Daily Times

After the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, in the view of the special emphasis of the Islamic values and the country’s Constitution on the issue of women’s human dignity and the promotion of their status in various arenas as well as the necessity for enjoyment and realization of women’s material and spiritual rights, the Islamic Republic of Iran has regarded the promotion of cultural, social, economic, and political status of girls and women as a key element in policymaking, legislation, and national planning.

Based on the United Nations Human Development Index, Iranian women and girls have had an outstanding progress in education, research, science, entrepreneurship, employment, and sanitation and despite the existence of severe and unprecedented unilateral sanctions against the nation, Iranian women have moved towards excellence, progress, and predetermined goals. It is worth noting given the new government’s approach based on “moderation, prudence, and hope”, a new series of women’s efforts and activities within the framework of women and family as well as public discourse on moderation has already started that is hoped to accelerate the success of women and enhance their status. In the meantime, promoting the level of the women’s national machinery to the Vice Presidency for Women and Family Affairs (formerly known as The Center for Women and Family Affairs) has strengthened this hope. At present, the mission of this Vice Presidency is to prepare the ground for realization of a gender balance in different aspects of women’s life by taking a new approach and using all the existing potentials and political will for more support of women’s human rights.

Improving the health, educational, scientific and social status of women in Iran is promising to improve the structure of society and culture of this country. It seems that the time has come for the position of women in the political arena and decision-making centers to improve along with their social and legal status. Good steps have been taken in recent years. Currently, 44% of the employees of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran are women and about 100 women diplomats are employed in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran. Now Iranian women are active in all fields of culture, art, society, sports, economics, politics, legislation, education and science and hope for their future.

Improving the situation of women in a country will be an important step in its comprehensive development, because women make up half of a country’s population and manpower, and without their participation, economic growth and balanced and comprehensive development will be in short supply.

On the other hand, the cultural, religious, traditional and social dimensions of women’s presence in the public and social spheres must also be considered. The presence of women should be done in proportion to their role and position in the family and while preserving their dignity, identity and esteem, and women’s activities in society should not be accompanied by abuse of their bodies and beauty and a there shall not be a commercial approach towards women. This has been one of the strengths of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s attention to women. Muslim women in Iran today work in society by preserving their Islamic and Iranian dignity and identity. Therefore, Iranian women are largely safe from the many harms that in some Western countries exposes thread to the pivotal role of the mother in the family and the health and safety of women in the workplace.

We hope that the process of paying attention to the empowerment and promotion of the status and role of women in Iran will continue and that the good experiences of Iran and Pakistan will be used in other Islamic countries and countries in the region.

The writer is Head of Press Section, Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Islamabad.