 1381

Society for Protecting the Rights of the Child (SPRC), Annual Report of Helping Voice for Children, June 18, 2002-June 18, 2003, Tehran, 1382

Shobeiri, Mojgan, Designing a Center for Street Children, MUP Thesis, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, 1379

Tehran Municipality, General Office for Socio-cultural Affairs Developm ent, “Condition of Street Children Gathered from Tehran Streets”, Shahrivar 1383

Tehran Municipality, General Office for Socio-cultural Affairs Developm ent, “ Centers for Street Children and Youth”, Tehran, 1380

UNFPA, Annual Report 2000, UNFPA Activities in the I slam ic Republic of I ran, Tehran, Dec.2000

UNI CEF, Tehran, Situation of Children and Youth in the I slam ic Republic of I ran, UNICEF, Tehran, 1377

Vaghaih-e-Etefaghieh, Daily, “Class Polarization in Iran”, Tehran, 1383, No.28, p.9

Vam eghi, Maroeh, “Working Children, Concepts and Perspectives” Quarterly of Social Welfare, Vol.2, No.8, 1382

Welfare Organization, North Tehran Welfare Organizations Perform ance, 1377, Tehran, 1378

Welfare Organization, Statistical Report Concerning I WO’s Activities in the year 1377, Tehran, 1378

Welfare Organization, Perform ance Report of the General Office for the Socially Abused, Tehran, 1382

Welfare Organization, Statistical Report, Activities of IWO year 1379, Tehran, 1380

72 / 132 Zinali, Ham zeh, “New Legal I nitiative in Child and Youth Protection and Future Challenges”, Quarterly of Social Welfare, Vol.2, No.7, 1382

Zinali, Hamzeh, “Children’s Protection Law and Conflicting Perspectives” Quarterly of Social Welfare, Vol.3, No.9, 1382

*Iranian year. All Persian-language publications have notations in Iranian years for easy reference.

73 / 132

74 / 132

Annex 1

Table 25: Religious Groups in Iran by Gender, 1986 & 1996

The 1986 Census The 1996 Census

Religion Total Male Female Total Male Female

Muslim 49198228 25157606 24040622 597887791 30379688 29409103 Zoroastrian 32589 16666 15923 27920 14173 13747 Christian 97557 48864 48693 78745 39478 39267 Jew 26354 12583 13771 12737 6381 6356 Other 50529 24830 25699 57579 28366 29213 Not stated 39753 20412 19341 89716 47073 42643

Total 49445010 25280691 24164049 60055488 30515159 29540329

Source, Iran Statistical Yearbook, March 1999 March 2000, p.71

Table 26: Linguistic Groupings in Iran

Language Percentage Language Percentage Language Percentage

Persian 50.2 **Kurdish 5.7 Turkameni 1.7 Azerbaijani 20.6 *Mazandarani 4.9 Armenian 0.6 *Gilani 6.1 **Baluchi 2.3 Assyrian 0.9 *Luri- 5.7 Arabic 2.0 Bakhtiari Source: Halliday, 1979:12 * Persian Dialects ** Old Iranian Languages

75 / 132

Annex 2

Map No.1

Distribution of the Main Linguistic Groups in Iran.

76 / 132

Annex 3

Map No. 2

Administrative Division by Ostan: 1378 (1999)

77 / 132

Annex 4

Table 27: Iran’s Population Growth Rate From 1881 to 2004

YEAR POPULATION RATE OF POPULATION GROWTH %

1881 7654000 0.6 1891 8124000 0.6 1901 8613000 0.6 1911 9143000 0.6 1921 9707000 1.5 1926 10456000 1.4 1931 11185000 1.4 1936 11964000 1.4 1941 12833000 2.0 1946 14159000 2.8 * 1951 16237000 3.1 1956 18954704 3.1 1966 25788722 2.7 1976 33708744 3.9 1986 49445010 2.5 1991 55837163 1.5 1996 60055488 (estimation) 2001 64528159 (estimation) 2002 65540239 (estimation) 2003 66480365 (estimation) 2004 67477499

Source: Data up to 1996, The latest census, Iran Statistical Yearbook 2001, p.48 2001 to 2004 data, Adjustment and Estimation of Sharestan Population, p.19

The year 1921 m arks the full integration of I ran’s econom y into the world capitalist m arket. A few years before then, a m assive nationwide break out of diseases began in rural areas only to be interrupted during the World War II years. It began again in 1946. This was a contributing factor to the population growth, along with the socio-econom ic developm ent of the tim e. I n the year 1976, the Shah regim e’s heavy investm ents on fam ily planning program s began to show som e effects. But after the I slam ic revolution, having large fam ilies was encouraged publicly. However, in 1990, an encom passing social m ovem ent accom panied with econom ic difficulties and a successful com prehensive fam ily

78 / 132 planning program reduced the population growth rate once again and this has continued up to the present.

To reiterate, the population growth rate decreased sharply from 1986 to 1996, a trend due to a few factors, particularly the hardships undergone by poor families in the past decade. This not only played an im portant role in the m aking of decisions on the num ber of children these fam ilies can afford to rear, but also directly contributed to the postponem ent of m arriages. I n parallel, fam ily planning and health program s which have reached even the m ost rem ote villages in the country have been relatively successful.

The problem s which have ensued after the I slam ic revolution and which have lasted for a few years m ust be referred to herein, like the phenom enon of a very high rate of population growth which was encouraged publicly after the revolution. From next year onwards, the baby boom of fifteen to twenty years ago will m ean demands for housing, marriages and jobs. It is believed that there will again be an increase in the rate of population growth alongside an increasing unem ploym ent rate and acute housing shortage. However, because of the awareness caused by the encom passing social m ovem ent, such increasing population growth rate will never reach the m agnitude that it was after the I slam ic revolution. I n fact, it will subside shortly. But it will be m entioned that such a growth in population had lasting effects upon the youth, a segm ent of which is included in the definition of “children” in this report. The postponem ent of m arriage due to econom ic conditions and housing problems is only one of these effects.

Where the housing problem is concerned, this reflects another paradox in I ran. The rate of construction of urban housing has in fact increased sharply in the past ten years. Construction has been the backbone of urban econom y in the sam e period. But because of the speculative nature of construction in the country, m any of the houses built have not been occupied by those dem anding shelter. Thus, despite the sharp increase in housing, the number of families who cannot afford to buy shelter of whatever type has likewise sharply increased. As will be noted, such an observation for studying poverty and incom e disparities in I ran as well as their effects upon the lives of children and the youth, is extremely vital.

The urbanization trend has been steady in Iran. From 1956 (the first census) up to 1996 (the last census), urbanization in I ran increased from 31.4% to 61.3%. In 2002, the percentage of urban population in com parison to the total population was estimated to be around 65%. It is a fact that the increase in urbanization rate has been universally considered as an indicator of modernization. This may be true in som e respects i.e. the increase in literacy, im provem ent of health conditions and increased involvement of women, but, the negative issues accompanying such trend have been easily ignored. Yet, these negative aspects clarify the fact that urbanization in the west is entirely different from the urbanization process in developing countries. The two m ost im portant reasons for such differences are that:

79 / 132 - Urbanization in the western world or the north has been an outcom e of industrialization. I n contrast, the urbanization of the developing societies or the south has been the outcom e of the abnorm al growth of the tertiary sector of economy or services.

- The urbanization of the south has occurred in an extrem ely uneven m anner which has led to what Manuel Castells (1978) calls urban macrocephaly, leading to the em ergence of urban prim acy. Having closely studied the urbanization in I ran, this author com puted the Gini concentration ratio both at the national and provincial levels. Such studies clearly show the state of urban prim acy at both levels and the unevenness is shown in Tables 28 and 29, Annexes 5 and 6, respectively. Relevant information is presented along with the tables.

I t is interesting to note as well that the rate of Tehran’s population growth between 1996 and 2000 was 2.9%. Yet the rate of population growth of Greater Tehran in the sam e period was around 24%. This difference points to a very im portant trend; and that is, the m igration to Tehran is constantly increasing. Housing proves to be a problem . Whether to buy or rent, a m ajority of new com ers and a good proportion of the newly m arried who are not m igrants and which lead to the creation of new fam ilies, cannot afford housing in any of the 22 districts of Tehran m unicipality. Thus explains the existence of over 1000 form al and inform al settlem ents which are m ostly poverty stricken. Furtherm ore, this testifies to the fact that Tehran, apart from its rank within the country, has a high num ber of poor people. And needless to say, children of these poor fam ilies are facing a host of problems which will be discussed shortly in this report.

Urban prim acy, at both the national and provincial levels, coupled with constant and rapid growth in Tehran as a leading case, has acted as a real obstacle to genuine developm ent in the country, especially in the past 40 years. The fact is that the prim ary urban centers attract capital accum ulated in the villages, towns and other cities. Meanwhile, num erous parasite (non-productive) em ploym ent opportunities are created due to the concentration of population in a few m ajor cities. This in turn leads to increased m igration to those urban centers thereby reducing development opportunities in most parts of the country. This expands the uneven concentration of capital and population, and also deepens interregional disparities. The street children of Tehran and a few other m ajor cities are direct by-products of these disparities. A study, which will be reviewed later, clearly indicates that a good num ber of Tehran’s street children have com e to Tehran from other parts of the country.

The rapid growth of Tehran and a few m ajor urban centers, as based upon the tertiary sector of the econom y, like Mashhad, I sfahan, Shiraz, and Tabriz, also prevents the investm ent of accum ulated capital in industry and agriculture. A thorough review of m igration from rural to urban areas in the past 40 years reveals that two types of social groups have constantly left their villages.

