Between March 2018 and March 2019, the National Organisation for Civil Registration reported
over 30,000 marriages involving girls between the ages of 10 and 14, including 209 marriages
involving girls under the age of 11. 10 11 However, the number is likely to be higher as many
child marriages are unregistered.12 In January 2020, the Secretary General highlighted that “the
Government [of the Islamic Republic of Iran] expressed the view that setting the minimum age
of marriage, regardless of the cultural context, would increase unregistered marriages.”13
The Iranian Government established a National Body for the Convention of the Rights of the
Child (NBCRC), which “set[s] up plans and programs to promote the rights of the child and the
respect of their character” and monitors and assesses the implementation of the rights of children
in the Islamic Republic of Iran.14 The body is headed by the Minister of Justice, who appoints
most of its members and officers, and includes three NGO representatives among its 23
members.15 During the country’s 2016 CRC review, the National Body listed its main
achievements, notably the holding of “specialised meetings on the role of religious leaders in
preventing violence against children”, including early and forced marriage. 16 The National Body
also listed the achievements of its working groups, notably its Legal and Judiciary working
group, which conducted “analyses of the ways to end early marriage”, and its Support and
Coordination working group which carried out an “analysis of the different dimensions of
supporting children who are deprived of education and are victims of early marriage”. 17 There is
no readily available information that might indicate whether these achievements have been
impactful.
In its national report to the Universal Periodic Review in 2019, the Islamic Republic of Iran
stated that it carried out “human rights training for judges, judicial officers and administrative
staff on the rights of the child”.18 However, there is no readily available information on the
10
Report of the Secretary General, Situation of Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, 2020, para 37
https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/IR/Report_of_the_SecretaryGeneral_on_the_situation_of_human_rights_in_the_Islamic_Republic_of_IranA4320.pdf
11
See www.sabteahval.ir/avej/tab-1499.aspx (in Farsi)
12
Report of the Secretary General, Situation of Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, 2020, para 37
https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/IR/Report_of_the_SecretaryGeneral_on_the_situation_of_human_rights_in_the_Islamic_Republic_of_IranA4320.pdf
13
Ibid.
14
Article 2 National Body for the Convention on the Rights of the Child Bylaws
15
Justice for Iran, submission to the CRC, 2015,
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CRC/Shared%20Documents/IRN/INT_CRC_NGO_IRN_19746_E.pdf
16
The Supplementary Response of the (NBCRC) regarding the Concluding Observation on the Combined third and fourth
periodic reports of the Committee on the Rights of the Child for the Islamic Republic of Iran, 2016,
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=INT%2fCRC%2fCOB%2fIRN%2f23480
&Lang=en
17
Ibid.
18
National report, Islamic Republic of Iran, UPR 2019, https://undocs.org/A/HRC/WG.6/34/IRN/1
2