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Child Mortality

Sept. 17, 2008

The UN Children’s Fund said recently the number of children who die before the age of five has declined by 27 percent over the last two decades, and the rate is expected to continue falling.

Society

Working Women Burdened By Tradition

W

omen’s contribution to socioeconomic activities does not necessarily lead to any reduction in their home duties, the result of a new study carried out by a faculty member of Tehran’s Allameh Tabatabai University showed. Conducted by Zohreh Khosravi, the study themed “Survey of Family Problems” clarified that women, regardless of their social status, out-of-home working hours and income, are also required to do their household chores by themselves, Mehr News Agency reported. However, the report admitted that women’s employment has changed their views about sharing household chores and managing the family’s economy. Half of the women surWomen’s employment changes their views about sharing household chores. veyed believe in sharing responsibilities and a great percentage are spending able to handle this traditional bur- obliged to play the role of a ‘sutheir total income on family ex- den, women seek part-time jobs. perwoman’ for handling all tasks. penses. The refusal of husbands to share But with the passage of time, they the household duties prevents become increasingly frustrated and women from realizing their full depressed. Traditional Burden According to the study, the tradiThe study showed that husbands potential and deprives them of cational stereotyping, contradictions, of working women continue to reer promotion and opportunities. As a result, working women are obligations and variety of roles are think and act traditionally. To be

among the main causes of stress and anxiety in employed women. The study also proved that although a great percentage of women are not satisfied with their income, they have a significantly higher job satisfaction compared to working men.

more serious enforcement of driving rules and regulations across the country. Tehran province’s governor general, deputy governors general and the governor also attended the meeting hosted by Tehran’s mayor for fast-breaking. Participants decided to establish a committee comprising several MPs and councilors to follow the implementation of previous parliamentary ratifications on Tehran. On Monday, the names of committee members for reviewing interaction between Tehran Municipality and the government, as well as other problems, were announced.

researcher at the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice in San Francisco, young motherhood is now viewed as a viable strategy for women lower down the socioeconomic scale rather than as evidence of a dysfunctional society. ‘Because poorer groups tend to die younger, having babies early in life may ensure that grandparents and extended family members will be alive and healthy enough to help raise children,’ he said. Males cites a 2005 study that found that former teenage mothers who are freed from child-raising duties by their late twenties or early thirties have, by the age of 35, “earned more in income, paid more in taxes, were substantially less likely to live in poverty and collected less in public assistance than similarly poor women who waited until their twenties to have babies”. The sub-text is clear: that, far from being victims of deprivation and ignorance, young girls are choosing to become mothers in a society that increasingly celebrates teenage parenthood as the wholesome alternative to abortion. Not everyone agrees. In the days after Palin announced that Bristol was expecting, Democratic bloggers accused her of exploiting her own daughter to further her ‘regressive’ pro-life policies. Back in June, the people of Gloucester found themselves at the center of a different kind of storm. At Gloucester High School, 18 teenagers, aged 14 to 16, were rumored to have formed a ‘pregnancy pact’. At the time Dr Brian Orr, the director of Gloucester High’s independent medical center, diagnosed ‘an epidemic’. In a school of 1,200 students, the center had administered 150 pregnancy tests between October 2007 and May 2008. Members of staff saw girls high-five each other when the

A new monthly magazine named ‘Elm-o-Farhang’ (Science and Culture) will be published soon. The prepublication issue published in 12 pages in Braille explains the objectives of bringing out the special publication for the blind, the magazine’s Public Relations Office reported. Chief editor of the monthly, Amir Salami, said the first issue includes different sections, including literature, Iranian studies, sports, religious articles, satire, economic issues, tax laws, music, medical information and stories. Salami pointed out that a majority of the blind are not familiar with their rights and Elm-o-Farhang can help familiarize them. A total of 1,000 copies of the prepublication issue has been distributed free of charge, but the main issue will cost 20,000 rials. Elm-o-Farhang is a private publication that does not rely on state budget. Maryam Bahrami, a graduate in education sciences, is the monthly’s managing director.

A UN report on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) shows that very little progress has been made in fighting severe poverty in West Asia. Recent World Bank figures reveal that the number of people living under the poverty line of $1.25 a day has increased during 1990-2005. The report also said full employment in the region remains a distant possibility, particularly for women, as only 22 percent of women of working age are employed. The number of those employed but still living below the poverty line has also increased during the period, Presstv reported. The report showed that enrolment for primary education in West Asia has been slower in comparison to other regions, while gender parity in education also continues to remain low. The United Nations’ report also touched upon levels of maternal mortality and childhood pregnancy in the region, which indicated little improvement. On the plus points, the report said child mortality, access to drinking water and sanitation, and Internet use has significantly improved during the period. The MDGs are eight universal development objectives that 189 members of the United Nations and up to 23 global organizations have agreed to fulfill by 2015. These goals include reducing extreme poverty by half, lowering child mortality rates and battling epidemics such as AIDS.

