Sistan and Baluchestan Leads in Women's Appointments to Management Positions in Iran

The Jam-e Jam newspaper introduced Sistan and Baluchestan province as the "record holder" for the appointment of women to management positions in Iran, reporting that over 70 women are employed in such roles across the province. According to a report on Wednesday (April 25), Sistan and Baluchestan ranks second in the number of women candidates in the recent Islamic council elections and first in the number of women in management positions nationwide. Ali-Asghar Jamshidinajad, the political and social deputy governor of Sistan and Baluchestan, told the newspaper that currently more than 70 women are working in positions such as governor, deputy governor, district governor, mayor, director-general, and members of urban and rural Islamic councils in the province. The report added that the scope of women's participation in elections and appointments in Sistan and Baluchestan has extended beyond the governorship to other organizations, institutions, and ministries in the province. According to Jamshidinajad, positions such as the director-general of customs in Zahedan and supervisor of customs in Sistan and Baluchestan, director-general of the environment, head of the health center in Fanouj County, head of the Martyrs Foundation in Nikshahr County, mayorships in two cities (Rask and Sarbaz) and one of the six regions of Zahedan, management of education in some areas of Zahedan, and management of the Social Security Administration in Iranshahr are also held by women. The report further noted that the successful experience of women's presence in management in this province has led to a significant increase in their registration for participation in the Islamic council elections this year. As the social and political deputy governor of Sistan and Baluchestan stated, the number of women registering to participate in the council elections in the province has increased by 118%. He mentioned, "In one village named Afzalabad, 11 people registered for the village council, of which 10 are women. In another village in the Zahak County, four candidates for the village council emerged, all of whom are women." This report is significant because previously, the Vice Presidency for Women and Family Affairs had prepared an "Atlas of Women's Status and Map of Social Damages," which examined the status of women in Iran from various aspects, showing that the impoverished province of Sistan and Baluchestan does not have a favorable situation in this regard. According to this atlas, the status of women in Sistan and Baluchestan holds several records in Iran; in terms of the number of women who have co-wives, those who give birth before the age of 18, those who do not have access to any media even once a week, those lacking proper awareness about how to prevent AIDS, the highest illiteracy rates among girls and women over six years old, and the lowest level of use of contraceptive methods among them. Jam-e Jam also noted that "women's participation, which did not exceed one or two percent in the first and second rounds of candidacy for city and village councils, has recently reached 3.6 percent in the upcoming council elections." An examination of provincial statistics for this round of city and village council elections shows that women's participation in six provinces (Kerman, Sistan and Baluchestan, Tehran, Fars, Razavi Khorasan, and Mazandaran) significantly differs from other parts of the country.