History
of Agency in the World and Iran
UNICEF
is the world’s leading agency for children, working in 190 countries to help
children realize their rights to survival, development and protection. It was
created as the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund in 1946 to
provide emergency help to children suffering from the aftermath of World War
II. In the 1950s, UNICEF’s mission grew from a post-war emergency fund to a
development agency for children.
UNICEF
is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and strives to establish
children’s rights as enduring ethical principles and international standards of
behaviour towards children. UNICEF is committed to
ensuring special protection for the most disadvantaged children: victims of
war, disasters, extreme poverty and all forms of discrimination, violence and
exploitation.
UNICEF’s
history in Iran goes back to 1950, when Iran’s Government turned to WHO and
UNICEF to fight tuberculosis. Opening an office in the country, UNICEF focused
its programmes on child health and nutrition in the
early years of its activities in Iran. Later on, education and juvenile justice
were added as fields of cooperation. UNICEF is also active in providing
humanitarian assistance after earthquakes in this country.
Priorities
Globally and in Iran
In
association with other UN agencies, UNICEF is committed to working in line with
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Six out of eight MDGs are directly
related to children and women. At the international level, UNICEF has outlined
five focus areas in relation to key elements of the MDGs in its Mid-Term
Strategy Plan, on which UNICEF focuses its work during 2005-2009.
The
priorities are: 1) Young child survival and development, 2) Basic education and
gender equality; 3) HIV/AIDS and children; 4) Child protection from violence,
exploitation and abuse; and 5) Policy advocacy and partnerships for children’s
rights.
Based
on these activities globally, and considering the country situation, UNICEF’s
Commitments for Iranian Children highlights nine main areas on which UNICEF
will focuses its activities until 2015.
These
focus areas are: 1) Reducing child poverty; 2) Increasing the rate of child
survival; 3) Decreasing the rate of child malnutrition; 4) Investing in
education as an effective motor for social development; 5) Strengthening family
support through education, social work and psycho-social counseling; 6)
Advocacy for juvenile justice; 7) Investing in youth as the best way to
investing in the future; 8) Promoting women’s participation and women’s rights;
and 9) Attention to children during emergencies.
Main
projects/activities in Iran
UNICEF’s role is not one of a service provider, nor does
the organization make large cash transfers to the Government. The prime role of
UNICEF in Iran is as a provider of technical assistance and as a bridge between
Iranian policy makers and practitioners and their peers abroad, ensuring
knowledge on social development and child rights becomes available in Iran and
part of national policies. Currently, UNICEF works in Iran under a Basic
Cooperation Agreement, operationalised by an agreed
five-year programme of cooperation (2005-2009). This programme focuses on reducing regional disparities in child
health, nutrition and education, girls’ education and women’s empowerment,
child protection, HIV/AIDS and adolescent-friendly services, and monitoring the
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). UNICEF Iran implements projects in
these areas in three Iranian provinces: Sistan and
Baluchistan, Hormozgan and West Azerbaijan. These
projects include:
Child health and nutrition: UNICEF promotes
the rights of children under the age of six through birth registration, health,
nutrition and early childhood care, and supports the development of a national
Early Childhood Policy. Part of this work is to facilitate the expansion of
rural kindergartens and birth registration centres,
of which there are now some 4,000 throughout Iran.
Girls’ education and women empowerment: Improving
teaching and learning in Iran’s education system. UNICEF aims to ensure quality
basic education for disadvantaged girls by reducing disparities and to increase
the effectiveness of the network of district gender advisors. It also advocates
for the ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of
Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) by Iran.
HIV/AIDS prevention: In line with the Global Campaign on
Children and AIDS, UNICEF aims to raise awareness and expand access to
youth-friendly, gender-sensitive health and social services. UNICEF supported
HIV-information and peer support reach thousands of youth and create capacities
among Iranian partners to expand these activities to include all youth.
Child protection: UNICEF protects children from exploitation and abuse by
supporting legal reform and policy development and preventing abuse through behaviour change communication. Much has been achieved
through training of Iranian judges by international family and youth court
judges, and restorative sentences for minor offences are increasing in Iran.
UNICEF also contributed to the development of new legislation on juvenile
justice, which is currently under Parliament’s review. UNICEF is supporting
Government efforts to prevent violence against children and child abuse, and
support counseling and assist services for victims of child abuse.
Emergency preparation: UNICEF remains prepared to respond to
any possible disaster. Documenting the lessons learned from the 2003 Bam earth
quake and the experience of its staff in that emergency are key elements in an
effective disaster response strategy.
Corporate partnerships: UNICEF works
closely with multinational corporations, national companies and small- to
medium-sized businesses to identify, design and implement alliances that
leverage the strengths of the corporate sector on behalf of children. An
increasing sense of corporate social responsibility in the private sector has
allowed UNICEF to initiate many successful corporate partnerships, leading to
substantial support by businesses, philanthropic and marketing initiatives as
well as employee-driven programmes, for UNICEF’s
social goals.
In Iran, UNICEF has so far linked up with several major
corporations. They have given their valuable support to UNICEF projects in
improving health and nutrition of young children in Iran’s disparity provinces.
UNICEF also works closely with Islamic universities, clergy and religious
communities to promote children’s rights. This work is of great importance for
Iran.
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Address: No. 216, Nezami St., Ghoba St., Shariati Ave., Tehran 19449, Iran P.O. Box 19395/1176 Tel: (98-21) 2259
4994
E-mail: tehran@unicef.org Facsimile: (98-21) 2259
4948 website: www.unicef.org/iran |