History of Agency in the World and Iran

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is an international development agency that promotes the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity.

UNFPA supports countries in using population data for policies and programmes to reduce poverty and to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV/AIDS, and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect.

UNFPA began operations in 1969. UNFPA is a founding member of the United Nations Development Group (UNDG) and a founding co-sponsor of UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. UNFPA supports programmes in over 159 countries, areas and territories. In 2007, UNFPA received voluntary contributions to its core resources from some 181 countries, achieving the highest record in its history and among all UN agencies in terms of number of contributing donors.

UNFPA’s collaboration with Iran began in 1970 on a project basis. The collaboration on the basis of five-year country programmes began in 1990. The current country programme, the fourth since 1990, was launched in 2005 in the context of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF). UNFPA’s support has yielded tangible results which are well manifested in population and reproductive health indicators. Since 1990, maternal mortality ratio and infant mortality rate have been cut by half; contraceptive prevalence rate has increased from 64% to 79% for all methods; and pre-natal care and attended deliveries at hospitals and maternity centres is now almost universal. Such achievements would not have been possible without Government commitment, decisive national population policies, support of religious leaders and the strong partnership between UNFPA, government and civil society.

Priorities Globally and in Iran

UNFPA helps governments, at their request, to formulate policies and strategies to reduce poverty and support sustainable development. UNFPA is guided in its work by Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo in 1994. At the conference, 179 countries, including the Islamic Republic of Iran, agreed that meeting needs for education and health, including reproductive health, is a prerequisite for sustainable development over the longer term. They also agreed on a roadmap for progress to achieve a number of goals by 2015, such as universal access to reproductive health services, universal primary education, reducing maternal and infant mortality, increasing life expectancy and reducing HIV/AIDS.

Reaching the goals of the ICPD Programme of Action is also essential for achieving the Millennium Development Goals. These eight goals have the overarching aim of reducing extreme poverty by half by 2015. UNFPA brings its special expertise in reproductive health and population issues to the worldwide collaborative effort of meeting the MDGs. In light of Iran’s significant achievements in the area of population and reproductive health, UNFPA’s assistance attaches priority to: sustaining the achievements of the past two decades, bridging regional disparities in reproductive health indicators, improving quality of RH care, addressing areas of ICPD Programme of Action, such as adolescent reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, emerging population issues (aging, environment, urbanization, etc) and gender, and promoting knowledge sharing between Iran and other countries. All of the above priority interventions are addressed in a culturally sensitive manner ensuring national ownership and leadership of development programmes.

Main projects/activities in Iran

The fourth UNFPA Country Programme for Iran builds on previous achievements and contributes to enhancing the quality of life of the Iranian people through eight outputs and a number of interventions including:

• Increasing availability of quality reproductive health services and commodities through production of protocols and guidelines on safe motherhood and family planning; promoting the concept of mother-friendly hospitals; training of midwives and gynecologists on natural birth; and developing integrated monitoring and evaluation systems of reproductive health services;

• Improving youth friendly reproductive health information and services through: development of national strategy and plan of action on adolescent reproductive health; developing and piloting youth friendly reproductive health services and supporting parent-student association;

• Improving sexually transmitted infections (STI) HIV/AIDS information and services through: development of guidelines on STI prevalence assessment, management and reporting and promoting prevention of STI/HIV among high risk groups;

• Increased awareness and capacity relating to reproductive health, reproductive rights and gender issues;

• Strengthening national capacity and preparedness to address reproductive health concerns in emergency and post conflict situations through: development of a national plan of action and protocols on RH in emergencies, establishment of rapid response teams and stockpiling of emergency reproductive health commodities and supplies;

• Increasing capacity to monitor ICPD goals and MDGs through generating gender-sensitive data, harmonizing data systems and improving coverage and quality of vital statistics;

• Research and training in population and development through development of research agenda in reproductive health, population and gender and addressing emerging population issues and population dynamics and their linkages with sustainable development, and

• Evidence-based advocacy for legislation that protects against gender-based violence.

The aforementioned interventions are implemented at the national level with a few pilots in selected geographical areas. The responsibility of implementing the programme rests with a number of Government institutions and civil society, such as the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Statistical Centre of Iran, Civil Registration Organization, Tehran University and Shiraz University and the Organization on Defending Victims of Violence.

UNFPA attaches priority to documenting Iran’s experience in the population field and promoting sharing of knowledge between Iran and other countries through south/south cooperation modalities, including regional networks.

Address: United Nations Building No. 8, Shahrzad Blvd., Darrous, Tehran, Iran

P.O. Box 15875/4557

Tel: (98-21) 2286 0691 - 4 /2286 0925-8/ 2285 2583 (Programme)/2285 7110 (Adm./Fin)

Facsimile: (98-21) 2285 7485 E-mail: registry@unfpa.un.org.ir

website: www.unfpa-iran.org