being enrolled or present in school 2627 There is, as of now, no available information regarding the number of State Welfare Organization’s investigations mandated under the 2020 law. During its Universal Periodic Review in 2019, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran stated that it established special inspection branches and criminal court branches to deal with child abuse cases in the Judiciary.28 Non-governmental organizations reportedly can access a court and file complaints on behalf of a child 29, although penalties for employing child workers have been reportedly considered insufficient to deter violations. 30 Additionally, there is no readily available information that might indicate the existence of a mechanism specifically for children employed illegally, or working in illegal conditions, to file complaints.31 The State Welfare Organization and its Office of Social Harm Victims provide support to children victims of illegal and forced labour, notably by overseeing rehabilitation centres and shelters for children in Iran. In June 2020, the Director General of the Office of Social Harm Victims reportedly announced that the State Welfare Organization, in partnership with the Ministry of Cooperative, Labor and Social Welfare, will launch a plan, the “Family Based Approach”, aimed at ‘improving the conditions’ for child workers.32 Details regarding this plan are yet to be made public. While the number of child laborers is reportedly rising in the Islamic Republic of Iran and reaching millions,33 only about 9,000 have been reportedly identified by the Government and given shelter in 2018.34 The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran also established a Working Group against Child Abuse in 2017 and launched an SMS hotline for child abuse reports, which may include reports of economic exploitation.35 There is no readily available information that might indicate the number of cases of abuses against child workers that have been reported and whether they have been properly addressed, promptly investigated and adequately adjudicated. In its General Comment on Article 6 of the Convention on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, the Committee stipulated “States parties must adopt effective measures to ensure that the prohibition of child labor will be fully respected.”36 However, child labour legislation has been 26 Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/06/23/iran-child-protection-law-positive-insufficient Iranian Parliament Official Website https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/legal_draft/state/1055680 28 Islamic Republic of Iran response, Universal Periodic Review, 2019, https://undocs.org/en/A/HRC/43/12/Add.1 29 Article 66 of the Criminal Code of Procedure (2015). However, NGOs are prohibited from attending court proceedings they initiated involving crimes against decency. https://iranhrdc.org/amendments-to-the-islamic-republic-of-irans-code-of-criminalprocedure-part-1/ 30 U.S. State Department Human Rights Report 2019, Iran, https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-country-reports-on-human-rightspractices/iran/ 31 Persia Educational Foundation, https://www.persia.education/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/PEF_Irans-Childrens-Report.pdf 32 Behzisti News, http://en.behzisti.ir/news/18573/Family-Based-Approach-for-street-and-labor-children 33 Radio Farda, https://en.radiofarda.com/a/thousands-of-children-forced-to-work-beg-in-the-streets-in-iran/30142546.html 34 Radio Farda, https://en.radiofarda.com/a/iran-child-labor-homeless-abuse/29193727.html 35 National Report, UPR 2019, Islamic Republic of Iran, https://undocs.org/A/HRC/WG.6/34/IRN/1 36 General Comment No. 18, on Article 6 of the Convention on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, E/C.12/GC/186 http://docstore.ohchr.org/SelfServices/FilesHandler.ashx?enc=4slQ6QSmlBEDzFEovLCuW1a0Szab0oXTdImnsJZZVQfUKxX Visd7Dae%2FCu%2B13J25Nha7l9NlwYZ%2FTmK57O%2FSr7TB2hbCAidyVu5x7XcqjNXn44LZ52C%2BIkX8AGQrVyIc 27 3