Concluding observation Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
E/C.12/IRN/CO/2 para 10
Full recommendation:
The Committee recommends that the State party take steps to address the declining participation
of women in the labour force. The Committee recommends that the State party amend the Civil
Code and the Family Protection Law with the aim to remove the power of a spouse to prohibit
the other spouse from entering employment. The Committee also recommends that the State
party take steps to increase the number of women in decision-making and judicial bodies at all
levels and in all areas.
Assessment using Impact Iran human rights indicators1
A. The Committee recommends that the State party take steps to address the declining
participation of women in the labour force
The Supreme Administrative Council reportedly decided to require the Government to allocate
30% of the managerial positions to women. Additionally, the Deputy-President for women and
family affairs has drafted a document on the promotion of the status of women and the family
through identifying the indicators of gender balance, and consultation with the civil society. The
Government also established a National Task Force on the Empowerment of Female Heads of
Households in the field of development of employment and entrepreneurship. The Government
reportedly increased the quota of women in recruitment of government departments and
launched the Women's Business Development and Acceleration Center which aims at
“strengthening rural women's associations and cooperation” as well as “entrepreneurship
development for women”. 2 There is no readily available information as to what extent these
measures effectively translated in practice. In fact, recent statistics suggest otherwise: a recent
World Bank study ranked Iran fourth lowest in its 2019 Women, Business and the Law index,3
and according to the Government’s statistics published in 2018, female economic participation
1
ESCR.2.2.S.1
ESCR.2.2.P.1
ESCR.6.1.O.1 ESCR.3.P.1
2
UPR 2019, National Report, Islamic Republic of Iran, https://undocs.org/A/HRC/WG.6/34/IRN/1
3
World Bank, Women, Business and the Law 2019: A Decade of Reform, May 2019, p.9
1