Among the projects of the Society is "The Committee for Child Laborers, Nasser Khosrow", which started its activities in 2001 in Nasser Khosrow, Tehran. The project has been designed in order to raise the level of knowledge and the level of physical, mental and social health of the children and teenagers of the area, to create opportunities of vocational training for the children, to raise the level of cultural understanding and awareness and to modify the attitude of the people of the area towards the children.
Project Plans
1-Follow-up of the process of growth and the mental and physical health of the child by providing minimum, basic, daily needs;
2-Raising the quality of education and life skills of children and their parents;
3-Establishing a suitable foundation for the identification of the potentials and enhancing the skills of the child laborer in the area;
4-Training talented individuals (from among the children themselves) in order to continue the process of the programs in the Children Center;
5-Initiating and creating vocational training classes for teenagers whose work is non-vocational.
Target Groups
The main target groups of the project are children and teenagers under the age of eighteen. However, since other groups affect project objectives, they too are included in the project. These groups include parents, educators and local authorities.
Project Objectives
1-Raising the level of knowledge and awareness in the target groups concerning the rights of the child, individual and psychological health and civic rights,
2-Modifying the approach and the behavior of the target groups towards the rights of the child;
3-Cultivating a sense of responsibility in the people of the area and the target groups towards their own environment, and encouraging participation in social issues and cooperation with governmental and non-governmental organizations.
Stages of the Project
1-Identifying and prioritizing needs;
2-Planning;
3-Implementing;
4-Assessing implemented programs, modifying and completing them.
Project Costs
Since the Society for Protecting the Rights of the Child is a non-governmental organization which seeks humanitarian objectives and collective development, it has no interest in financial gain and benefit. However, the project does have unavoidable costs. Due to the increasing expansion of the project, it is not possible to exactly determine these expenses at present. The main costs of the project include expenses for supplying education, hygiene, sports, social work, medicine and nutrition facilities, equipment of a library, provisions and equipment for offices and other, unpredictable costs.
Project Work Groups
Educational Group: Since the inception of the project (February 2001), the Educational Group has been responsible for educating the children in subjects of various educational levels. The group has 14 morning school instructors. Each day, two of these instructors work to educate children without birth certificates (Iranian or Afghan).
Social Work Group: The Social Work Group started functioning in November 2001. Today, having identified 53 families (using social work forms), the group actively continues its work.
Women's Group: The Women's Group is responsible for organizing and holding classes for the vocational training of girls and mothers.
Health Group: The Health Group is responsible for teaching and promoting the health objectives of the project, arranging for medical examinations and following the treatment of the children and families.
Public Relations Group: The Public Relations Group is responsible for establishing contact with groups and individuals inclined to cooperate in and help promote the objectives of the project.
Educational Programs Group: This group is responsible for classes for painting, calligraphy, acting, story writing, English, chess, pottery, songs, etc.
Sports Programs Group: The Sports Program Group is responsible for organizing soccer, volleyball, basketball, ping-pong and chess teams, and for holding matches.
Honorable friends,
Since the aforementioned cases need care, patience and unlimited, perpetual follow-up, our message now addresses those hardworking individuals committed to children's issues. Without the support of these friends, our work is practically impossible. This project requires time, energy, active volunteer force and fresh perspectives. We welcome your assistance in advancing the project and its programs in the direction of the growth and flourishing of the children.
Proposals
1-Establishing the High Council of the Child under the supervision of the presidency in order to consolidate policy making and activities related to children and teenagers and to resolve legal and administrative problems in order to advance the goals of the Convention on the Rights of the Child;
2-Training the public on the rights of the child through textbooks in schools, universities, cultural centers and rural health centers, and promoting the Convention on the Rights of the Child through mass media, especially the Islamic of Republic of Iran Broadcasting;
3-Revising and improving the law to the benefit of the children;
4-Establishing safe shelters to protect children exposed to violence and also runaway children, and reforming their families;
5-Providing pre-natal services and education for future mothers and fathers concerning the acceptance of responsibility and providing free social work and nursing services for the full length of pregnancy, offering free training – consultative services after child birth in order to help creating healthy, suitable relationships between the parents and the child;
6-Providing easily accessible consultative, social, psychological and educational services in separate districts and areas, especially those exposed to trauma;
7-Clarifying and stipulating the definition of childhood in state laws according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child;
8-Supervising the proper enforcement of the labor act;
9-Fulfilling the motto "Education is the job of the child" for child laborers and homeless children;
10-Issuing birth certificates for those children that do not have one;
Calling serious attention to the problem of homeless children and runaways and to the establishment of suitable shelters, and the need to reform their families