Approximately ninety percent of all Cabinet

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2 in power 6 Introduction Approximately ninety percent of all Cabinet members in the world consist of men. have therefore, not yet achieved an effective role at the political and managerial levels. Despite the claim by all political factions that women can also participate substantially in politics and decision-making, we are still confronted by impeding laws and gender clichés, which prevent women's full participation in these areas. Consequently, 's political participation and their presence in the power and decision making is one of the most important and critical areas of concern in the implementation of Beijing Platform for Action. Based on the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, citizens of Iran from all cultural and ethnic backgrounds and regardless of their gender are entitled to all individual, economic, political, social and cultural rights in criteria with Islamic principles. In practice, however, there are social and legal obstacles, which effectively close the doors to women in the area of power and decision making. Following the endorsement of the Beijing document, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has striven to promote increased participation of women in these areas. Owing to the importance of these concerns, the Government has taken the following measures: establishing the Center for 's Participation and the membership of its Head in the Cabinet and appointing a woman as the adviser to the President and as the Head of Environmental Protection Department, for the first time in Iran. Furthermore, there has been the appointment of four women as deputy Ministers, women advisers to Ministers and Governors, of women as Governor generals and Mayors and Governors of districts and townships and middle managers, managing directors managers. In addition to these important measures taken by the Government in this area, 630 women were appointed in decision-making positions in the Provincial Planning and Development Councils as the highest decisionmaking institutions in the provinces. On the whole, according to existing statistics, the growth in women managers from 1989 to 2004 show a 63% increase. The following report has been prepared taking into account the importance of Beijing Document and Beijing Platform for Action.

3 Strategic Objectives Strategic objective G.1. Take measures to ensure women s equal access to and full participation in power structures and decision making. Government measures 1. Appointment of two women in the Cabinet for the first time. 2. Appointment of one woman as Deputy to the President and another as the Head of the Environmental Protection Department. 3. Membership of the Head of CWP in High Councils of Employment Health, Youth, Technical and Vocational training and the Social Cultural Commission of the Government. 4. Membership of women in National High Councils of decision-making such as, the High Cultural Revolution, the High Council of Environment and the High Council of Education and Training. 5. Appointment of women as advisers to the President, in the fields of women, politics and media. 6. Appointment of women advisers to Governors throughout the country.. Appointment of four women as deputy Ministers. 8. Appointment of women as Governors, Governor-generals, Mayors, district Governors, managers in the central caucus at capital and provincial government ministries. 9. Establishing four organizational positions in women's issues in the regional administrations. 10. Establishing an organizational position in the district Governor's office on women's issues. 11. Appointment of a woman adviser to the Governor general as Secretary on women's and youth's issues and her presence in all meetings and decision-making. in power Proportionate distribution of women candidates in the Islamic Parliament. Percentage of women parliamentary candidates. 1st Parliament: 3.02% 2nd Parliament: 1.98% 3rd Parliament :1.99% 4th Parliament: 3% 5th Parliament: 6.43% 6th Parliament:.3% th Parliament: 9.89% 1.66% 1.66% 1.6% 3.6% 5.6% 4.4% 4.4% Percentage of women elected into the parliament.

4 12. Active participation in twenty- five existing and future women's parties % increase in women managers during the last ten years, mainly in the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, and the Ministry of Economics and Finance, and an increase in the number of provincial women managers. 14. Establishing 630 decision-making positions for women in the highest provincial decisionmaking institution. in power 8 Obstacles 1. Inadequate access to funds for women candidates. 2. Inadequate laws in support of women at the managerial levels in view of their duties in the family and in the society. 3. Impeding customary clichés regarding women's roles and capacity in holding key positions. 4. Male domineering cultural obstacles for women as managers. representatives in City Councils Council Elections 1st Session 2nd Session Number of Candidates Candidates % elected % elected There is a larger electorate of women than men to the extent that during the last election 65% of women with the right to vote, voted and only 62% of men were among the electorate. This factor specifies that women feel more responsible in determining their political fate than men do. During the last session of Parliament before the Islamic Revolution women constituted.5% of the seats. Currently there are twelve women representatives in the Parliament. At present, 11% of all elected City Council representatives are women. In the second round of the local Council elections, the number of women candidates was doubled in proportion to male candidates, which is a clear indication of public manifestation of women's potential. The interesting factor is that there are more rural women candidates than urban ones.

