Tasnim – Iran’s Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare is going to launch a joint cooperation program with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in preventing and treating the novel coronavirus disease.

Arrangements for the joint plan were discussed in an online meeting attended by Deputy Iranian Minister of Cooperatives, Labour and Social Welfare Ahmad Meidari, and UNICEF representative Mandeep O'Brien.

During the discussions, the Iranian official touched upon the programs approved for 2019-2020, including a plan to establish a national system to eliminate poverty among children and adults, a real-time monitoring program for children and a plan on offering technical support for designing systems as well as child-based social support programs.

He also said the ministry is going to conduct surveys on children deprived of education and food security as well as financial support for pregnant women and malnourished mothers breastfeeding babies, according to the Iranian government’s official website.

The UNICEF official, in turn, appreciated cooperation by different Iranian institutions to provide medicines and hygienic items, expressing its readiness for any kind of cooperation with regards to social support amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In April, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations stressed the need for the removal of the US’ unilateral sanctions for an effective global battle with the coronavirus, saying those sanctions harm the whole world amid the efforts to contain the pandemic.