TEHRAN –Over the past year, the Welfare Organization has facilitated the provision of job opportunities for 85,696 individuals by allocating a budget of 120 trillion rials (about $200 million).

Out of 85,696 individuals,  5,944 are university graduates, and some 870 others are people with physical disabilities, ILNA quoted Mohsen Iravani, an official with the Welfare Organization, as saying.

In the past Iranian calendar year (March 2023 to March 2024), 2,388 persons benefited from a three-percent employment quota in government organizations in 21 provinces.

Also, some 22,000 families with disabled members received self-employment loans, the official noted.

Since the beginning of the current Iranian year, which started on March 20, approximately 10,041 welfare recipients have been registered in the country’s national employment monitoring system, and the Welfare Organizations aim to create jobs for them.

In 2022, the late President Ebrahim Raisi said that not only the Welfare Organization, but all institutions have the mission to provide the ground for growth, prosperity, and employment of persons with disabilities.

He made the remarks in the commemoration ceremony of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which was held in Tehran.

People with disabilities should be supported. These people should not be pitied, but should have double respect because despite having physical defects, they are effective and efficient at all levels of society, and they should have equal social opportunities with others, he further highlighted.

He went on to say that all institutions have a mission to provide a basis for the growth and employment of disabled people; the streets, public places, and private buildings should be made accessible for the disabled.

Proper attention to people with disabilities in society should become a culture, and this requires media and cultural work. Also, the government and related organizations should pay special attention to this issue, he added.

He further called on the Ministry of Labor and the Welfare Organization to take measures on their employment and prosperity.

It should be announced to the authorities that employing disabled people should be prioritized. I emphasize that the employment of disabled people will cause social peace, which is effective and useful, he emphasized.

The persons with disabilities constitute 8 percent of the Iranian population; These loved ones should not be removed from society and neglected, he concluded.

MT/MG