Iran's population growth rate was 3 percent, one of the highest in the world in 1986. Leaders worried that if left unchecked, Iran's fast growth would strain the national economy. As a result, they decided to launch a national family planning program in 1989.
The program's goals at the outset were:
- to encourage families to delay their first pregnancy and to space out later births;
- to discourage pregnancy for women younger than 18 and older than 35; and
- to limit family size to three children.
When both cultural and economic barriers to family planning were removed, it paved the way for people to adopt a more thoughtful approach to building their families, according to a policy brief by Farzaneh Roudi, program director for the Population Reference Bureau's Middle East and North Africa program.
A public relations and education campaign assured the public that family planning was consistent with Islamic tenets and did not threaten family values. Even early on, Imam Khomeini and other clerics issued fatwas, or religious edicts on daily life, that said contraceptive use was "not inconsistent with Islamic tenets" as long as it did not jeopardize the health of the couple and was used with the informed consent of the husband.
The government offered free family planning services to all married couples. All modern contraceptives became available to married couples for free at public clinics. Population education also became part of the curriculum at all levels. College students must take a course on population and family planning. Prospective brides and grooms are required to take sex ed classes.
A PR campaign reinforced the message that Iran needed a national population policy. In the 1990s, posters pitched the benefits of a smaller family. One poster shows a drawing of people packed together. It says: "Less population, more opportunities, prosperous future." Another shows a photo of two children. The tag line says: "Better life with fewer children: Girl or boy, two is enough."
Now nearly 4 in 5 married women of childbearing age use some form of family planning and 60 percent use a modern method, according to a blog by Farzaneh Roudi, program director for the Middle East and North Africa at the Population Reference Bureau. And women give birth to an average of 2 children.
At least one of the roots of turmoil in Iran can be linked to the rising expectations of women, Roudi says.
The women have the time to develop other interests.
When the Iranian leaders promoted family planning, they unwittingly unleashed a desire for change and a better life that has now come back to haunt them. Women now are pushing for more improvements and less discrimination.
"Their demand is for the whole society to change," says Roudi.
You might also enjoy this:
Comments