80 / 132 The first group com prises the agricultural laborers who do not own land; thus, they are referred to as Khoshneshin, or the landless. The m agnitude of m igration of this group corresponds to the growth of urban centers which in itself indicates the availability of urban parasite jobs. The second group represents the rural rich who are able to invest their wealth in the growing urban centers giving way to an accum ulation of m ore wealth in a m agnitude im possible to attain through agriculture. The outcom e is clear: the stagnation of the rural areas of I ran (see Piran, 1984, 1989 and 2002).

However, billions of US dollars have been invested in agriculture since the victory of the I slam ic revolution and after the declaration that agriculture, being the leading sector of the econom y, should be developed rapidly. This has, to som e degree, increased food production as well as the production of other agricultural item s. But, it has not been able to change the fate of the country’s rural communities.

Mism anagem ent of resources, which has been pointed out over and over again even by the officials them selves, is only one of the reasons (see Gholi nia et al, 200). I n fact, m ost of those who have benefited from agricultural investm ents have left the villages for the urban centers, taking with them their accum ulated wealth. Seemingly, the end result of three decades (2 decades before the I slamic revolution and 1 decade after) of pouring capital into the rural areas of I ran has been the em ergence and consolidation of the m entality of being beneficiaries. The rural population strongly believes that it is the governm ent who is responsible for all affairs of the villages.

I n various field investigations, in which this author has been present, village residents when confronted with any issue related to the developm ent of their village or any other m atter, request that the governm ent should do som ething. Such a m entality hindered possibilities in im plem enting participatory projects. However, due to the lack of resources and the em erging social m ovem ent in I ran, conditions are ripe for changes in attitude. It must be said though, that this kind of mentality, as has been m entioned, when viewed in the face of econom ic adjustm ents or a “ m odification policy” as referred to in I ran in which the governm ent has m odified its policies toward subsidy especially in the welfare sector, has contributed m uch to the agony of m any fam ilies used to receiving various services and goods free of charge. The children and the youth in these families are the ones who suffer the most.

81 / 132

Annex 5

Table 28: Gini Concentration Ratio Urban Centers of Iran 1900, 1956, 1976, 1986 GINI YEAR CONCENTRATION RATIO

1900 .5147 1956 .6363 1966 .6830 1976 .7446 1986 .7564* Source: Piran, 1989:74

* The ratio for 1986 however is high (maximum of Gini concentration ratio is one) and does not reflect reality because in the 1986 census, Tehran’s population count was restricted to 20 districts of Tehran municipality. But Tehran is now extended to an area way beyond the surface area of municipal districts.

82 / 132

Annex 6

Table 29: Percentage of Population of the Capital City in each Province to the Province’s Total Population 1986- 1996*

PROVINCE CAPITAL CITY % 1986 % 1996

Tehran Tehran 79.9 60.4 Kermanshahan Kermanshah 68.3 39 Hormozgan Bandar Abbas 65.3 25.8 Yazd Yazd 60.7 43.5 Sistan&Baluchestan Zahedan 58.4 24.4 Khorasan Mashhad 57.3 31.2 Ilam Ilam 56.9 25.9 Markazi Arak 55.8 31 Fars Shiraz 51.8 27.6 Azerbaijan East Tabriz 48.9 35.8 Hamedan Hamedan 48.2 24 Kurdestan Sanandaj 47.3 32.3 Isfahan Isfahan 47 21.9 Khuzestan Ahwaz 39.4 18.6 Gilan Rasht 37.2 19.2 Kerman Kerman 36.3 19.3 Boushehr Boushehr 34.5 17.4 Azerbaijan West Oromieh 33.4 17.2 Lorestan Khoramabad 32.6 13.2 Chahar Mahal Shahre Kord 32.5 27.6 Zanjan Zanjan 31.4 Kohkiloieh Yasouj 26.7 Semnan Semnan 26.5 Mazandaran Sari 10.7 4.9 Qazvin Qazvin - Ardabil Ardabil *** 29.1 Source: Piran, 1997. * Since the 1996 census, four new provinces have been established. ** Qazvin became a new province after 1996. *** Ardabil was a part of Azerbaijan East in 1986.

According to this table, the percentages of the populations of the provincial capitals as based on their total populations, reduced between 1986 and 1996. Aside from this, based on the 1996 census, m ore than one-third of the total

83 / 132 population in seven provinces lived in the capital cities. To understand the depth of the uneven distribution of population as a result of m assive urbanization in the past three decades, the ratio between populations of the provinces’ capitals to the second major city in the same province is presented in Table 30 (see annex 7).

The population of Tehran as presented in the 1996 census represented only 20 districts of Tehran City (two new districts were created after the 1986 census). The figure given did not include a few m ajor cities and over 1000 form al and informal settlements around Tehran, dormitories of Tehran, so to speak.

Considering the above, it is estim ated that Tehran’s daytim e population in 2000 exceeded 12 m illion, a little less than one-fifth of I ran’s total population. Still, to grasp the depth of the uneven concentration of urban population, what is to be taken into account is that the populations of six m ajor cities and their adjoining formal and informal settlements are close to 50% of Iran’s population in 2001 (see Piran, 1989, 1991, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002).

84 / 132

Annex 7

Table 30: The Ratio Between Populations of the Capital of each Province to the Second Major City in the Same Province

P1 / P2

PROVINCE CAPITAL SECOND MAJOR CITY 1986 1996

Khorasan Mashhad Neishabour 11.2 11.9 Tehran Tehran Karaj 10.9 7.2 Fars Shiraz Marvdasht 9.9 10.2 Kermanshah Kermanshah Isalam Abbad 7.7 8.9 Isfahan Isfahan Najafabad 7.1 7.1 Azerbayjan (East) Tabriz Khoi 3.4 8 Sistan&Baluchistan Zahedan Zabol 6.8 4.1 Khuzestan Ahwaz Abadan 4.1 3.9

The second major cities in 20 provinces had less than 100,000 in population in 1996. (Source: Piran, 1986:95-99 & 2001:164)

85 / 132

Annex 8

Table 31: A Few Important Economic Indices 1991- 2001

YEAR INDEX UNIT 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001

GNP (Factor Price) Billion 13264.1 14049.5 14742.2 14984.6 15454.6 16192.3 16698.2 17046.8 17455.1 18484.9 19372.3 Rls GNP (Growth) % 10.1 5.9 4.9 1.6 3.1 4.7 3.1 2.1 2.4 5.9 4.8 Population Million 55.8 56.6 57.5 58.3 59.2 60.1 61 61.9 62.8 63.9 64.9 Per- capita Production 1000 Rls 237 248 256 257 262 269 274 275 275 289 298 National 1000 Rls 11010.1 11563.1 11893.5 11700.7 12199.6 13115.7 13560.8 13770.4 14209.1 - - Income Per- capita Income 1000 Rls 197 204 207 201 206 218 222 222 226 - - Gross Domestic Billion 1943 2077 2132 2206 2289 2467 2461 2307 2495 2705 2973 Investment Rials Ratio of Investment % 14.6 14.8 14.5 14.7 14.8 15.2 14.7 13.5 14.3 14.6 15.3 Production Foreign Million 16012 16880 14333 14603 15103 19271 15471 9933 17089 24226 19334 Currencies from US$ gas & oil Export Income Million 2449 2988 3747 4831 3257 3120 2910 3185 3941 4119 4377 From US$ Non- oil export Total Income Million 18661 19868 18080 19434 18360 22391 18381 13118 21030 28345 23711 From export US$ Total value Million 25190 23274 19284 12617 12774 14989 14123 14286 13423 15207 18138 Of imports US$ Price Index for 1990= 100 220.7 150.1 184.4 249.3 372.4 458.2 538.2 635.6 763.2 893.3 957.6 Commodities & Services Inflation Rate % 20.7 24.4 22.9 35.2 49.4 23.2 17.2 18.1 20.1 12.6 11.4 Gini Coefficient - 0.4 0.389 0.398 0.399 0.407 0.391 - - - - -

Source: Aineh Jonob Daily, No.6 Mordad 1381 (2002)

86 / 132

Annex 9

Table 32: Health Indicators Tehran Province ( 2000) [ Population based on the 1996 Census 11, 176, 239]

Indicator No. % % Rural % % Female Total Country Indicator Rural Urban Urban Female Male Male % Rank Type Ratio Ratio

