The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare of Iran held a joint webinar on Wednesday aimed to build partnerships to help boost the resilience of female heads of households.
To mark World Population Day in Iran, UNFPA and the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare jointly held the webinar on 22 July, to raise awareness about the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on female heads of households.
Female heads of households are a vulnerable population group that faces greater challenges in accessing health and reproductive health services, and a steady income and livelihood during the pandemic, according to UNFPA.
The online event took place in the presence of high-level authorities from the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare, UN heads of agencies, and the diplomatic corps.
Leila Joudane, UNFPA Representative in Iran moderated the panel, all the while emphasizing the importance of uninterrupted sexual and reproductive health services, including prevention of violence against women, during the COVID-19 crisis.
Government panelists, Ahmad Meidari, Deputy Minister of Social Welfare and Issa Mansouri, Deputy Minister of Entrepreneurship presented their complementary views on a socio-economic approach, stressing the bridging between humanitarian and longer-term development interventions, to address the need of the most vulnerable women.
In the same line, Maryam Mirmalek, director-general of the office of Support and Empowerment, informed participants about the first on-line dashboard developed by the ministry in order to monitor the socio-economic and health status of female heads of households on a real-time basis.
“The socio-economic recovery plan requires $50 million. $15 million have already been mobilized by UN agencies in Iran”, concluded Ugochi Daniels, UN Resident Coordinator in Iran, and one of the panelists. “UN agencies in Iran stay committed to complementing government’s efforts to leave no one behind”.
World Population Day is an annual event, observed on July 11 every year, which seeks to raise awareness of global population issues. The event was established by the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme in 1989.
Tehran times