Plight of Iran’s working children
Understanding challenges, finding solutions
Javad Mohammad Ali
Staff writer
The issue of child labor has always been a contentious one, with governments and organizations worldwide striving to eradicate it. In Iran, authorities have taken steps to address the problem of working and street children. However, despite the efforts made, the problem persists, and thousands of children are identified as part of the workforce.
Empowerment frameworks
The Iranian government has allocated a special fund to the Welfare Organization, which is responsible for addressing the concerns of working and street children. However, the fund is not enough to fulfill the needs of the 14,500 working children that are identified in the country.
Mohammad Reza Heidarhaei, the head of the Victims Office of the Welfare Organization, insists that developing empowerment frameworks and educating families are the best solutions. He notes that child labor stems from cultural problems or poverty within the family. As such, empowering the family and providing education can help prevent children from resorting to the streets.
The Iranian government has also acquired iris identification devices to identify children through the iris of their eyes. However, Heidarhaei points out that many working children were not included in the census of insured workshops in order to evade paying insurance premiums. Additionally, 85% of the working and street children identified in Iran are foreigners. The Welfare Organization is doing its best to address these issues, with 62 centers actively identifying working and street children in Tehran and other areas.
Support centers established
The Welfare Organization has set up educational, child, and family support centers to assist in their efforts. These centers aim to provide education and support to families, empower them, and prevent children from becoming part of the workforce. Heidarhaei stresses the importance of incorporating families into these programs, citing examples of mothers acting as breadwinners or fathers being unavailable to fulfill their responsibilities.
“In our empowerment models, we send drug-addicted fathers to rehab centers and try to empower the mother in single-mother families so that there is no need for the child to be on the street,” says Heidarhaei.
The highest number of street children has been observed in provinces like Tehran, Khuzestan, and Isfahan which have bigger cities. Heidarhaei believes that it is futile to round up working children and remove them from the streets and contends that the principal solution is to incorporate the support and empowerment of these children’s families into the programs.
He stresses that the child does not wind up on the streets by themselves, adding that it must stem from a cultural problem or poverty within the family. “If the objective is to solve the child’s problem, we must first resolve the issue of the family and provide them with empowerment.”
Lack of implementation
Despite the government’s efforts to address the issue of child labor, Ahmad Ahmadi Sadr, the CEO of Tehran Municipality’s Welfare, Social Services, and Social Engagement Organization, noted that one of the problems they face is a lack of knowledge of who is responsible for implementing their vocational training and talent scouting model. This lack of clarity could hinder efforts to address the problem of working and street children.
Iran’s government has taken steps to address the problem of working and street children, but more needs to be done. The Welfare Organization is doing its utmost to empower families and prevent children from resorting to the streets, but it is clear that funds and resources are limited. Since thousands of working and street children have been identified in Iran, it is crucial that the government and relevant organizations work together to address the issue and ensure that every child is given the opportunity to receive an education and a childhood free from the burden of labor.