The Effectiveness of Non-Governmental Organizations in Women's Access to Social Citizenship Rights in Iran (Case Study: Tehran)

Non-governmental organizations as the third pillar and representative of civil society play a main role in socially excluded groups’ access to their citizenship rights including women. The most important aspect of citizenship is social citizenship which has a close relationship with public sphere. It seems that NGOs play a substantial role in facilitating women’s access to their social rights; however, their role, efficiency and effectiveness in realizing this goal are disputed by experts. The purpose of this study is to investigate efficiency of non-governmental organizations in women’s access to their social citizenship rights in Iran. This research has been conducted by a quantitative approach, survey method and questionnaire tool. The questionnaire, consisting of effective factors, was developed by library method and was presented to experts of women study in order to examine its face validity. The data of this study was gathered from three groups including 30 scientific and executive experts, 10 NGO managers and 319 people of NGO’s target population which were selected via stratified sampling. Data analysis rejected hypothesis of high efficiency and great power of NGOs in women’s access to their social citizenship rights in Iran.