Concluding Observations Committee on the Rights of the Child CRC/C/IRN/CO/3-4 para
72
Full recommendation:
In the light of its General Comment No. 4 (2003) on adolescent health and development, the
Committee recommends that the State party adopt a comprehensive sexual and reproductive health
policy for adolescents throughout the country and ensure that sexual and reproductive health
education is part of the mandatory school curriculum and is targeted at adolescent girls and boys,
with special attention to preventing early pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. It also
urges the State party to take measures to provide LGBTI children with access to information on
gender identity and sexual orientation.
Assessment using Impact Iran human rights indicators1
A. Adopt a comprehensive sexual and reproductive health policy for adolescents
throughout the country
While the need for a comprehensive national program to educate adolescents about sexual and
reproductive policy is an issue that has been raised among Iranian officials in recent years, there
is still no law in place that addresses these concerns. While Government-controlled institutions
have recently undertaken some steps in this regard, they have not been concluded. The Ministry
of Education has prepared a "Student Sex Education" plan and submitted it to the Supreme Council
of the Cultural Revolution (“Council”) for final review and approval. The plan has been approved
by the Council’s internal commission, and is currently being reviewed by the Council itself. Since
the text of this plan has not been published, it therefore cannot be comprehensively evaluated.2
The Council, a supranational body, is responsible for macro-policies in the fields of education and
cultural matters. Accordingly, if a subject wants to be included in the curriculum of the educational
plan of the country, it must have the approval of this institution. The Council is directly accountable
to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, and the legislative bodies of the country cannot
adopt any law that contradicts the resolutions of this council.3
In addition, issues related to sex, sexual awareness, sexual education are often considered "taboo"
in Iranian society, especially in the traditional strata, and any raising of awareness around these
issues is viewed as "promoting corruption and prostitution." Most religious institutions are
1
CRC.28.1.S.1; CRC.29.1.S.1;
CRC.19.1.P.1; CRC.29.1.P.1;
CRC.8.1.O.2.
2
https://www.irna.ir/news/83413340/
3
https://sccr.ir/en
1