<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META content="MSHTML 5.00.2614.3500" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>
<DIV>PHM Iran reports a very successful event in response to the WGNRR Call for
Action to Combat Violence against Women. More than 600 people, mainly women,
attended the event on 29 May 2005.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Representatives from several provinces mainly the Caspian Sea area,
Isfahan, Tabriz, Kourdestan and the rest from Tehran attended and spoke about
their experiences case studies and statistics. Papers were presented on the
effects of violence on health of women, violence and the prevalence of HIV/AIDS
and STDs, poverty and violence, drugs and violence, economic consequence of
violence and war, research methodology in this area, its findings and
shortcomings. Poetry about the experiences of women was also recited. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The discussion of the future of PHM Iran was a significant portion of the
agenda. The vision, charter, organizational structure was discussed. So was the
formation of PHM circles in places outside of Teheran. The People’s Health
Charter, WGNNR call for action and posters were distributed among the
participants. The translation of Poverty, Health and Development into Farsi was
announced. A message from Ravi Narayan, the coordinator of PHM Secretariat was
read to the participants in Farsi. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The programme also included an excellent musical performance of a group of
girls with special needs from Caspian Sea areas and ended with a popular music.
A community health worker, Behvarz, was lauded for the work she did for a
population of 1500 women and children. The applause lasted a full five
minutes.<BR> </DIV></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>