1 Non-consumption of safe 1.4 0 1.4 - - - 0.2 28 Households drinking water 2 Not using sanitary toilets 22.0 15.0 1.5 - - - 14.7 28 3 Not using iodized salt in food 1.7 1.0 1.7 - - - 1.3 25 4 Infants under 4-mos. not 56.2 38.8 1.4 19.9 65.5 0.3 38.6 08 exclusively breast fed 5 Infants not immunized with 3.1 1.5 2.1 0.8 1.6 0.5 1.8 17 DPT (3) vaccine 6 Infants not immunized with 3.1 1.5 2.1 0.8 1.6 4.7 1.7 05 DPV (3) vaccine 7 Infants not immunized with 1.6 4.3 0.4 5.6 1.2 6.8 4.8 18 measles vaccine 8 Infants not immunized with 0.18 1.8 0.1 2.4 2.8 0.9 4.58 22 BCG vaccine 9 Infants not immunized with 12.5 7.3 1.7 7.1 7.6 0.5 8.1 11 Hepatitis B vaccine 10 Diarrhea cases of those 9.9 10.0 1.0 6.5 13.1 0.5 10.0 15 under 5 years

n 11 Anti-diarrhea drug 63.4 55.8 1.2 30.5 64.8 0.7 56.2 10 e prescription r 12 Not getting oral re-hydration 48.8 42.9 1.1 29.2 44.5 0.6 43.8 d 23 l

i 13 Infants not registered at birth 7.7 8.3 0.9 6.7 10.2 0.5 8.3 21

h 14 Prevalence of child labor 0.6 0.2 3.0 0.1 0.2 1.0 0.3 27 C 15 Children under-5 years old 54.8 45.4 1.2 47.2 46.3 1.0 48.7 24 not insured 16 Children between 6-17 years 53.3 36.9 1.4 38.1 39.1 0.33 39.2 24 of age not insured 17 Children between 6-10 years 1.2 0 1.2 0.09 0.3 0.5 8.2 28 of age not enrolled 18 Children between 11-17 18.4 6.9 2.7 5.9 11.0 - 8.1 28 years of age not enrolled 19 Prevalence of blindness 0.3 0.2 1.5 - - - 0.2 14 20 Prevalence of deafness 0.4 0.1 4.0 - - - 0.1 22 21 Prevalence of physical and 1.3 0.5 2.6 - - - 0.6 17 motor paralysis 22 Prevalence of mental 0.7 0.3 2.3 - - - 0.4 20 retardation

Source: UNFPA, Iran

87 / 132

Annex 10

Table 33: Iran’s Basic Demographic Indicators F G P P P P F R G H H H F F U U E H M H R H R N N N N N A O O O O R R A S Y E A A O O O T T T T S S M R R O O U O U O O O O O A M M A P P P P I O T E N I I I I M M Z U I U U I B B R R O O O O A L L L . . . . . L Z Z U U E U U T A I / W D E L F S S S I I O O O O O D A D A D A A E E L E N N N N I L L L L L L R E O O Y E E E T E S S S S N N F F F F F L L A A A A Y Y R H F - - - S - - - -

1956 18954704 3985680 4.7 9544944 9309760 1.03 5953563 1261372 4.7 13001141 2724308 4.8 3.1 1966 25788722 5167192 4.9 13355801 12432921 1.07 9794246 1962023 4.9 15994476 3205169 5 2.7 1976 33708744 6711628 5 17356347 16352397 1.06 15854680 3265524 4.8 17854064 3446104 5.2 3.9 1986 49445010 9673931 5.1 25286961 24164049 1.04 26844561 5528542 4.85 22349351 4099857 5.5 2.5 1991 55837163 10787227 5.4 28768450 27068713 1.06 31836598 6523824 4.9 23636591 4203722 5.6 1.5 1996 60055488 12398235 4.8 30515 29540 1.03 36817789 7948925 4.6 23626293 4410370 5.3

Source: Iran Statistical year books for various years. [Note: Infant mortality rate in Iran for the year 2000 equals 30]

88 / 132

Annex 11

Table 34: HDI Ranking

Ranking Province HDI

1 Tehran 0.842 2 Ghom 0.795 3 Isfahan 0.789 4 Fars 0.785 5 Yazd 0.778 6 Gilan 0.759 7 Semnan 0.751 8 Markazi 0.75 9 Kermanshah 0.747 10 Khuzestan 0.746 11 Kerman 0.729 12 Mazandaran 0.724 13 East Azerbaijan 0.719 14 Bushehr 0.706 15 Ardabil 0.705 16 Khorasan 0.698 17 Hormozgan 0.693 18 Chahar mahal & Bakhtiari 0.682 19 Lorestan 0.68 20 Ilam 0.675 21 West Azerbaijan 0.65 22 Zanjan 0.649 23 Hamedan 0.637 24 Kohgiloye & Boyerahmad 0.623 25 Kurdestan 0.619 26 Sistan & Blauchestan 0.545

HDI = Human Development Index Note: In 1991, Qazvin and Golestan were not considered as provinces. Qazvin was then part of Zanjan and Golestan was part of Mazandaran. Khorasan Province also, has now been divided into three provinces. Source: Hum an Developm ent Report of the I .R. of I ran, MOH & UN,1999: 21

89 / 132

Annex 12

Table 35: GDI Ranking

RANKING PROVINCE GDI

1 Gilan 0.647 2 Yazd 0.642 3 Isfahan 0.614 4 Tehran 0.61 5 Fars 0.584 6 Semnan 0.573 7 Mazandaran 0.566 8 Char mahal & Bakhtiari 0.564 9 Markazi 0.563 10 Kerman 0.562 11 Ghom 0.555 12 Khorasan 0.552 13 East Azerbaijan 0.542 14 Kermanshah 0.525 15 Ilam 0.52 16 Khuzestan 0.515 17 Bushehr 0.51 18 Ardabil 0.51 19 Lorestan 0.499 20 Hamedan 0.492 21 Kohgiloye & Boyrahmad 0.491 22 Zanjan 0.49 23 Hormozgan 0.486 24 West Azerbaijan 0.474 25 Kurdestan 0.448 26 Sistan & Baluchestan 0.393 Source: Human Development Report… GDI = Gender-related Development Index Note: In 1991, Qazvin and Golestan were not considered as provinces. Qazvin was then part of Zanjan, and Golestan was part of Mazandaran. Khorasan Province also, has now been divided into three.

90 / 132

Annex 13

Table 36: GEM Ranking

RANKING PROVINCE GEM

1 Tehran 0.441 2 Isfahan 0.386 3 Hamedan 0.38 4 Khorasan 0.338 5 West Azerbaijan 0.316 6 Gilan 0.276 7 Kerman 0.271 8 Zanjan 0.251 9 Kermanshah 0.246 10 Semnan 0.245 11 Mazandaran 0.245 12 Yazd 0.244 13 Chahar mahal & Bakhtiari 0.243 14 Markazi 0.236 15 Fars 0.232 16 Ghom 0.229 17 East Azerbaijan 0.229 18 Ilam 0.226 19 Khuzestan 0.225 20 Kurdestan 0.225 21 Bushehr 0.223 22 Hormozgan 0.22 23 Sistan & Baluchistan 0.22 24 Lorestan 0.207 25 Ardabil 0.205 26 Kohgiloye & Boyerahmad 0.164 Source: Human Development Report, p. 21 GEM = Gender Empowerment Measure

91 / 132

Annex 14

Table 37: HPI Ranking

RANKING PROVINCE HPI

1 Tehran 11.3 2 Semnan 15 3 Isfahan 15.4 4 Yazd 16.1 5 Ghom 17.6 6 Fars 20.8 7 Gilan 20.9 8 Markazi 21.1 9 Bushehr 21.7 10 Mazandaran 22.1 11 Kerman 22.0 12 Khorasan 23.1 13 Khuzestan 23.5 14 Ilam 23.7 15 Chahar mahal & Bakhtiari 24.6 16 Kermanshah 24.8 17 East Azerbaijan 25.2 18 Hamedan 26.2 19 Lorestan 27.6 20 Hormozgan 27.7 21 Zanjan 28.5 22 Ardabil 29.8 23 West Azerbaijan 30.4 24 Kurdestan 31.7 25 Kohgiloye & Boyerhamad 33.2 26 Sistan & Baluchestan 39.5

HPI = Human Poverty Index Source: Human Development Report…p. 21.

92 / 132

Annex 15

Table 38: Human Development by Provinces, 1996

RANKING PROVINCE HDI GDI GEM HPI

1 Tehran 0.842 0.61 0.441 11.3 2 Ghom 0.795 0.555 0.229 17.6 3 Isfahan 0.789 0.614 0.386 15.4 4 Fars 0.785 0.584 0.232 20.8 5 Yazd 0.778 0.642 0.244 16.1 6 Gilan 0.759 0.646 0.276 20.9 7 Semnan 0.751 0.573 0.245 15 8 Markazi 0.75 0.563 0.236 21.1 9 Kermanshah 0.747 0.525 0.246 24.8 10 Khuzestan 0.746 0.515 0.225 23.5 11 Kerman 0.729 0.562 0.271 22.9 12 Mazandaran 0.724 0.566 0.245 22.1 13 East Azerbaijan 0.719 0.542 0.229 25.2 14 Bushehr 0.706 0.51 0.223 22.7 15 Ardabil 0.705 0.51 0.205 29.8 16 Khorasan 0.698 0.552 0.338 23.1 17 Hormozgan 0.693 0.486 0.22 27.7 18 Chahar mahal & Bakhtiari 0.682 0.564 0.243 24.6 19 Lorestan 0.68 0.499 0.207 27.6 20 Ilam 0.675 0.52 0.226 23.7 21 West Azerbaijan 0.65 0.474 0.316 30.4 22 Zanjan 0.649 0.49 0.251 28.5 23 Hamedan 0.637 0.492 0.38 26.2 24 Kohgiloye & Boyerhamad 0.623 0.491 0.164 33.2 25 Kurdestan 0.619 0.448 0.225 31.7 26 Sistan & Baluchestan 0.545 0.393 0.22 39.5 Source: Human Development Report…p, 21 & UNFPA, 2000. HDI = Human Development Index GDI = Gender-related Development Index GEM = Gender Empowerment Measure HPI = Human Poverty Index

93 / 132

Annex 16

Table 39: Children’s Population ( 0 – 19 years of age)

