Vice Presidency for Women and Family Affairs

Vice Presidency for Women and Family Affairs
Agency overview
Formed11 May 2013; 11 years ago (2013-05-11)
JurisdictionIslamic Republic of Iran
Agency executive
Websitewomen.gov.ir

Vice Presidency for Women and Family Affairs is a cabinet-level position in Iran, headed by one of the vice presidents.

History

Before the Iranian Revolution in 1979, only a woman served in a similar capacity. Mahnaz Afkhami assumed office as the government minister responsible for women's affairs under administration of Prime Minister Amir-Abbas Hoveyda.[1]

Shahla Habibi was appointed as the head of newly-established 'Office of Women's Affairs'[2] and advisor in 1991.[3] Her deputy Masoumeh Ebtekar, was reportedly the "main driving-force" behind the office.[2] The office was renamed to the 'Centre for Women's Participation Affairs' under administration Mohammad Khatami and remained an advisor position, with Zahra Shojaei was appointed as its head.[2] Under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the office was renamed to the 'Center for Women and Family Affairs' in 2005, a change that signaled the conservative attitude towards the women.[2] Nasrin Soltankhah, Zohreh Tabibzadeh-Nouri and Maryam Mojtahedzadeh served in the capacity of heading the office until 2013, when the officeholder was promoted to a Vice President.[4]

Name Office Time in office Appointer
Mahnaz Afkhami Minister without Portfolio for Women's Affairs 1976–1978 Amir-Abbas Hoveyda
Shahla Habibi Office of Women's Affairs 1991–1997 Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
Zahra Shojaei Center for Women's Participation Affairs 1997–2005 Mohammad Khatami
Nasrin Soltankhah Center for Women and Family Affairs 2005–2006 Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Zohreh Tabibzadeh-Nouri 2006–2009
Maryam Mojtahedzadeh 2009–2013

Vice presidents

No. Portrait Name Term in office Affiliation President
Assumed Left
1 Maryam Mojtahedzadeh 27 July 2013 8 October 2013 — Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
2 Shahindokht Molaverdi 8 October 2013 9 August 2017 Islamic Iran Participation Front Hassan Rouhani
3 Masoumeh Ebtekar 9 August 2017 1 September 2021
4 Ensieh Khazali 1 September 2021 10 August 2024 — Ebrahim Raisi
5 Zahra Behrouz Azar 10 August 2024 incumbent Union of Islamic Iran People Party Masoud Pezeshkian

References

  1. ^ Karima Bennoune (2013), Your Fatwa Does Not Apply Here: Untold Stories from the Fight Against Muslim Fundamentalism, W. W. Norton & Company, p. 206, ISBN 9780393081589
  2. ^ a b c d Roksana Bahramitash; Hadi Salehi Esfahani, eds. (2011), "From Postrevolution to the Reforms", Veiled Employment: Islamism and the Political Economy of Women’s Employment in Iran, Contemporary Issues in the Middle East, Syracuse University Press, pp. 113–120, ISBN 9780815651192
  3. ^ "Long Overlooked, Iranian Women Bid For Greater Role In Society", Chicago Tribune, 15 March 1992, retrieved 27 August 2017
  4. ^ Jamileh Kadivar (2016), "Chapter 8: Women and Executive Power", in Tara Povey (ed.), Women, Power and Politics in 21st Century Iran, Routledge, p. 124, ISBN 9781134779895