5 Strategic objective G.2. Increase women s capacity to participate in decision-making and leadership. Government measures 1. Increase of 53.81% in female candidates during the last parliamentary elections. 2. Increase of 154.8% in women's membership in the second round of Islamic rural and urban Council elections. 3. Implementing a research study on women in twenty-eight provinces of the country in order to identify obstacles and patterns for women in political participation. 4. Approving a Plan to Promote 's Management in the Council of Ministers, based on which, women's management will have a remarkable increase within a six year period. 5. Providing financial support for women's studies in promoting their political participation. 6. Compiling gender-based political indicators and statistics.. Organizing computer, English language and managerial courses for women managers by the Ministry of Interior. in power 9

6 in power Organizing the 3rd training session for strengthening the active presence of women in international conferences, (called Melika), targeting 60 women Government employees and civil society activists, by the CWP and the Foreign Ministry. The first and second sessions were held in with 65 participants organized by UNFPA, University of Tehran and CWP. 9. Implementing training programmes for 300 women managers by the CWP, during which 300 experts were trained at a national level in necessary skills in professorial management. 10. Establishing the 's Faction in the 6th Parliament in charge of promoting draft bills and programmes related to women. 11. Implementing the Improvement Plan for in the Ministry of Interior in order to strengthen women's management positions in the provinces. 12. Supporting City and Rural Councils in electing women Mayors and Governors of rural districts. 13. Providing necessary conditions for women becoming candidates in High Provincial Councils elections. 14. Providing necessary conditions for the presence of women in Advisory Committees such as the Tripartite 's Employment Committee in order to increase women's participation at decisionmaking levels. 15. Providing financial support in international educational courses for NGOs by the CWP. Obstacles 1. Inadequate numbers of women present in political parties, resulting in a lesser number of women candidates. 2. Lack of self-confidence in women in areas of power and decision-making. 3. Weakness of gender perspective in national policies and programmes regarding women's participation. The number of female managers in the governmental sector has increased with a growth rate of 63.33% in 1996 from 26 to 1,186 in In 1999 the number of women employees in government departments was 3,029, showing an increase of 5.2%in 199. occupied 4.% of vice managerial positions and 1/4 of managerial position in the executive department in The number of female managing directors of print media was 90 in 2000, showing an increase of 53% since 199.

7 Statistical table of managers, legislators and chief executives by sex disaggregation Growth rate Male - Female Male - Female Male - Female Active gender % % 85.9 % % % % composition Members of Parliament 96. % % % % % % City Council Members % % Manager, legislators and 0.59 % % 2.1 % % % % chief executives Technical and skilled 8.8 % % 10 % % 1.31 % % workers Income equity 91 % % 89 % - 11 % % % in power 81 Members of Parliament (%) Parliament Candidates (%) Men Men 5th Parliament th Parliament th Parliament Members of Cities and Villages Islamic Councils Candidates for Cities and Villages Islamic Councils Male % Female % Male % Female % First Run Second Run

8 in power 82 Future Actions 1. Establishing supportive mechanisms for women candidates facilitation of their candidature for running for office or the Parliament etc. 2. Encouraging parties to introduce more women candidates. 3. Publicly promoting men's willingness to share duties at home. 4. Utilizing cultural and educational mechanisms to eradicate clichés and negative gender stereotyping. 5. Employing media towards indicating the necessity and importance of women's participation at managerial levels. 6. Increasing awareness and social trust in women's capacity through the mass media..reforming male dominated perspectives for women's participation at all political levels. 8. Empowering women and creating opportunities for their extensive participation in policy-making and legislation. 9. Striving to eliminate discrimination against women at high diplomatic and negotiation levels and promoting their role and participation in foreign policy. 10. The Islamic Republic of Iran believes in the importance of women's participation in political and managerial activities and its requirement for cultural and social structural foundations. 11. Introducing successful and empowered patterns of women mangers through the media. 12. Planning training programmes for women in key positions. 13. Creating sensitivity among women to participate in political and decision-making areas and providing necessary structures for them. 14. Training managerial skills to different groups of women. 15. Establishing and strengthening qualitative and quantitative national mechanisms for women. 16. Employing a gender approach to women's political participation in governmental organizations. 1. Striving towards complete participation by women, on an equal basis with men in public life, particularly in decision-making, policy-making and political parties.

9 Conclusion in power 83 The social and political participation of women has changed considerably and important milestones have been reached. There are presently 25 women parties active or about to be established and 9 women NGOs have ECOSOC Consultative Status with the United Nations. Establishing national mechanisms for women and fund allocation to these departments namely, the Center for 's Participation, increasing activity by civil society organizations, printing and publishing newspapers and specialised women magazines indicate that women have achieved increased awareness in governmental and non-governmental sectors to enter power and decision-making areas. Nevertheless, politics is still a male dominated arena and integration of women in this field remains a difficult task. Low self esteem among women, as well as the resistance of male politicians and political parties opposing their political participation and public mistrust of women's abilities as politicians and decision-makers are among the most significant barriers facing women entering the arena of power and decision-making. Despite the fact that in the province of Tehran alone, 80% of women have high school diplomas and higher education degrees, their share of managerial positions is still very low. In 2002 there were less than 1% of women managers and the period of their employment in key positions was less than 10 years. The most important step to remedy this shortcoming is to take educational and cultural measures to increase women's capacity and encourage a more active involvement in this area by women. Although Iranian women are on the road to achieving key positions, they have a long way to go before achieving real power in decision-making positions. To achieve this Strategic Objective the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has initiated certain actions which, unfortunately, still fall short of international standards and require the serious willingness of statesmen.