YEARS 1956 1966 1976 1986 1991 1996 AGE GROUPS

Country’s Population 18954704 25788722 33708744 49445010 55837163 60055488 All ages 0 -4 3347698 4556035 5429712 9044823 8141285 6163024 5 - 9 2822975 4232870 5276533 7525894 9035458 8481845 10 – 14 1822483 3098101 4303118 5903300 7547131 9080676 15 – 19 1420524 2180887 3660265 5192202 5908903 7115547

Source: Statistical Yearbook 2001 (Latest census in I ran took place in 1996 and the next one will take place in the current year, 2006,

Table 40: Percentage of each Age Group to Total Population

0 – 4 17.66 17.66 16.10 18.29 19.58 10.26 5 – 9 14.89 16.41 15.65 15.22 16.18 14.12 10 – 14 9.61 12.01 12.76 11.93 13.51 15.12 14 – 19 7.49 9.45 10.68 10.50 10.58 11.84 Total Population 9413680 14067893 18609628 27666219 30632777 30841092 0 – 19 & % 49.66 54.55 55.20 55.95 54.86 51.35

Source: Percentages have been computed by this author based upon Iran Statistical Yearbook 2001

94 / 132

Annex 17

Table 41: Children’s Population ( 0 – 18) Each Year and Gender ( 2001)

AGE TOTAL MALE FEMALE (Including percentages) (Including percentages) 1 1020936 524927 – 51.4% 496009 – 48.58% 1 1101725 567386 – 51.49% 534339 – 48.50% 2 1237664 634744 – 51.28% 602920 – 48.71% 3 1342773 688340 – 51.26% 654433 – 48.73% 4 1459926 748711 – 51.28% 711215 – 48.71% 5 1590699 813850 – 51.16% 776849 – 48.83% 6 1657313 848487 – 51.19% 808826 – 48.80% 7 1725106 880283 – 51.02% 844823 – 48.97% 8 1743630 890196 – 51.05% 853434 – 48.94% 9 1765097 891349 – 50.49% 873748 – 49.50% 10 1878591 954425 – 50.80% 924166 – 49.19% 11 1878059 955677 – 50.88% 922382 – 49.11% 12 1886133 961001 – 50.95% 925132 – 49.04% 13 1762349 897615 – 50.93% 864734 – 49.07% 14 1675544 853755 - 821789 – 50.95% 15 1667703 850705m – 51.01% 816998 – 48.99% 16 1545991 786762 – 50.89% 759229 – 49.11% 17 1415438 717211 – 50.67% 698227 – 49.33% 18 1322808 661959 – 50.04 660849 – 49.96% TOTAL 0 – 18 29677485 15127383 – 50.97% 14550102 – 40.03%

% of TOTAL 49.41% 49.57% 49.25% POPULATION

Source: Iran Statistical Yearbook 2001

95 / 132

Annex 18

Table 42: Types of Assistance Offered by the WO to Students and a Profile of the Recipients (Tehran Province)

Total Number Elementary Level Intermediate Level High School Level Students School Level of Students Ages 6 – 11 Ages 12 – 15 Ages 16 – 18 in RAFE Total Girls Boys Total Girls Boys Total Girls Boys Total Girls Boys Type Program of Assistance

Total 118513 56754 61759 53665 25898 27767 36183 16733 19450 27887 13852 14035 421 Social 401 Assistance 88457 44053 44404 35734 18176 17558 29096 13875 15221 22849 11731 11118

Total 30056 12701 17355 17931 7722 10209 7087 2858 4229 5038 2121 2917 20 s m a r Mental 8745 3558 5187 7720 3246 4474 953 283 670 71 29 42 - g o r P

n Physical 11824 4829 6995 4772 1978 2794 3705 1495 2210 3347 1356 1991 12 o i

t Movement a t i l i b

a Blind 3163 1293 1870 1590 635 955 891 372 519 682 286 396 6 h e R

Deaf 6325 3021 3304 3849 1863 1986 1538 708 830 938 450 488 2

Source: Welfare Organization of Tehran, Statistical Report, Performance (2000-2001), p.41

96 / 132

Annex 19

Table 43: List of NGOs and Charities Serving Children in Tehran

I NAME IN PERSIAN SHORT- T

E AND ENGLISH; MAIN AREA OF IMPLEMENTED ACHIEVE- COMINGS, M YEAR TARGET CONCENTRA- TION PROGRAMS MENTS PROBLEMS ESTABLISHED GROUPS AND CONS- TRAINTS Anjoman-e- - Researches Introducing - Financial 1 Pajohesh-hai Children Research on on the children and Constraints Amozeshi Pooya and the Education educational youth science - Low level (Pooya youth domains activities of Educational (aged 6 to - Preparation recognition Association) 24) of articles of and 1358 (1979) association cooperation from the public sector Anjoman-e- Children 2 tarviz Taghzieh (aged 0 to - Nutrition Consultation Financial ba shire modar 3) Problems (Association And - Public for the Mothers Awareness Promotion of Breast Feeding) Anjoman-e- - - Helping This society - Sometimes 3 hemayat az Children Children’s/street voice Program has been government Hoghogh-e- (aged 0 to children’s rights (hot line for very agencies do kodakan 18) - Propagation of children; successful. It not (Society for the 2288 hours of has provided cooperate as the Protection Declaration of answering shelter for expected of Children’s Children’s calls in 2002- over 500 - poor Rights) Rights 2003; 2443 street coordination 1373 (1994) - Children in children have children. - limited danger called in the - “Helping resources - Disadvantaged same year) Voice” - legal Children - Serving program has limitations children in been a disasters success story programs - Organizing - Working a number of children workshops program and conferences

97 / 132

Anjoman-e- hamian - Research - hoghogh-e- programs Enhancement - Poor kodak - Children’s - of people’s coordination 4 (Association rights Consultations knowledge among of Supporters Children - Delinquency - Vocational about government of Children’s aged 0 to - Children’s Training children’s organizations Rights) 18 participation - Legal rights - Suspicions 1381 (2002) - Children’s Assistance - on NGOs problems - Public Collaboration - Lack of awareness with proper programs international resources and national (human, NGOs financial, etc) Anjoman-e- - Financial - Clinical 5 hemayat az All Thalessemia support for support and Resources bimaran Thalessemic thalessemic social work Tallacemy patients; patients activities for (Association particularly - patients and for the children Collaboration their families support of aged 0 to with hospitals Thalessemic 18 - Public patients) awareness 1368 (1989) programs Anjoman-e- - Children - Child Establishment 6 hemayat az at risk Shelter of a center to kodakan-e-kar - Working Social Problems Program help (Association children - Practical vulnerable for the - Street actions to children in support of children protect the south of working working and Tehran children) street (Darvazeh children Ghar) Shoorai-e- - Publishing Publication of 7 ketabe Kodak Educational Children’s and a number of (Council for Children youth’s books very Children’s aged 2 to Cultural encyclopedias well received Books) 18 - Publishing by children 1962 children’s and the youth books

Sazeman-e- - Promotion The 8 eslami-e- of human promotion of binolmelaly defaa Children Protection of rights with a culture of az haghoghe Aged 0 to Rights emphasis on peace and a Kodak (International 18 Children’s non-violent Islamic rights lifestyle Organization for - Educating the Protection of people about Children’s Rights) children’s rights

98 / 132

9 Moasese - Cultural - Promotion Modaran-e- - Educational of peace and Empowering emruz Mothers - Health Issues tolerance Families (Institute of and - Promotion Today’s Children of book Mothers) aged 0 to reading 1378 (1998) 18 - Promotion of environmental protection Anjoman-e- - Educational 10 hemayat az programs So far, the aghabmandegan Retarded - support of a zehni va badani Children Children Rehabilitation few hundred (Association Aged 0 to programs for the 18 protection of the Mentally and Physically Retarded)

Anjoman-e- - Juvenile - Organizing - Study of social - Financial 11 manian Children Delinquents volunteers Problems Resources Kodak va and - Rights - Public targeting - Lack of nojavanan the youth - Protection awareness Children coordinatio (Association of aged Programs - Prevention n among Children and 0 to 18 - Consultation activities NGOs Youth - Children’s - Neglect Supporters) (legal/psycholo health of public gical) - Children’s sector - Research participation Concerning the role of NGOs - Legal barriers Anjoman-e- - Education - Enhancem ent 12 modiran-e- Children - Research of mahdhai Kodak Aged - Planning those working (Association of 1 to 5 with Principals of pre-school Pre- school children Institutions) 1372 (1993) 13 Coopera tion with The WO office of Pre-school Anjoman-e- - Educational 13 Training 13 Khireieh Children programs Workshops for Hamishe- aged 0 to Mental Health - Psychological Physicians baharan 18 Counseling 13 Knowled (Hamishe - Public ge Baharan awareness

99 / 132

Charity Programs Enhancement Association) 13 Establis Workshops for hment parents of Mental rehabilitation centers Anjoman-e- 14 elmi Gifted - Health Issues Kodakan Children - Problems of estesnaie Iran Aged Exceptional (Scientific 2 to 18 children Association for Iran’s exceptional Children)

Anjoman-e- Publishing 15 Nevisandegan- Children - Educational books Chelcheragh e-kodak va Aged - Cultural and journals Weekly Nojavanan 2 to 18 for children (Association of and the Children youth and Youth Writers)

Anjoman-e- Children Training 16 honar-e Aged 3 to Artistic workshops for Kodak va 18 Issues teachers who najavanan teach art (Children and courses Youth for children Art Association)

