Activation Policies for the Poor in OIC Member States
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In addition to the government’s measures, foundations play a central role in reducing and alleviating
poverty. For example, the Imam Khomeini’s Relief Foundation (IKRF), founded in March 1979, is
Iran’s most active and influential charity organisation founded to provide support for poor families.
3.5.2 Design and performance of the current activation policies and programmes
Despite the use of the above cash transfers and food packages aimed at poverty alleviation, there is a
need for measures targeted at the labour market as well. Iran has a young population. 60% of the
population is under the age of 30. 750,000 young people are estimated to enter the labour market
each year and the government has estimated that 8.5 million jobs must be created in the next two
years with the aim of reducing the unemployment rate to 7% by 2015. 120
Government departments and charitable foundations are the key players in the delivery of activation
measures. The Ministry of Co-operatives, Labour and Social Welfare (MCLS) is the central
governmental agency responsible for regulating and overseeing the job market and for creating
public policies and mechanisms to enhance job security for workers and their families. The Ministry
is also responsible for balancing relations between employers and employees throughout the
country. The institutional structure of the Ministry includes a number of affiliate organisations that
also provide outreach programmes. MCLS has formed links with other ministries and agencies
involved in designing and implementing activation measures. These links are described in the
following three sub sections.
Job search support is particularly relevant as the World Bank has reported that many new labour
market entrants in Iran become discouraged, abandon their job search, and become economically
inactive. The job search support measures in place will be discussed below.
Job search support
The services provided by the provincial offices of MCLS are the equivalent to what would commonly
be called the PES. MCLS has 27 provincial branches in each provincial capital. This is seen as a
practical and localised approach that focuses on poverty and job creation at the provincial level.
Each branch is designated to be in charge of providing services for locals and for regulating local
policies according to the local economy and regional potentials in order to meet the Ministry’s macro
targets. Jobseekers can register with their local branch to receive job search support. Jobseekers’
names are entered into a database which also records job vacancies. The database is then used to
find matches between jobseekers and job vacancies.
As well as providing job search support, branches support job creation and training. One interesting
example which illustrates how branches can offer this support is the case of a provincial branch in
Western Iran. The provincial branch regulates its activities by:
 Providing funds for self-employed workers, particularly families
 Offering training sessions for workers in the border-cities of Iran’s Kurdistan province
 Supporting 2048 co-operative foundations and 15 unions throughout the province
 Working alongside parliamentary delegates in order to identify the potential for provincial
development
Parliamentary delegates study reports put together by this institution and in turn provide pass on
the reports to the government. In one case, the provincial branch in Western Iran recommended that
the central government increase industrial investment in order to empower the local economy and
to combat unemployment. Recently, it was also identified that local graduates could hold key
positions within the institutional managements.
120 World Bank, Iran Overview