TEHRAN – Some 30,000 women heads of household have received allowances for medical treatment, an official with the Welfare Organization has said.

“Medical treatment allowances have been paid to 6,000 female heads of household by benevolent people and to 23,500 heads of household from government funds,” IRNA quoted Narges-Khatoun As’adi-Khalili as saying.

She went on to say that a plan has been implemented with the aim of paying allowances for physical and mental health treatment.

A screening plan for women heads of household is generally implemented routinely by provincial departments, she noted.

Usually, the allowances are paid to families with disabled children or spouses, as well as to people with special and incurable diseases.

The Statistical Center of Iran has said out of twenty-two million families in Iran, over three million are women-headed households and most of them are in less-developed areas. The government has prioritized such families for targeting socio-economic support.

The National Headquarters for Women and Family Affairs has approved six plans to support families and empower women and improve their status in society.

The formation of a loan guarantee fund for women heads of households was one of the plans of the National Headquarters for Women and Family Affairs.

Due to the fact that many female breadwinners could not use business loans due to the lack of a guarantor, the fund was established to help them.

The Vice Presidency for Women and Family Affairs has released a report on the achievements of women after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in 7 areas of “education”, “health”, “employment and entrepreneurship”, “media”, “sports”, “decision-making”, and “environment, climate, and crises”.

In the field of employment and entrepreneurship, 4,200 rural women's credit funds have been operating. Also, 2,390 women work as members of the board of directors of knowledge-based companies.

In May 2022, Mohammad Nasir, the deputy head of the Welfare Organization, said a total budget of 13 trillion rials (nearly $32 million) has been earmarked to empower women heads of households.

In the Iranian calendar year 1400 (March 2021-March 2022), 2,000 female-headed households achieved full empowerment and independence, IRIB quoted Nasir as saying.

Empowerment of female breadwinners includes providing the basis for a healthy and lasting marriage, sustainable employment, socio-cultural empowerment, family, and economic independence, the official highlighted.

The budget bill for the past Iranian calendar year (March 2022-March 2023), increased the budget of the Welfare Organization by three folds, he said, adding that nearly 10 trillion rials (about $20 million) will be allocated to female heads of household.

MG