Bashgah-e- Children License issued Educational 17 hoghogh-e Aged Students’ by activities Danesh amuzi 6 to 18 Rights UNESCO related to (Students’ students’ rights Rights Club)

Bashgah - License 18 UNESCO-ie- issued by pishgiri az Children Prevention UNESCO Eatiade Aged activities 13 Public Daneshamuzan 6 to 18 campaig (UNESCO club ns for for the Preventing Prevention of addiction addiction Among students) 1383 (2004)

100 / 132

- Wave Festival 19 Grohe- - Programs 2001 bachehai ab Children Awareness teaching - Participation (Children for Aged concerning children how in environm ent water 10 to 18 water use and they should exhibition 2003 Protection treatment use water and - Painting Group) reduce exhibitions on 1379 (2000) consumption issues related - to water Environmental - Water and protection sustainable campaigns development conference 2003 - Religions and Water conference 2003 - Winner of the First Prize in environment conference

Bonyad-e- - Financial 20 Khirieh Sick Service assistance Hemayat az children provider - Consultation kodakan-e- Aged 0 to bimar 18 (Charity Foundation for the support of sick children) Bonyad-e- - - Publication of - Financial 21 pajohesh-e Understanding 4 volumes of constraints Tarikh-e- Children Historical the main “History - lack of adabiyat Aged 0 to Research on trends in the Of Iran’s collaboratio kodakan-e-Iran 18 Literature history of Children’s n with the (Foundation children’s Literature” public of Research literature Vol. 1 Ancient sector on the - Oral history Iran History of of children’s Vol. 2 Islamic Iranian literature Era Children’s Vol. 3 Literature) Constitutional 1376 (1997) Vol. 4 Revolution Bonyad –e- Children kodakan Aged 0 to Children’s In the process 22 (Children 18 affairs of being Foundation) established (2004)

101 / 132

Bonyad-e-elmi- 23 e- Children Science and Supporting Zirak zadeh and youth Technology scientific (Zirak zadeh aged 6 to Endeavors of Science 24 children Foundation) and the youth 1372 (1993) Jamiyat-e- - - Educational A number of 24 Hamyaran-e Youth Environmental programs workshops on Nojavanan va Aged Protection - Public environmental javan 15 to 25 - Children and awareness protection and (Hamyaran youth legal programs children’s Society of affairs - Planning and affairs Youth) Research

Khaneh - Art Educational 25 adabiyat va Children - Culture Programs Honar-e- Aged 3 to - Literature aimed at the kodakan 18 - Children’s enhancement (Children’s affairs of children’s House of artistic and Literature literary and Art) activities

Khaneh-e- - Children’s - Winner, 2 nd 26 bachehai Children social affairs Establishment prize, 2 nd Int’l e-Iran Aged - Cultural of NGOs Fair, (Iran’s Kids’ 2 to 18 - Artistic contact with 2003 House) - Athletic International - Establishment 1380 (2001) institutions of urban environment committee - active participation in Tree Planting Day - Organizing recreational and travel tours for children and the youth Khaneh-e- In the process 27 Nobavegan Children Children’s of being (Nobavegan aged 3 to 8 affairs organized House) (2004)

102 / 132

- Students’ - now has 28 participation 3,500,000 Sazman-e- - Organizing members The most - Establishment of daneshamoz Children students’ impressive (Students’ students’ Aged 6 to leisure time parliament program of this Organizatio) 18 - cultural, - Interaction organization is 1378 (1999) political, social with International the and artistic organizations establishment - Creation of activities students’ news of a Students’ agency parliament - Organizing various student centers - Preparing students for political participation Tarhe Initially for - Urban issues - School The most - ups and 29 Shahrdar-e- children - Leisure time renovation important downs due Madreseh aged 11 to activities project program of this to political (School 15 then - Social and - School-city project has changes Mayors later for urban Management been the - school Project) students participation - School-city organization of officials’ * Designed by ages 6 to councils student working attempt to this author 18 - Election of groups for control the 1372 (1993) school Mayors, carrying out project school-city different councils projects within 500 meters of their respective schools Sazman-e - Prevention of - Educating 30 defae az Children abuse people about Ghorbanian aged 0 to - Defending the human rights Having a Khoshonat 18 rights of - Cultural consultancy (Organization And abused children awareness status with the for the Adult campaigns High Council for defense of victims of concerning economic, victims of violence violence social and violence) - Promotion of cultural 1367 (1988) a culture of development peace - Collaboration with UN agencies Kanon-e- - Public 31 toseae va Children - Education Training of pre- sector’s Hamyari Aged 1 to 6 - Training school and Institutional low level of Mahdhaie-e- kindergarten capacity participatio kodak employees Building n (Center for - Kindergarten Centralized Development administrat and ive system Cooperation)

103 / 132

Kanon-e- - Educational - The 32 toseae-e Children - Cultural establishment Farhangi aged 6 to - and upgrading Implementing kodakan 18 Disadvantaged of libraries the (Center for groups - Rural learning Rural Assistant the cultural - Social centers for Educators development of deviation children (Amozeshyar children) - Children’s Project) rights Kanon-e-sib 33 (Apple Children - Supporting Center) aged 12 to - Information children’s Enhancement of * Center for 18 and technology (IT) initiatives in the quality of the Gifted - science, IT and information development Children Communication technology production and And , science and - Holding of advancement Innovative technology exhibitions of information Children and communication technology 1382 (2003) Kanon-e-kodak - Children’s - Expansion of 34 va Children affairs programs Nojavanan-e- and youth - Children’s aimed at ghoghnoos aged 0 to rights children’s (Ghoghnoos 16 - Science normal growth Child and Focal group - Cultural - Promotion of Youth Center) Ages 1 to 6 - Art modern teaching methods Kanon-e- - 35 farhangi Establishment Pajoheshi - Children’s of educational, kodakan-e- Children affairs cultural, social Iran-e-Farda aged 0 to - Children and and counseling (Iranfarda 18 youth’s rights units for Cultural Focal group - Preschool children Research ages 2 to 6 education - Monthly and Center) seasonal 1379 (2000) meetings - Educational workshops and seminars - Establishment of an information center for children Majma-e- 36 cinemai Kodak Children Establishment va nojavanan and youth - Arts of a Children (Film aged 10 to - Cinema Film Festival Association of 18

104 / 132

Children and Youth)

Moasese Children - Health - Informing - Opening of 37 Pajoheshi aged 0 to - Healthy pregnant Pregnant kodakan-e- 18 Pregnancy and mothers about Mothers’ Care donya and child birth health issues, House, with (World pregnant pregnancy, assistance from Children mothers child birth/safe the City Health Research delivery project and Institute) - Publishing UNICEF in 2002 flyers - Mobile - Organizing Educators’ classes for program; an pregnant average of women 1000 children - Opening of a make use of the library where services mothers may provided by borrow books these educators to read on a daily basis - Educating - Zahedan pilot husbands project for - Organizing children in workshops for collaboration members with the - Regional UNICEF and the associations of Welfare World Children organization Institute; in 12 provinces so far - Opening of foster homes - Organizing a number of pertinent workshops Moasese 38 pishgiry az - Research azar jensi Children - Child abuse programs kodakan va aged 3 to - Youth affairs - Awareness nojavanan 18 programs (Institute for - Preventive the measures prevention of sexual abuse on children and the youth) Moasese 39 Khirieh Establishment hemayat az - Health of a specialized The hospital is kodakan-e- Children - Cure hospital for one of the best mobtala be aged 0 to children with in the region

105 / 132

saratan 18 who are cancer (MAHAK) stricken (Charitable with cancer Institute for the support of children with cancer) 1370 (1991) Mojtame - Financial 40 khirieh rad Children Relief and support for (Rad Charity aged 0 to charity poor families Complex) 18 - Support in 1363 (1984) kind Sazman zanan- Financial 41 e-zartoshty Children Relief and support for (Zoroastrian aged 0 to charity poor families women’s 18 and families organization, with sick Children and children Youth Commission)

Bonyad-e- 42 khirieh Children Relief and - Abused Rahmat-lil aged 0 to charity children alamin 18 protection (Rahmat- lil - Finding jobs alamin for parents Charity Foundation) 1371 (1992) Moasese 43 farhangi va Children Charity and honari bacheha aged 0 to cultural salam 18 (Bacheha salam cultural and artistic institute) Moasese-e- 44 khirieh Children Charity, Protection of pishbord aged 5 to cultural and exceptional tavan-e- 18 educational children estesnaie (Charity institute for exceptional children) Moasese-e- - Abused 45 khirieh refah-e- Children children kodak aged 9 to - (Charitable 18 Disadvantaged institute for children

106 / 132

child welfare) - Relief

Moasese-e- - Research 46 davazdah gam Children - Science and Research on (Davazdah aged 10 to technology children’s Gam 18 - Arts issues and Institute) - Cultural Consultations

Anjoman-e- 47 khirieh Children - Relief Support Hamishe aged - Charity Initiatives baharan 0 to 18 (Hamishe Baharan Charity Association) Moasese 48 Farhangi Children - Religion - Educational Seghelin and youth - Culture programs (Seghelin aged 0 to - Arts - Religious Cultural 18 programs Institute)

Moasese 49 Farhangi Children - Religion - Educational Honari Khaneh and youth - Culture programs Golyar aged 5 to - Arts - Public (Khaneh 18 awareness Golyar programs Cultural and - Planning and Art Institute) research

