YES Leader: Ms. Hamideh Tabatabaei
Email: hamideh@yesweb.org

Vision : The vision of YES Iran is to foster the creation of a youth led network, comprising of organizations and individuals, committed to fostering a country where all-young people especially the youth, the women, facing poverty, have productive, decent and sustainable employment.

Background : Despite significant growth over the past twenty years, the country still suffers from inflation and unemployment. More than two thirds of the Iranian population is below the age of 30. Eighteen and a half percent (18.5%) of active populations between 15-25 years are unemployed. The rate in Iran varies according to different parts of the country. Traditionally they followed their father's trade, and there is a lack of an entrepreneurial culture.

About the Network : The YES Iran Network is hosted by Iranian Young Translators & Researchers Association (IYTRA) based in Tehran.

Current Major Initiatives:

• Policy Advocacy: General Conference for youth and students organizations
• Trainings: on business management and on youth civic awareness.
• Media Vocational Development for youth forum. YRC (Young Rural Cooperators) - To improve participation and empowerment of young educated people in the development process of rural areas. After these courses, they will be able to help farmers sell their products directly without the help of middlemen.
• Cultural centers in rural areas in order to create jobs for educated youth (especially women). The first phase of this project was completed in 3 years. Included were the training courses, Training of trainers workshops utilizing case studies and some pilot projects
• Organized the “Tehran National Meeting on Youth Employment” in Tehran. This meeting was held as part of the Global Entrepreneurship Week.
• Improve the quality of life of positive women/ PLHIV wives/ high-risk women and girls, and to empower them through self – employment.
• Empowerment through self-employment for adolescents and youth in Mashhad Youth Detention Center.
  
• Entrepreneurship training workshops (West of Iran) to train trainers to develop a culture of entrepreneurship.
• Regional conference on youth employment focusing on investing opportunities in the region studying the opportunities and challenges and finalizing the MCFYE (Micro Credit Fund for the Youth Employment) draft.

Key Accomplishments :

• Held workshops for Civic activist and capacity building for youth and women for increasing the political participation of young people in democratic governance including preparing to be election observers and to motivate youth to participate in the National Councils elections.
• Full employment opportunity provided to over 43 youths in the first phase of YRC project. The Committee which works on the YES Iran project for this year is the first committee from I.R. (of) Iran which has been enrolled in the ICW (International Community of Women living with HIV/AIDS), 2007.
• The United Nations awarded the “Red Ribbon Award 2008” to MPC in terms of sustainability, adaptability, impact, innovation, empowerment, involvement of PLHIV and strategic partnerships.