China Baby Formula Scandal Worsens

Teenage Pregnancy Badge of Honor for Americans High-school pregnancies, once a mark of shame, have become a badge of honor--and proved no barrier to Sarah Palin’s campaign. The new mood, fostered by Bush’s family and economic policies, is not confined to the rural South, but is apparent even in affluent Massachusetts. Now many fear the trend is threatening to erode hardwon women’s rights, Guardian reported. Mariely is 16. Her baby--a girl--is due in little more than a fortnight. ‘I am happy about it,’ she says in a quiet voice. ‘I chose to have a baby.’ Why? ‘Because ... I guess I want to be a mother.’ It is as good an answer as any you will find in Gloucester, Massachusetts. It is an answer that resounds far beyond this small working seaport, an answer that criss-crosses the length and breadth of a country where teenage pregnancy is worn as a curious badge of honor. In America it seems that young motherhood has become something to be proud of, a status symbol that is preferable to abortion, and an ethical choice that speaks of family values rather than family breakdown. Over recent weeks it has even become something of a votewinner. When John McCain’s vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, revealed that her 17-year-old daughter was expecting her first child, it contributed to a 4-percent Republican lead in the polls. In a country with a strong evangelical streak, there are a growing number of social conservatives who are, like Palin, fervently anti-abortion. Increasingly teenage motherhood is seen as a responsible social decision rather than the shameful consequence of a regrettable mistake. According to Dr Mike Males, a sociologist and senior

New Monthly for the Blind B

West Asia Losing Poverty Battle

Mayor Discusses Tehran’s Traffic Problems Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on Sunday traffic problems of the metropolis can be eased under a four-year plan. At a meeting attended by a group of Tehran’s lawmakers and members of Tehran City Council, Qalibaf stressed the municipality’s readiness to devise plans to help reduce the city’s chronic road traffic, Mehr News Agency reported. He noted that enforcement of traffic discipline, strict observation of driving rules, training and traffic management can help solve Tehran’s traffic problem. Qalibaf emphasized the need for a

News in Brief

results were positive. Some of them broke into smiles. One of them simply exclaimed: ‘Sweet!’ To an extent, this is true--750,000 American women aged 15-19 become pregnant every year. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the teen birth rate rose in 2006 for the first time since 1991 to 41.9 births per 1,000--a 3-percent increase from 2005. Teen pregnancy rates remain substantially higher in rural, poorer areas--in 2000 birthrates were highest in Mississippi, Texas, Arizona, Arkansas and New Mexico. Single teenage mothers are supported by government

Sarah Palin (r) with her pregnant daughter Bristol at a Republican convention.

measures offering them subsidized housing and fuel assistance. In a city with few prospects, single motherhood is seen as a way out. Kevin Curley, a ruddy-faced former lobsterman with a strong Boston accent, puts it plainly: “By getting pregnant, these girls can get a free house from the government. A lot of them saw their mothers grow up that way and a lot of them want to do the same. It beats getting a job.”

China on Monday reported a second baby dead from drinking tainted milk formula and said the number sickened had soared past 1,200 as it blamed private milk-collecting stations for the worsening scandal. The New Zealand partner of the Chinese company Sanlu at the center of the storm went further, blaming the contamination on ‘sabotage’. The two deaths came in the northwestern province of Gansu after the babies drank Sanlu brand formula tainted with the industrial chemical melamine, Vice Health Minister Ma Shaowei told a news conference, AFP reported. The first death was reported last week. Ma also said the number of babies sickened nationwide had leapt to 1,253, more than double the 580 reported by state press earlier in the day, and that hospitals had been ordered to go all-out to save sick babies. Sanlu issued a public apology on Monday for the scandal and pledged to recall all the affected milk powder.

Unrest Dashes Kashmir Tourism Hopes Protests against India’s rule in the spectacularly beautiful Kashmir valley have brought an abrupt halt to tourism, which had been showing signs of a hard-won recovery, officials said. In the past few months, Kashmir has witnessed the biggest pro-independence demonstrations since the separatist insurgency erupted in 1989, AFP reported. The protests have triggered a heavy crackdown by Indian security forces and tourist numbers have dropped to virtually zero, officials said. Last year, nearly 500,000 visitors traveled to Indian Kashmir, the largest number since tourists rediscovered the region as violence declined after 2004. This year nearly 400,000 people--mostly from India itself-had visited Kashmir by mid-June, tourism officials said. But the renewed violence and a series of curfews, quickly dissuaded anyone planning to flee the summer heat of India’s plains in search of cooler climes from choosing Kashmir.