Moasese 50 Farhangi Children - Religion - Children’s Honari Meshkot - Culture affairs (Meshkot - Arts - Religious Cultural and education Art Institute) Moasese - Disability 51 Maalolin va Children - Retardation - Support aghab aged 0 to - Health services mandegan 18 - Rehabilitation - Rehabilitation zehnivahdat services (Vahdat Institute for the disabled and mentally retarded)

Moasese Mehr- - Children - 52 e-Helh Children without parents Establishment The two centers (Mehre helh aged 0 to or guardians of 2 shelters, for both boys

107 / 132

Institute) 18 - Abused one for boys and girls have children and another for been successful girls - Supporting orphans - Poverty alleviation program

Moasese 53 komak be Children Abused Support kodakan-e- aged 0 to children and programs bisarparast 18 orphans mehrvarzan (Mehrvarzan Institute for the support of children without parents or guardians)

Nehzat-e- This center is 54 jahani barayi Children an Iranian kodakan va and youth association nojavanan aged 0 to affiliated with (World 18 the world m ovement for movement for Children and children and Youth center) the youth 1379 (2000) Moasese - Relief 55 khirieh Children - Sick children activities moheban-e-al aged 0 to - Abused - Educational reza 18 children programs (Moheban- e- - Research al reza programs Charity) Anjoman-e- 56 hemayat az Children - Orphans Supporting talim va aged 0 to - Abused orphans and tarbiyat 18 Children children (Association in without support of parents education) Jamea This society has 57 khaierine Children School built many madreseh saz aged 6 to buildings schools around (Society of the 18 Iran and has also generous for provided building schools) educational 1377 (1998) equipments to hundreds of schools in the country

108 / 132

Annex 20 Table 44: List of Organizations in Tehran belonging to the Government Sector which Serve Children

TARGET AREAS OF NAME OF ORGANIZATION CHILDREN ACTIVITIES 1 . General office of Education Aged 6-18 Formal Education 13 General Office of Security Measures of Jails organizations; center for up to age 18 Rehabilitation Juvenile delinquents 13 General Office of Security Measures of jails Organization; organization to All ages Support activities support families of inmates 4 . Martyrs Foundation Children of Support activities martyrs 5 . Red Crescent Youth Organization Aged 12 – 20 Training on relief activities 6 . Children’s Court up to age 18 Sentencing of juvenile delinquents 7 . Organization of Gifted Children Aged 6 – 18 Education 13 General Office of the Welfare Aged 0 – 18 Rehabilitation, pre- Organization school, education, support 9 . Cultural Heritage Organization Aged 5 – 18 Recreation 10. Tehran Health Network Aged 0 – 18 Health 13 Tehran Municipality Office for the Aged 2 – 20 Recreation, Support Development of social affairs 12. Tehran Municipality, Cultural and Aged 3 – 18 Recreation, education Art Organization; children’s cultural Support center 13. Tehran Municipality, Cultural and Aged 6 – 18 Education, Recreation Art Organization; Shokofehi-e- Support Enghelab Institute 14. Tehran Islamic City Council, Aged 3 – 18 Recreation, education Socio-cultural Commission Support 15. Iran Radio, Children and Youth Aged 3 – 20 Recreation Group 16. Iran TV, Children and Youth Aged 3 – 20 Education Group Public awareness 17. Iran Radio/TV, Sorush Children Aged 3 – 20 Education and youth magazine Public awareness 18. Iran Radio/TV, Institute for children and Aged 3 – 20 Art, Literature youth in art and literature 19. Center for the mental development of Aged 3 – 18 Children publications Children and youth Films, theater, festivals 20. Imam Khomeini Relief Organization Aged 0 – 18 Support 21. Headquarters, Greater Tehran Police, Aged 0 – 18 Security Deputy commanding office for social affairs 22. Ministry of social welfare; children and youth Aged 0 – 18 Social welfare support group

109 / 132

Annex 21

Table 44: List of Institutions selected for the Capacity Building Project

ITEM NAME OF INSTITUTION NGO/PS*- CBO 1 Tehran’s general office of the Welfare PS Organization 2 Tehran Municipality CBO 3 Tehran’s Center for Juvenile Delinquents 4 Parents-School Officials Association GNGO 5 Society for Children’s Rights NGO 6 World Children Research Institute NGO 7 Association for the Protection of the Abused NGO 8 Iran’s Kids’ House NGO 9 Students’ Organization NGO 10 Hamyaran-e-Ghada Institute NGO 11 Organization for the Defense of Victims of Violence 12 Association of Writers for Children and NGO Youth

* PS = Public/government Sector

110 / 132

Annex 22

Iran at a Glance: Emphasizing demographic trends and urbanization

Iran, with over 6000 years of history, is a land of paradoxes, contradictions and great variety. This observation is true about all aspects of this land including its natural conditions. “Broadly speaking, the country can be divided into five contrasting m ajor regions: upland districts with non-irrigated farm ing, such as parts of Azerbaijan; other upland districts where oasis cultivation only is possible because of insufficient rainfall, such as Arak and I sfahan; inland depressions such as Sistan; and the two narrow lowland coastal belts, one in the north along the southern shores of the Caspian Sea, with its thick forest land and heavy rainfall, and the other along the northern shores of the Persian Gulf, with its oppressively hot clim ate and inhospitable hinterland. The greater part of Persia is situated on a plateau which falls away in the center and east to the great central desert; an arid uninhabited, untracked salt desert.” (Lam bton, 1969:1)

The sam e variety as m entioned above exists with regards to ethnicity, cultural background, religion and language. For centuries, Fars, Kurds, Turks, Lurs, Turkm ans, Arabs and Baluches, have lived together, side by side in peace. The country is also known for visible tolerance am ong different ethnic groups. Popularity of m ixed m arriages is only one indicator am ong m any. Moreover, no m ajor conflict has been recorded am ong ethnic groups for m ore than 200 years. All previous conflicts have been between governm ent and som e political groups requesting more autonomy, at times provoked by outside powers.

Majority of the population are Shiate Muslim s (65% ). Sunnis com prise the second largest religious group (35%). There are also Zoroastrians, Christians (Arm enian and Assyrian) and Jews. However, a good num ber of Jews have left the country after the I slam ic revolution in 1979. Table 25 (see annex 1) shows the distribution of population by gender and religion (1986 & 1996).

As far as linguistic grouping in I ran is concerned, no reliable figure is available. The fact is statistical yearbooks after the revolution do not provide such inform ation. Therefore, the figures in Table 26 (see annex 1) are probably as close as current conditions permit.

Map No. 1 (see annex 2) shows the distribution of the main linguistic groups in Iran.

Iran which comprises a surface area of over 1.6 million square km lies down the northern tem perate zone, between latitudes 25.00’ north and 39.47’ north and between longitudes 44.02’ east and 63.20’ east. Thus, the country lies in a semi-dry area which reduces the potentials for developm ent, at least in som e

111 / 132 areas. The land’s average height is over 120 m eters above sea level. The highest point, Dam avand Peak in the Alborz Mountain Range, is located at the north of the capital, Tehran, and is 5610 m eters above sea level. The country’s lowest point is Chalehloot which is only 56 meters above sea level.

I ran is bound by Turkm enistan, the Caspian or Mazandaran Sea (the world’s largest lake), Azerbaijan and Arm enia from the north, by Afghanistan and Pakistan from the east, by I raq and Turkey from the west, and by the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Om an from the south. I n a geopolitical sense, m any factors m ake I ran an extrem ely im portant country in the world. Many even believe she is second to none in this regard (see Majtahedzadeh, 2000). These factors include:

- having four neighboring countries which do not have access to free sea, three of which attem pt to bypass their neighbor to the north as m uch as possible; - being the crossroad for centuries to three continents: Asia, North Africa and Europe; - possessing the world’s m ost im portant oil and gas resources, one in the south and the other in the north. I n relation to this, it also boasts of the world’s second largest gas reserves and the world’s second* largest oil reserves; and - being the only country in the Middle East whose water resources (98%) originate inside its borders (in light of would-be major conflicts over water in the ME).

The country has 30 provinces (called Ostan in Persian), each of which is divided into a num ber of urban districts or sub provinces (referred to as Sharestan). Each urban district in return, is also divided into a num ber of counties* * or rural districts (called ); and, each of these county is divided into a num ber of rural agglom erations or Dehestans. Generally, each province has a num ber of villages (Roosta), cities and towns (Shahr). A count back in year 2001 put the figures of 299 sharestans, 742 , 888 shahrs and 2260 dehestans com prising I ran. Map No.2 in annex 3 shows the adm inistrative divisions by Province.

For the year 2004, I ran’s population is estim ated to be 67,477,499. According to the latest census (1996) the population was put at 60,055,488. Tables 27 to 30 (see annexes 4-7) show the basic dem ographic, econom ic and health indicators of Iran.

* Recent oil discoveries have changed the ranking of I ran am ong the oil-producing countries from fourth to second. * * I n the I ran Statistical Yearbook, March 1999-March 2000, county was chosen as a translation for bakhsh. The author believes this concept is m ore appropriate for sharestan or the urban district.

