TEHRAN –Swedish Ambassador to Iran, Mattias Lentz, and UNDP Representative in Tehran, Claudio Providas, visited the employment projects launched for female heads of households in villages of Boroujerd city, western Iran.

On Monday, the officials visited workshops on sewing, producing pickles, dried fruits, jams, and bakeries for rural women heads of households set up with the support of the United Nations, IRNA reported.

The United Nations Development Program provides employment for rural women in the agricultural sector, and purchases some of the items needed by the sector, and provides them to rural women heads of households.

In Iran, there are 3 million women-headed households, out of a total of 22 million families, and most of the women breadwinners can be found in less developed areas of the country, according to the UNDP office in Iran.

Budget for women breadwinners up 50%

The budget for women and family affairs in the national budget bill for the current calendar year (starting on March 20), is equivalent to 37 trillion rials (nearly $880 million at the official rate of 42,000 rials).

Female-headed households’ share of the national budget accounts for 23 percent of the total credits for women and the family.

Supporting women heads of households in the form of insurance, services, and social support is another important issue, which accounts for 25 percent of the budget, which has grown by about 50 percent.

FB/MG