Purpose: Poverty is one of the most significant social and economic challenges, exerting profound impacts on individuals’ quality of life, health, employment, and social participation. Since the Islamic Revolution, various poverty alleviation policies and programs have been implemented in Iran. This study aimed to evaluate these policies and programs and to examine the major challenges and limitations affecting their implementation.
Method: This qualitative study employed a documentary research design. Data were collected through a systematic review of the Five-Year National Development Plans, relevant laws and policy documents, programs and reports of the State Welfare Organization and the Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation (IKRF), the 2022 national budget law, and other official documents related to poverty alleviation. Data were analyzed using directed qualitative content analysis based on the study’s conceptual framework.
Findings: The findings showed that, despite the continued emphasis of upstream policy documents and development plans on reducing poverty and inequality, poverty alleviation policies have lacked sufficient coherence and effectiveness. In five of the six development plans examined, no clear and coherent definition of poverty or indicators for measuring it was provided. Moreover, the multiplicity and overlapping responsibilities of institutions, the absence of a national coordinating authority, the predominance of a welfare-oriented approach over empowerment, weaknesses in identifying and targeting poor groups, and shortcomings in monitoring and evaluation mechanisms were among the major challenges facing poverty alleviation policies. An examination of the budget and social protection programs also showed that a substantial share of support resources was allocated to cash transfers, while the share devoted to empowerment programs remained limited. In addition, the economic indicators examined, including economic growth, per capita income, inflation, and inequality, indicated a considerable gap between some of the stated objectives and their actual achievementright.
Conclusion: Overall, the limited effectiveness of poverty alleviation policies in Iran can be attributed not merely to a lack of support programs, but rather to the absence of a unified and multidimensional definition of poverty, the fragmentation and lack of coordination among policies and responsible institutions, weaknesses in targeting social assistance, the predominance of welfare-oriented approaches over empowerment, and shortcomings in the processes of planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. Enhancing the effectiveness of poverty alleviation policies therefore requires establishing a coherent framework for defining and measuring poverty, creating a national coordination mechanism, improving the targeting of social assistance, strengthening empowerment programs, and reforming policy monitoring and evaluation systems.