112 / 132

Annex 23

List of problems NGOs face:

1. NGO registration is a time-consuming and difficult-screening process; 2. legal barriers which get in the way of their work; 3. they are not recognized by a num ber or organizations which also deal with children’s issues; 4. barriers in receiving financial and technical support especially from outside the country; 5. insufficient cooperation of government agencies; 6. some officials look on NGOs as competitors; 7. limited access to information; 8. lack of coordination am ong NGOs in general and am ong those specifically working with children; 9. there are only a few experts and professionals on children affairs working in NGOs; 10. lack of clear-cut mandates and terms of reference on the works involved; 11. a gap between ideals and the practicality of what can actually be achieved on the ground; 12. insufficient knowledge about I ranian society and how people can be m obilized to carry out projects which have no direct benefit to them . I t m ust be m entioned here that traditional inform al institutions were able to do so; an ability lacking today. What they did was to present their projects through a religious perspective so people, being what they are, participated for the heavenly rewards; and 13. the lack of coordination am ong the NGOs led to redundancy of program s and consequently the waste of limited resources.

113 / 132

Annex 24

The main objectives of the training courses, publications and workshops are:

a strategic and practical understanding of the problem context; a strategic understanding of solutions in the case of Tehran; the identification and classification of different target groups in children; the capacity to recognize the needs of each age group and classifying them according to different criteria together with justifications for each; the capacity to analyze needs and develop strategic responses; the capacity to implement the strategy and establish a transaction; the capacity to mobilize potential partners; the capacity to maintain effective partnerships; the capacity to engage with target groups; the understanding of the m eaning of capacity building, the need for capacity building, and the ability to improve it; the capacity to formulate capacity-building frameworks; and the capacity to organize participatory institutions.

114 / 132 115 / 132

Annex 25

Table 45: Review of 30 Demographic, Health- related, Educational and Socio- economic Indicators Related to Children ( Tehran City& Tehran Province, 2000, revised 2005)

INDICA TORS % of families % of families % of families % of families % of families % of families % of families % of families having access to without pipeline with sanitary having bathrooms with hygienic whose garbage having hygienic clean drinking water supply in toilets in their houses waste water are collected warming system water their houses system regularly L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L N N N N N N N A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A T T T T T T T T R R R R R R R B B B B B B B U U U U U U U O O O O O O O O LOCA R R R R R R R T T T T T T T T R R R R R R R U U U U U U U TION 9 9 6 6 1 1 6 6 2 2 3 3 3 n . . 5 5 ...... ------a 9 9 9 9 4 4 4 4 9 9 1 1 6 r 0 0 9 9 9 9 9 9 7 7 9 9 9 9 8 h e T e c 5 5 5 n 2 8 2 5 0 0 0 7 4 7 4 6 7 8 2 7 y n . . . . 7 9 . . . 0 . . 0 . . 6 . . . . . a 7 t i . . . . . i r 7 9 3 5 9 9 9 1 8 2 5 8 8 2 1 1 6 v 8 1 5 9 3 9 9 9 1 9 9 9 9 7 7 6 9 8 8 5 3 C h o 8 6 9 ( e r T P (

(Continued on next pages)

116 / 132

INDICA TORS % of families not % of families % of families % of families % of families % of families % of families having radios without Television without having cars having having bicycles using iodized salt sets telephones motorcycles in their food L L L L L L L L L L L L L L N N N N N N N A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A T T T T T T T R R R R R R R B B B B B B B U U U U U U U O O O O O O O LOCA R R R R R R R T T T T T T T R R R R R R R U U U U U U U TION 5 5 2 2 0 0 6 6 n 0 0 8 8 . . . . 5 5 ...... ------a 4 4 6 6 0 0 7 7 r 9 9 2 2 9 9 2 2 3 3 2 2 9 9 h e T e c n 2 4 0 8 9 7 7 0 4 5 6 3 9 8 9 7 n . . . 0 3 9 ...... 1 8 ...... a i 4 . . . . . r 2 7 7 2 4 0 9 3 6 . 2 2 2 5 5 5 v 7 5 8 8 8 2 1 2 6 5 7 1 2 1 8 2 2 2 9 9 9 h o e r T P

117 / 132

INDICA TORS Average number % of families % literacy 6 % literacy 6 % of children not % of children working % of children of persons living living in shanties years old and years old and living with parents for people other than working over 4 in one room or tents above (urban) above (rural) family members hours a day in the family

With No wage wage E E L L L L L L L L L L N N N N L L E E A A A A A A A A A A A A A A L L A A T T T T T T R R R R B B B B A A M M U U U U O O O O O O R R R R M M E E L L N N

LOCA T T T T T T R R R R R R U U U U U U F F A A A A

TION U R U R R R B B 9 2 4 4 4 n 2 2 . . . . . 3 1 7 7 ...... ------a 0 4 7 2 2 r 1 1 1 6 0 0 9 9 8 1 1 h e T e c n 1 1 2 9 0 8 9 1 n 7 6 8 1 . . 7 ...... 1 5 5 3 4 3 5 a i ...... - - r 5 9 2 6 7 4 3 6 v 1 1 1 0 8 1 1 3 3 1 1 1 8 8 8 8 7 1 1 1 h o e r T P

118 / 132

INDICA TORS % of children % of children working for people other than % of children % of children who have received primary participating in family members for more than 4 hours a working for school education (ages 3-4 years old) the income- day people other generating than family activities of the members for family more than 4 hours a day Ages 5 – 14 LOCA Boys Girls Total TION Ages 10 – 14 Years old

Urban Rural L N A A L N N R B A A L A U R L L R L L L L N N B S S A S S B R A A U U A A A A L L A A R Y Y R R T T T T R R R R R B B U O O U U I I U U O O O O R R B B R G G T T T T R R U U 5 2 5 5 3 7 0 n 5 5 . 3 . . . . . 4 . . . ------a . 1 0 0 1 0 2 r 1 1 7 9 1 1 1 2 2 4 h e T e c n 5 5 3 8 0 1 n 5 7 3 7 6 0 . 5 . 2 . . 8 1 6 . 4 a i 1 ...... r . 0 0 1 1 9 v 2 1 3 8 5 9 7 9 3 8 3 7 7 1 1 1 1 1 h o e r T P

119 / 132

I N

D % of 6-10 year old children never enrolled in % of children under 2 % of children who are given multivitamins A+D drops and iron I C schools years of age who A

T have never been O

R breast fed S L O BOYS GIRLS UNDER 6 MONTHS OLD UNDER 1 YEAR OLD C L L N A A A A T T R B I O U O R T R N URBAN RURAL URBAN RURAL U URBAN RURAL URBAN RURAL

2.7 - 2.2 - 1.6 1.6 - n a

r 59.5 - 55.3 - h e T e c

n 5.3 6.8 5.1 8.7 0.45 0.0 6.9 n a i r

v 39.4 4 3.0 45.3 46.7 h o e r T P

Source: Main Developmental Indicators, MOHME, Tehran 2005

120 / 132

Annex 26

Table 46: Number of Students and Personnel of Educational Institutions in Tehran Province (2003-2004)

NO. OF STUDENTS NO. OF STAFF NO. OF ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONNEL IN STAFF IN EDUCATIONAL EDUCATIONAL TOTAL BOYS GIRLS INSTITUTIONS INSTITUTIONS

2785757 1409940 1375812 101128 42213

Source: Statistical Yearbook, MPO, 2004.

Table 47: Number of Exceptional Students, Personnel, Schools and Classes, Tehran Province (2003-2004)

NO. OF STUDENTS NO. OF STAFF NO. OF ADMINISTRATIVE NO. OF NO. OF PERSONNEL IN STAFF IN SCHOOLS CLASSES EDUCATIONAL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS INSTITUTIONS

TOTAL BOYS GIRLS

11827 6674 5153 2164 934 123 1547

Source: Statistical Yearbook, MPO, 2004

121 / 132

Annex 27

Table 48: Number of High School Students, Staff Schools and Classes ( Tehran Province, 2003 – 2004)

NUMBER OF STUDENTS NUMBER OF STAFF NUMBER NUMBER OF OF SCHOOLS CLASSES

TOTAL BOYS GIRLS EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATIVE

733752 358700 375052 33437 16336 2714 27203 Source: Statistical Yearbook, MPO, 2004.

Table 49: Number of Pre- University Students, Schools and Classes (Tehran Province, 2003 – 2004)

NUMBER OF STUDENTS NUMBER NUMBER OF SCHOOLS OF CLASSES

TOTAL BOYS GIRLS

98655 34612 64043 912 3881

Source: Statistical Yearbook, MPO, 2004

122 / 132

Annex 28

Table 50: Number of Pre- University Students and Study Field Classification, Tehran Province, 2003- 2004

MATHEMATICS NATURAL HUMANITIES ARTS NUMBER SCIENCES OF STUDENTS

TOTAL BOYS GIRLS BOYS GIRLS BOYS GIRLS BOYS GIRLS BOYS GIRLS

95655 34612 64043 22255 20041 5689 20375 6526 22307 142 1320 Source: Statistical Yearbook, MPO, 2004.

