During the event, Seyed Javad Hosseini, head of the National Welfare Organization, highlighted the importance of developing community-based programs, stating: “A neighborhood-based approach provides a suitable platform for increasing social capital, accurately identifying needs, and empowering target groups. The National Welfare Organization is seriously pursuing this path nationwide.”He emphasized that the “Salam Mahalleh” scheme is not merely a welfare or educational program, but a social mechanism for restoring the lost functions of the neighborhood and reconnecting schools with the community. He described the school as the central hub of this transformation and the infrastructure for social governance within the neighborhood.Hosseini added: “Throughout Iranian social history, the neighborhood was the true unit of life—a place where cooperation, collaboration, dispute resolution, experience transfer, and support for the vulnerable were all carried out by the community itself. However, rapid urbanization and excessive institutionalization of welfare transformed the vibrant neighborhood into a residential space, weakening collective social responsibility.”
According to the Public Relations and International Affairs Department of the National Welfare Organization of Iran, a “Salam Mahalleh” (Hello Neighborhood) stamp was unveiled in the “Bukan” neighborhood of Isfahan during a visit by Seyed Javad Hosseini. The stamp serves as a symbol of the organization’s community-based approach and strengthened social participation. The ceremony, held to promote a social perspective based on local capacities and emphasize the role of neighborhoods in preventing social harms, established “Salam Mahalleh” as a key program of the National Welfare Organization, gaining a permanent place in the country’s cultural memory.
News Code 170612
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