123 / 132

Annex 29

Basic Indicators

Under-5 mortality rank 83

Under-5 mortality rate (1990) 72

Under-5 mortality rate (2004) 38

Infant mortality rate ( under 1) (1990) 54

Infant mortality rate ( under 1) (2004) 32

Total population (thousands) (2004) 68803

Annual no. of births (thousands) (2004) 1308

Annual no. of under-5 deaths (thousands) (2004) 50

GNI per capita (US$) (2004) 2300

Life expectancy at birth (years) (2004) 71

Total adult literacy rate (2000-2004*) 77

Net primary school enrolment/ attendance (%) 86 (1996-2004*)

% share of household income 1993-2003* (lowest 15 40%)

% share of household income 1993-2003* (highest 50 20%)

Definitions and data sources

Nutrition

% of infants with low birth weight (1998-2004*) 7

% of children (1996-2004*) who are: exclusively 44 breastfed (< 6 months)

% of children (1996-2004*) who are: breastfed with - complementary food (6-9 months)

% of children (1996-2004*) who are: still 0 breastfeeding (20-23 months)

% of under-fives (1996-2004*) suffering from: 11 underweight (moderate)

% of under-fives (1996-2004*) suffering from: 2 underweight (severe)

% of under-fives (1996-2004*) suffering from: 5 wasting (moderate & severe)

124 / 132

% of under-fives (1996-2004*) suffering from: 15 stunting (moderate & severe)

Vitamin A supplementation coverage rate (6-59 - months) (2003)

% of households consuming iodized salt (1998- 94 2004*)

Definitions and data sources

Health

% of population using improved drinking water 93 sources ( 2002) total

% of population using improved drinking water 98 sources ( 2002) urban

% of population using improved drinking water 83 sources ( 2002) rural

% of population using adequate sanitation facilities 84 (2002) (total)

% of population using adequate sanitation facilities 86 (2002) (urban)

% of population using adequate sanitation facilities 78 (2002) (rural)

% of routine EPI vaccines financed by government 100 (2004) total

Immunization 2004: 1-year- old children immunized 99 against: Tuberculosis (TB) (BCG)

Immunization 2004: 1-year- old children immunized 99 against: Diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus (DPT1)

Immunization 2004: 1-year- old children immunized 99 against: Diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus (DPT3)

Immunization 2004: 1-year- old children immunized 98 against: Polio (polio3)

Immunization 2004: 1-year- old children immunized 96 against: Measles (measles)

Immunization 2004: 1-year- old children immunized 95 against: Hepatitis B (hepB3)

Immunization 2004: 1-year- old children immunized - against: Haemophilus influenzae type B ( Hib3)

Immunization 2004: pregnant women tetanus -

% under-fives with ARI (1998-2004*) 24

% under-fives with ARI taken to health provider 93 (1998-2004*)

% under-fives with diarrhoea receiving oral - rehydration and continued feeding (1996-2004*)

Malaria: 1999-2004*: % under- fives sleeping under - a mosquito net

Malaria: 1999-2004*: % under- fives sleeping under - a treated mosquito net

125 / 132

Malaria: 1999-2004*: % under- fives with fever - receiving anti- malarial drugs

Definitions and data sources

HIV AIDS

HIV Prevalence: Adult prevalence rate ( 15-49 0.1 years), end 2003, estimate

HIV Prevalence: Estimated number of people living 31 with HIV, 2003 (in thousands), adults and children (0- 49 years)

HIV Prevalence: Estimated number of people living 10 with HIV, 2003 (in thousands), low estimate

HIV Prevalence: Estimated number of people living 61 with HIV, 2003 (in thousands), high estimate

HIV Prevalence: Estimated number of people living - with HIV, 2003 (in thousands), children ( 0-14 years)

HIV Prevalence: Estimated number of people living 3.8 with HIV, 2003 (in thousands), women (15-49 years)

HIV prevalence rate in young (15-24 years) - pregnant women in capital city, year

HIV prevalence rate in young (15-24 years) - pregnant women in capital city, median

Knowledge and behaviour (1998-2004)* (15-24 - years), % who know condom can prevent HIV, male

Knowledge and behaviour (1998-2004)* (15-24 - years), % who know condom can prevent HIV, female

Knowledge and behaviour (1998-2004)* (15-24 - years), % who know healthy- looking person can have HIV, male

Knowledge and behaviour (1998-2004)* (15-24 - years), % who know healthy- looking person can have HIV, female

Knowledge and behaviour (1998-2004)* (15-24 - years), % who have comprehensive knowledge of HIV, male

Knowledge and behaviour (1998-2004)* (15-24 - years), % who have comprehensive knowledge of HIV, female

Knowledge and behaviour (1998-2004)* (15-24 - years), % who used condom at last high risk sex, male

Knowledge and behaviour (1998-2004)* (15-24 - years), % who used condom at last high risk sex, female

Orphans, Children (0-17 years) orphaned by AIDS, - 2003, estimate (in thousands)

Orphans, Children (0-17 years) orphaned due to all 2100 causes, 2003, estimate (in thousands)

126 / 132

Orphans, Orphan school attendance ratio, 1998- - 2004*

Definitions and data sources

Education

Adult literacy rate, 2000-2004* , male 84

Adult literacy rate, 2000-2004* , female 70

Number per 100 population , '2002-2003* , phones 27

Number per 100 population , '2002-2003* , Internet 7 users

Primary school enrolment ratio (2000-2004*), gross, 93 male

Primary school enrolment ratio (2000-2004*), gross, 90 female

Primary school enrolment ratio (2000-2004*), net, 88 male

Primary school enrolment ratio (2000-2004*), net, 85 female

Primary school attendance ratio (1996- 2004*), net, 94 male

Primary school attendance ratio (1996- 2004*), net, 91 female

% of primary school entrants reaching grade 5, 94 Admin. Data, 2000-2004*

% of primary school entrants reaching grade 5, - Survey data, 1997- 2004*

Secondary school enrolment ratio ( 2000-2004*), 80 gross, male

Secondary school enrolment ratio ( 2000-2004*), 75 gross, female

Secondary school enrolment ratio ( 2000-2004*), - net, male

Secondary school enrolment ratio ( 2000-2004*), - net, female

Secondary school attendance ratio (1996-2004*), - net, male

Secondary school attendance ratio (1996-2004*), - net, female

Definitions and data sources

Demographics

Population (thousands), 2004, under 18 25915

Population (thousands), 2004, under 5 5890

Population annual growth rate (%), 1970-90 3.4

127 / 132

Population annual growth rate (%), 1990-2004 1.4

Crude death rate, 1970 14

Crude death rate, 1990 7

Crude death rate, 2004 5

Crude birth rate, 1970 43

Crude birth rate, 1990 35

Crude birth rate, 2004 19

Life expectancy, 1970 54

Life expectancy, 1990 65

Life expectancy, 2004 71

Total fertility rate, 2004 2.1

% of population urbanized, 2004 67

Average annual growth rate of urban population 4.9 (%), 1970- 90

Average annual growth rate of urban population 2.7 (%), 1990- 2004

Definitions and data sources

Economics

GNI per capita (US$), 2004 2300

GDP per capita average annual growth rate (%), -3.5 1970-90

GDP per capita average annual growth rate (%), 2.3 1990-2004

Average annual rate of inflation (%), 1990-2004 24

% of population below $1 a day, 1993-2003* < 2

% of central government expenditure allocated to: 7 (1993-2004*), health

% of central government expenditure allocated to: 7 (1993-2004*), education

% of central government expenditure allocated to: 10 (1993-2004*), defence

ODA inflow in millions US$, 2003 133

ODA inflow as a % of recipient GNI, 2003 0

Debt service as a % of exports of goods and 1 services, 1990

128 / 132

Debt service as a % of exports of goods and 4 services, 2003

Definitions and data sources

Women

Life expectancy: females as a % of males, 2004 104

Adult literacy rate: females as a % of males, 2000- 83 2004*

Enrolment ratios: females as a % of males, primary 97 school (2000- 2005*), gross

Enrolment ratios: females as a % of males, primary 97 school (2000- 2005*), net

Enrolment ratios: females as a % of males, 94 secondary school (2000-2004*), gross

Enrolment ratios: females as a % of males, - secondary school (2000-2004*), net

Contraceptive prevalence (%), 1996-2004* 74

Antenatal care coverage (%), 1996- 2004* 77

Skilled attendant at delivery (%), 1996-2004* 90

Maternal mortality ratio† , 1990 - 2004* , reported 37

Maternal mortality ratio† , 2000, adjusted 76

Maternal mortality ratio† , 2000, Lifetime risk of 370 maternal death. 1 in:

Definitions and data sources

Child Protection

Child labour (5-14 years) 1999-2004* , total -

Child labour (5-14 years) 1999-2004* , male -

Child labour (5-14 years) 1999-2004* , female -

Child marriage 1986-2004* , total -

Child marriage 1986-2004* , urban -

Child marriage 1986-2004* , rural -

Birth registration 1999-2004* , total -

Birth registration 1999-2004* , urban -

Birth registration 1999-2004* , rural -

Female genital mutilation/ cutting 1998- 2004* , - women ( 15-49 years) ( a ), total

Female genital mutilation/ cutting 1998- 2004* , -

129 / 132

women ( 15-49 years) ( a ), urban

Female genital mutilation/ cutting 1998- 2004* , - women ( 15-49 years) ( a ), rural

Female genital mutilation/ cutting 1998- 2004* , - women ( 15-49 years) ( a ), daughters total ( b )

Definitions and data sources

Rate of Progress

Under-5 mortality rank 83

Under-5 mortality rate (1970) 191

Under-5 mortality rate (1990) 72

Under-5 mortality rate (2004) 38

Average annual rate of reduction (%) (1970-90) 4.9

Average annual rate of reduction (%) (1990-2004) 4.6

Reduction since 1990 (%) 47

GDP per capita average annual growth rate (%) -3.5 (1970-90)

GDP per capita average annual growth rate (%) 2.3 (1990-2004)

Total fertility rate (1970) 6.6

Total fertility rate (1990) 5

Total fertility rate (2004) 2.1

Average annual rate of reduction (%) ('1970-1990) 1.4

Average annual rate of reduction (%) (1990-2004) 6.2

Source: UNICEF web site on Iran, 2006.

130 / 132 131 / 132